Two Poems That Changed Urdu Literature

In 1911, Allama Iqbal (علامہ اقبال) recited a poem called Shikwa (شکوہ — Complaint) at a gathering in Lahore. The audience was stunned. Here was a Muslim poet addressing God directly — not with praise, but with a complaint. The poem caused controversy, admiration, and intense debate. Three years later, Iqbal published its answer: Jawab-e-Shikwa (جواب شکوہ — Answer to the Complaint), in which God replies.

Together, these two nazms form one of the most extraordinary works in the Urdu literary canon — a dialogue across the divine threshold, a philosophical reckoning with history, faith, and human potential. And deeply embedded within them is Iqbal's most powerful message: a call to rise.

What Is Shikwa?

In Shikwa, Iqbal gives voice to the grievances of Muslim civilization. The speaker — representing the community of believers — asks God: Why have your most devoted servants fallen so low? We spread your name across the world. We built mosques from Spain to Central Asia. We sacrificed ourselves for your faith. And yet — where is our glory now? Why have you abandoned us?

The audacity of the poem is breathtaking. Iqbal was accused by some of blasphemy for presuming to complain to God. But Iqbal understood his tradition well — the Psalms of the Bible, the lamentations in Islamic mystical poetry, even the Quran itself contains dialogue and questioning. Shikwa stands in a long line of honest human address to the divine.

What Is Jawab-e-Shikwa?

In Jawab-e-Shikwa, God answers — and the reply is not consolation. It is a challenge. God tells the complainers: Your problem is not that I have abandoned you. Your problem is that you have abandoned yourselves. You have lost the fire of your ancestors. You have become complacent, divided, and forgetful of your own highest nature.

This reversal is the philosophical heart of Iqbal's project. The enemy is not fate, not history, not God's indifference — it is the diminishment of human khudi (self, ego, spirit). The answer to decline is not lamentation but self-awakening.

The Concept of Khudi

To understand Iqbal's motivational poetry, you must understand his central concept: Khudi (خودی). This word is often translated as "self" or "ego," but Iqbal's meaning is richer. Khudi is the unique, irreducible divine spark within each human being. To strengthen one's khudi is to become more fully human — and more fully aligned with the divine purpose.

Iqbal's most famous poem on this theme, Khudi ko kar buland itna, captures it in two lines that every Urdu speaker knows:

Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud pooche, bata teri raza kya hai

Translation: Elevate your self to such a height that before every decree, God Himself asks you — tell me, what is your wish?

Why These Poems Still Matter

Iqbal's motivational nazms speak to anyone who has felt the gap between what they are and what they could be — and anyone who has wondered whether history's tide can turn. His message is universal even when his imagery is specific:

  • Self-belief is not arrogance — it is the precondition for any meaningful action.
  • History is not destiny — civilizations fall not because God wills it but because people forget their own capacities.
  • The divine and the human are in dialogue — not in a one-way relationship of command and obedience.
  • Action, not complaint, is the answer — Jawab-e-Shikwa is fundamentally a call to rise.

How to Read These Poems

Both poems are written in a consistent meter and follow the structure of a nazm — a thematic, unified poem rather than the independent-couplet ghazal form. Reading them in sequence — Shikwa first, then Jawab-e-Shikwa — is essential. The experience is of a complete argument unfolding. Many readers find it helpful to read a good translation and commentary alongside the Urdu text, as Iqbal's language is rich with Quranic allusion and Persian literary references.

Start with these two poems, and you will have found the philosophical core of modern Urdu motivational poetry — and one of the great literary achievements of the twentieth century.