Iqbal: Poet of the East

by Raza Mir

Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), also known as the 'Poet of the East', earned a doctorate in philosophy from the Ludwig-Maximillian University at Munich, and wrote his most evocative poems in Urdu, a language that was not his mother tongue. He counted Jawaharlal Nehru as one of his fans, and earned Mahatma Gandhi's respect as well. His funeral was attended by 70,000 people, which included colonialists and freedom fighters, socialist atheists and Islamic fundamentalists, Indian nationalists and Muslim Leaguers, reflecting his ability to defy categorization.

The book is a relatively short volume that introduces Iqbal to the millennial generation. It is written in a relatively contemporary language, similar to A Thousand Desires . The bulk of the book will comprise a temporal and intellectual biography of Iqbal, while the rest will include a detailed discussion of one of Iqbal's poems, a translation of some of his well-known poems, and a sampling of some of his famous verses.
It will not for the Iqbal-expert or the Urdu-expert, but for a relative newcomer.

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2022

About the author

Raza Mir is the author of Ghalib: A Thousand Desires, The Taste of Words: An Introduction to Urdu Poetry and the co-author of Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry. He can be reached at urduwallah@gmail.com

Reviews

[Vaibhav Srivastav · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book showed much more promise than it delivered, it is a polished biography but does not try to go deep into understanding the psyche of Iqbal or whether his thoughts changed later in his life, talking more as this is how he always was.

Yet being a slime tome and one of the rare accessible books on Iqbal it is a good one time read.

[Marryum Qayyum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book#01 FTY 2024

If I had to provide a review of this book, it is a good resource for those who have never studied lqbal before and are unsure of where to begin, and also for those who have just
started reading lqbal. Even the author acknowledged that this book was intended for novices rather than lqbal experts and he wrote this book to introduce lqbal to the new generation.
It's a comprehensive guide introducing you to lqbal's life, writings, ideologies, and much more. The book's second section contains translations of some of lqbal's poems,
Aasha'ar and Ghazlat. In summary, it is one of the beginner books that people always ask for help understanding lqbal.

[Apratim Mukherjee]

I picked this book up for Iqbal the politician,not Iqbal the poet.I enjoyed reading the couplets and poems but I don't think it would be justified on my part,with my superficial knowledge of Urdu and Persian,to rate this book.It is book meant for people who love 'shayari',not for the history nerd like me.

[Nash ن ش · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Good for beginners. However it needs some fixes. Example: some couplets are wrongly attributed to Iqbal (tundi e baad e mukhalif se na ghabra is by Syed Sadiq Husain not Iqbal)

[Aqib · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone who is not into urdu and Persian can really enjoy Iqbal's work through this book !

[A. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to Iqbal's life, thought, and poetry. Raza Mir's work is always very accessible.

[Ahmed Zaheer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raza Mir that provides an accessible introduction to the life and works of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, one of the most celebrated Urdu poets and thinkers.

The book is designed for readers who are new to Iqbal's work, offering a temporal and intellectual biography alongside translations of his poetry