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Shikwa Jawab-e-Shikwa
Shikwa Jawab-e-Shikwa by Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal
216 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2014
61 people are currently reading
786 people want to read
About the author
Muhammad Iqbal
290 books1,060 followersSir Allama Mohammad Iqbal also known as Allama Iqbal was born in 1877 in Sialkot, Punjab, in British Ruled India, now Pakistan, and was educated in the local school and college in Sialkot, before going on the university in Lahore. There he studied Arabic and philosophy as an undergraduate, then in 1899 did an M.A. in philosophy (being ranked first in the Punjab, and awarded a Gold Medal). He was appointed to a Readership in Arabic at the Oriental College in Lahore, and over the next few years became well known as a poet, as well as writing his first book (in Urdu), The Knowledge of Economics (1903).
In 1905 he travelled to Europe to continue his philosophical studies, first at Cambridge, then at Munich, where he obtained his doctorate with a thesis entitled The Development of Metaphysics in Persia. From 1907 to 1908 he was Professor of Arabic at the University of London; during this period he studied for the bar, becoming a barrister in 1908, when he returned to Lahore to practise law. While practising as an advocate at the Lahore High Court he continued to a part-time academic career as professor of philosophy and English Literature, being appointed Professor of Philosophy at the Government College, Lahore in 1911. He was knighted in 1923.
Despite his law practice, his philosophical work, and his gradual entry into politics, first as a member of the Punjab Legislative Council and later as president of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal was probably best known and respected as a poet. Nevertheless, his other activities brought him some measure of fame, especially six lectures that he gave at Madras, Osmania University at Hyderabad, and Aligarh, which were later published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930). During the early thirties he travelled extensively in the Middle East and Europe, participating in international political conferences, meeting philosophers and politicians, and writing.
His political view was that in theory a Muslim state wasn't desirable, as he held to the ideal of a world-wide Muslim community; nevertheless, he held that, at least in the short and medium terms, the only way for Indian Muslims to be able to live according to the tenets of Islam was in such a state, and he campaigned accordingly. He died in Lahore in 1938, some nine years before the creation of Pakistan, where his birthday is celebrated as national holiday.
Iqbal's philosophical work involved bringing various philosophical influences, including Leibniz, Hegel, and Nietzsche, to his Islamic scholarship, thus holding out the promise of a revival of genuine Islamic philosophical thought — a return of Islam to its place in the philosophical world. That promise has yet to be truly fulfilled, though it remains in place.
"To exist in pure duration is to be a self, and to be a self is to be able to say 'I am'." (The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam p.56)
In 1905 he travelled to Europe to continue his philosophical studies, first at Cambridge, then at Munich, where he obtained his doctorate with a thesis entitled The Development of Metaphysics in Persia. From 1907 to 1908 he was Professor of Arabic at the University of London; during this period he studied for the bar, becoming a barrister in 1908, when he returned to Lahore to practise law. While practising as an advocate at the Lahore High Court he continued to a part-time academic career as professor of philosophy and English Literature, being appointed Professor of Philosophy at the Government College, Lahore in 1911. He was knighted in 1923.
Despite his law practice, his philosophical work, and his gradual entry into politics, first as a member of the Punjab Legislative Council and later as president of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal was probably best known and respected as a poet. Nevertheless, his other activities brought him some measure of fame, especially six lectures that he gave at Madras, Osmania University at Hyderabad, and Aligarh, which were later published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930). During the early thirties he travelled extensively in the Middle East and Europe, participating in international political conferences, meeting philosophers and politicians, and writing.
His political view was that in theory a Muslim state wasn't desirable, as he held to the ideal of a world-wide Muslim community; nevertheless, he held that, at least in the short and medium terms, the only way for Indian Muslims to be able to live according to the tenets of Islam was in such a state, and he campaigned accordingly. He died in Lahore in 1938, some nine years before the creation of Pakistan, where his birthday is celebrated as national holiday.
Iqbal's philosophical work involved bringing various philosophical influences, including Leibniz, Hegel, and Nietzsche, to his Islamic scholarship, thus holding out the promise of a revival of genuine Islamic philosophical thought — a return of Islam to its place in the philosophical world. That promise has yet to be truly fulfilled, though it remains in place.
"To exist in pure duration is to be a self, and to be a self is to be able to say 'I am'." (The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam p.56)
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June 24, 2021
দিল সে জো বাত নিকালতি হে... আসার রাখতি হে
পার নাহি তাকাত-এ-পারভাজ... মাগার রাখতি হে
কুদসি-উল-আসাল হে রিফাত পে... নাযার রাখতি হে
খাক সে উথলি হে গারদু পে... গুযার রাখতি হে
ইশক থা ফিত নাজার ভঁ সারকাশ ভঁ চালাক মিরা
আসমান চিড় গায়া নালায়ে বিবাক মিরা...
June 7, 2022
ایک ہی صف میں کھڑے ہو گئے محمود و ایاز
نہ کوئی بندہ رہا نہ کوئی بندہ نواز
ہم تو مائل با کرم ہیں ، کوئی سائل ہی نہیں
راہ دکھلائیں کسے، رہرو منزل ہی نہیں
کوئی قابل ہو تو ہم شان کئی دیتے ہیں
ڈھونڈنے والوں کو دنیا بھی نئی دیتے ہیں
منفحت ایک ہے اِس قوم کی ، نقصان بھی ایک
ایک ہی سب کا نبیﷺ ، دن بھی ، ایمان بھی ایک
حرم پاک بھی ، اللہ بھی ، قرآن بھی ایک
کچھ بڑی بات تھی ، ہوتے جو مسلمان بھی ایک
چشم اقوام سے مخفی ہے حقیقت تیری
ہے ابھی محفل ہستی کو ضرورت تیری
زندہ رکھتی ہے زمانے کو حرارت تیری
کوکب قسمت امکان ہے خلافت تیری
وقت فرصت ہے کہاں ، کام ابھی باقی ہے
نور تَوحِید کا اِتْمام ابھی باقی ہے
کی محمد ﷺ سے وفا تُو نے تو ہم تیرے ہیں
یہ جہاں چیز ہے کیا لوح و قلم تیرے ہیں
نہ کوئی بندہ رہا نہ کوئی بندہ نواز
ہم تو مائل با کرم ہیں ، کوئی سائل ہی نہیں
راہ دکھلائیں کسے، رہرو منزل ہی نہیں
کوئی قابل ہو تو ہم شان کئی دیتے ہیں
ڈھونڈنے والوں کو دنیا بھی نئی دیتے ہیں
منفحت ایک ہے اِس قوم کی ، نقصان بھی ایک
ایک ہی سب کا نبیﷺ ، دن بھی ، ایمان بھی ایک
حرم پاک بھی ، اللہ بھی ، قرآن بھی ایک
کچھ بڑی بات تھی ، ہوتے جو مسلمان بھی ایک
چشم اقوام سے مخفی ہے حقیقت تیری
ہے ابھی محفل ہستی کو ضرورت تیری
زندہ رکھتی ہے زمانے کو حرارت تیری
کوکب قسمت امکان ہے خلافت تیری
وقت فرصت ہے کہاں ، کام ابھی باقی ہے
نور تَوحِید کا اِتْمام ابھی باقی ہے
کی محمد ﷺ سے وفا تُو نے تو ہم تیرے ہیں
یہ جہاں چیز ہے کیا لوح و قلم تیرے ہیں
January 13, 2019
It's a very difficult read for somebody who's not very familiar with hardcore Urdu, some Persian and contains a tonne of Islamic, Christian, Judaic and literary references. Obviously, the book is a literary masterpiece if one can overcome all those hurdles and read it with good understanding.
January 29, 2025
Not entirely a review but something I wrote up on this book:
As Rafiq Zakari and Khushwant Singh both recognize, in Shikwa and Jawab-i-Shikwa, Muhammad Iqbal binds himself to and enters into conversation with Sufi Muslims and the forms of literature they composed. He approaches the seemingly primordial relationship between the lover (here, the complainer in Shikwa) and the beloved (God), though in a particularly intimate and different way. I have often seen this relationship presented either as a form of purely positive obsession, intoxication, and admiration or some kind of a relationship that tends toward mutual self-destruction but loving embrace nonetheless. In these two poems, Iqbal brings us to a conception of love that is tense, coarse, and painful. It is tied to other Sufi depictions of love in that it presents a most subversive, perhaps even self-destructive kind of love. In its differences, though, I believe these poems take the “Problem of Evil”—a question, subject of religious apologetics, and dazing problem of theology centered around the presence of ‘evil’ and suffering in the face of a purportedly benevolent God—and reshape it. Such a problem transforms from one where suffering is totaled and summed, almost mathematically, for the sake of mounting a critique against God’s existence, and instead becomes a subject of intimacy and abandonment. That does not mean that the physical, empirical, and material are not counted here, because they are, specifically in the form of material devastation wrought unto Muslims through imperialism. If anything, it is this acknowledgment that seems to defend, at least for me, these poems from the critique of a blind kind of arrogance; it seems that the apparent egoism and arrogance of the lover is intended. Perhaps through caricature—as dialogical poems can do particularly well—this lover embodies what these conditions have done to Muslims. The lover, here, embodies a deep sense of contradiction. They feel as though they are owed something, and repeatedly recall a perhaps partially mythicized past in order to make their case. I believe this is where the poems ask us to consider how memory and the way it gets repeatedly warped, remolded, and reframed interacts with suffering. Lamentation as an expression of a mythicized—partially real, partially questionable—past with the hope of attaining retribution presents us with an image of the lover and beloved when they have to grapple with the nafs (the ego, super-ego, id, or other such translations) as an intervening force. What seemed to foreground both of these poems is the idea that “It is in our nature to always praise You, a small plaint also hear” (Iqbal 29), which I took to mean that no matter the tone, no matter the presence of doubt, the nafs, or potential heresy, this interaction is rooted in praise, in love. It emerges from the heart—a site that is positioned as, at its core, pure, sacred, and divine. Clearly, there is a lot here, but I think this summarizes some themes and traveling ideas I considered most significant and worth looking out for as we read other texts.
As Rafiq Zakari and Khushwant Singh both recognize, in Shikwa and Jawab-i-Shikwa, Muhammad Iqbal binds himself to and enters into conversation with Sufi Muslims and the forms of literature they composed. He approaches the seemingly primordial relationship between the lover (here, the complainer in Shikwa) and the beloved (God), though in a particularly intimate and different way. I have often seen this relationship presented either as a form of purely positive obsession, intoxication, and admiration or some kind of a relationship that tends toward mutual self-destruction but loving embrace nonetheless. In these two poems, Iqbal brings us to a conception of love that is tense, coarse, and painful. It is tied to other Sufi depictions of love in that it presents a most subversive, perhaps even self-destructive kind of love. In its differences, though, I believe these poems take the “Problem of Evil”—a question, subject of religious apologetics, and dazing problem of theology centered around the presence of ‘evil’ and suffering in the face of a purportedly benevolent God—and reshape it. Such a problem transforms from one where suffering is totaled and summed, almost mathematically, for the sake of mounting a critique against God’s existence, and instead becomes a subject of intimacy and abandonment. That does not mean that the physical, empirical, and material are not counted here, because they are, specifically in the form of material devastation wrought unto Muslims through imperialism. If anything, it is this acknowledgment that seems to defend, at least for me, these poems from the critique of a blind kind of arrogance; it seems that the apparent egoism and arrogance of the lover is intended. Perhaps through caricature—as dialogical poems can do particularly well—this lover embodies what these conditions have done to Muslims. The lover, here, embodies a deep sense of contradiction. They feel as though they are owed something, and repeatedly recall a perhaps partially mythicized past in order to make their case. I believe this is where the poems ask us to consider how memory and the way it gets repeatedly warped, remolded, and reframed interacts with suffering. Lamentation as an expression of a mythicized—partially real, partially questionable—past with the hope of attaining retribution presents us with an image of the lover and beloved when they have to grapple with the nafs (the ego, super-ego, id, or other such translations) as an intervening force. What seemed to foreground both of these poems is the idea that “It is in our nature to always praise You, a small plaint also hear” (Iqbal 29), which I took to mean that no matter the tone, no matter the presence of doubt, the nafs, or potential heresy, this interaction is rooted in praise, in love. It emerges from the heart—a site that is positioned as, at its core, pure, sacred, and divine. Clearly, there is a lot here, but I think this summarizes some themes and traveling ideas I considered most significant and worth looking out for as we read other texts.
October 27, 2025
Allah hears His praise from muslims daily, now for once, please lend an ear to our laments.
Iqbal starts out by saying that Muslims have been a great Qoum. What have they not conquered! It is due to the virtue of the Muslims that someone prays to Allah in the first place- had they not conquered the world, who would’ve remembered the Oneness? No other nation has fought so valiantly and so bravely with no expectations of a reward- it was only us!
But as of late, it appears that muslims have fallen out of favour of their Allah. It is true that our forefathers were more devout than we were; but O’Allah, you weren’t exactly our helper either! If we were not loyal to you, you played both sides. It appears as if the Non-Muslims are dominating in every sphere of life today. We are only fed the promises of the virgins of Paradise, meanwhile the heathens enjoy the pleasure of virgins everyday!
‘Phir bhi ham se ye gila hai ki wafadaar nahi
Ham wafadar nahi, tu bhi toh dildaar nahi’
‘Kabhi hamse, kabhi gairon se shanaasaayi hai
Baat kehne ki nahi, tu bhi toh harjaay hai’
(harjaay means everywhere. It means a double agent.)
Iqbal called God a double agent. BOLD!
Iqbal also adds a jeer at the end by saying though he is not ‘Hijaazi’, what he’s saying would hold true for all muslims. Perhaps a taunt to expose the hierarchy of Arabi and ajami muslims.
JAWAB-I-SHIKWA:
The dwellers of the heavens are shocked to see a message tear through all the bounds of earth and reach God. At first, they don’t know who was insolent enough to resent God. But Iqbal says that ‘Jo baat dil se nikalti hai asar rakhti hai, par nahi, taaqat-i-parwaaz magar rakhti hai’
God replies:
We never deprive anyone of Goodness. In fact, I am such a giving being that I gave mankind a ‘new world’ (America) when I saw fit. But I don’t see muslims striving for my blessings these days- that's why they don't get it. Man is proud of his speech and his reason; but he is often insolent and crass.
Iqbal starts out by saying that Muslims have been a great Qoum. What have they not conquered! It is due to the virtue of the Muslims that someone prays to Allah in the first place- had they not conquered the world, who would’ve remembered the Oneness? No other nation has fought so valiantly and so bravely with no expectations of a reward- it was only us!
But as of late, it appears that muslims have fallen out of favour of their Allah. It is true that our forefathers were more devout than we were; but O’Allah, you weren’t exactly our helper either! If we were not loyal to you, you played both sides. It appears as if the Non-Muslims are dominating in every sphere of life today. We are only fed the promises of the virgins of Paradise, meanwhile the heathens enjoy the pleasure of virgins everyday!
‘Phir bhi ham se ye gila hai ki wafadaar nahi
Ham wafadar nahi, tu bhi toh dildaar nahi’
‘Kabhi hamse, kabhi gairon se shanaasaayi hai
Baat kehne ki nahi, tu bhi toh harjaay hai’
(harjaay means everywhere. It means a double agent.)
Iqbal called God a double agent. BOLD!
Iqbal also adds a jeer at the end by saying though he is not ‘Hijaazi’, what he’s saying would hold true for all muslims. Perhaps a taunt to expose the hierarchy of Arabi and ajami muslims.
JAWAB-I-SHIKWA:
The dwellers of the heavens are shocked to see a message tear through all the bounds of earth and reach God. At first, they don’t know who was insolent enough to resent God. But Iqbal says that ‘Jo baat dil se nikalti hai asar rakhti hai, par nahi, taaqat-i-parwaaz magar rakhti hai’
God replies:
We never deprive anyone of Goodness. In fact, I am such a giving being that I gave mankind a ‘new world’ (America) when I saw fit. But I don’t see muslims striving for my blessings these days- that's why they don't get it. Man is proud of his speech and his reason; but he is often insolent and crass.
November 1, 2020
Shikwa by Allama Iqbal is a world over celebrated and translated poem. The poem is a long contemplation of the poet enriched with complaints to God Almighty over the woes of man. Since, it was published without its sequel, the “Jawab e Shikwa” i.e. the reply to the complaint; therefore, it became a matter of sheer dispute among the literary people.
Enjoy the poem Shikwa by Allama Iqbal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the poetry From shikwa jawab-e-shikwa
Saz khamosh hain faryad se mamoor hain ham,
nala aata hy agar lab to maghroor hain ham
English Translate: Though we may seem like voiceless lyres, yet there lies a host of complaints within Complaint may come onto the lips, but we are devoid of expression.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hy baja shewa e tasleem main mash’hoor hain ham,
qisa e dard sunaty hain ke majboor hain ham
English Translate: It is true that we are known for accepting the fate,
But I am forced to tell a tale full of woes.
@AK Rajput@ "alirajput7816@gmail.com"
Enjoy the poem Shikwa by Allama Iqbal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of the poetry From shikwa jawab-e-shikwa
Saz khamosh hain faryad se mamoor hain ham,
nala aata hy agar lab to maghroor hain ham
English Translate: Though we may seem like voiceless lyres, yet there lies a host of complaints within Complaint may come onto the lips, but we are devoid of expression.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hy baja shewa e tasleem main mash’hoor hain ham,
qisa e dard sunaty hain ke majboor hain ham
English Translate: It is true that we are known for accepting the fate,
But I am forced to tell a tale full of woes.
@AK Rajput@ "alirajput7816@gmail.com"
February 20, 2021
اس نظم کے دو حصے ہیں۔ پہلے حصے میں علامہ اقبال اللّٰہ سے شکایت کرتے ہیں کہ ہم مسلمان اس وقت کسمپرسی کی زندگی گزار رہے ہیں جبکہ ہم نے آپ کے دین کو پھیلایا ہے۔ اور کافر لوگوں کے پاس دولت اور خوشیاں ہیں۔اصل میں علامہ اقبال اس مسلمان کی فریاد ہے جو اپنے آپ کو مظلوم سمجھتا ہے۔وہ کاہل ہے ،کام نہیں کرتا لیکن اللّٰہ سے شکایت کرتا ہے کہ اسے دنیا میں کچھ نہیں مل رہا حالانکہ وہ خود کچھ نہیں کرتا۔
دوسرے حصے میں علامہ اقبال ان ساری باتوں کا جواب دیتے ہیں جو آسمان سے آتا ہے(جواب)۔ جس میں وہ کہتےہیں کہ أج کے مسلمان میں اپنے آباؤاجداد جیسی کوئی صفات نہیں ہیں ۔اس کے باوجود وہ نعمتوں کی امید لگائے بیٹھے ہیں۔ آباؤاجداد کے سارے اوصاف گنواۓگئےہیں اور مسلمانوں کو کامیابی حاصل کرنے کے راز بتائے ہیں تاکہ وہ اپنا کھویا ہوا مقام حاصل کر سکیں۔
دوسرے حصے میں علامہ اقبال ان ساری باتوں کا جواب دیتے ہیں جو آسمان سے آتا ہے(جواب)۔ جس میں وہ کہتےہیں کہ أج کے مسلمان میں اپنے آباؤاجداد جیسی کوئی صفات نہیں ہیں ۔اس کے باوجود وہ نعمتوں کی امید لگائے بیٹھے ہیں۔ آباؤاجداد کے سارے اوصاف گنواۓگئےہیں اور مسلمانوں کو کامیابی حاصل کرنے کے راز بتائے ہیں تاکہ وہ اپنا کھویا ہوا مقام حاصل کر سکیں۔
September 28, 2020
A literary masterpiece as it's what expected from Iqbal!
Although its majorly written in Urdu, but it contains a lot of Persian words and Abrahamic literary references. You can enjoy the book only if you've enough background knowledge.
Although its majorly written in Urdu, but it contains a lot of Persian words and Abrahamic literary references. You can enjoy the book only if you've enough background knowledge.
December 29, 2019
Good book with easy translation to understand the real lesson.
July 7, 2020
I even don't understand that once we login then to read it??
December 10, 2020
Read I want read shikwa jawab e shikwa
November 1, 2021
The Saint of Saints!!
November 10, 2022
How this book opens to read?
Want to read
November 20, 2022I need this book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2023
Best book for all the true believers of Almighty. Anyone who contemplates life would connect with every word Iqbal has mentioned in this. Highly recommended.
January 24, 2026
Read this today. A solid 5-star readI’ll need to read it two or three more times to truly absorb it.
March 14, 2023
Truly a masterpiece of contemporary Urdu literature and South Asian Muslim culture. Iqbal asks Allah why He has forsaken the Muslim World in this skilfully written poem. Although this book does contain significant religious references (it’s literally about the dialogue between a Muslim and Allah), it is just as enjoyable from a secular background.
My favorite part of this poem is simply Iqbal’s audacity (according to Muslims at the time, who were shocked that a Muslim wrote a complaint against their Creator) to write what he believed. He was forced into writing Jawab-e-Shikwa, in which Iqbal (writing from the viewpoint of God) answers the complaints of the Muslims. Shikwa was meant to be a stand-alone piece with no sequel. Nonetheless, he wrote phenomenally in the sequel as well.
My favorite part of this poem is simply Iqbal’s audacity (according to Muslims at the time, who were shocked that a Muslim wrote a complaint against their Creator) to write what he believed. He was forced into writing Jawab-e-Shikwa, in which Iqbal (writing from the viewpoint of God) answers the complaints of the Muslims. Shikwa was meant to be a stand-alone piece with no sequel. Nonetheless, he wrote phenomenally in the sequel as well.
June 8, 2020
This happens to be my first reading of the well reputed "The Poet of East". Allama Muhammad Iqbal is unlike anyone else in his field. One can only admire his work once you read it yourself. After all Iqbal was spiritual student of Rumi and is well known in Turkey as well. On to this poem of his, which is about complaints of Muslims of Subcontinent pre partition of which Iqbal becomes ambassador and takes these in form of couplets to Allah. Reader is taken aback about God forsaking His lot of Subcontinent and neglecting the sacrifices of their forefathers only to realise later on the genesis of this conundrum that lies in non seriousness of Muslims towards Allah. Allah in all His mightiness reminds Iqbal to educate his tribe, the nation of Muslims in Subcontinent to beware of the fact that while you point one finger at others, there are always four fingers pointing back at you. Though written by Iqbal, a human, is able to so beautifully put together this discussion upfront as if it did happen. No doubt if this conversation were ever to happen, it would be like Iqbal contemplated.
July 20, 2021
جن کو اقبال آسانی سے سمجھ نہیں آتا ان کیلئے ترجمہ پر مشتمل ایک اچھی کتاب
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