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Javid Namah: Kitab Keabadian
An english translation by A. J. Arberry of Iqbal's epic poem and magnum opus Javid - Nama.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
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About the author
Muhammad Iqbal
284 books1,052 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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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 1, 2024
Iqbal wrote this book in Persian in 1932, and it's often considered his masterpiece.
Inspired by the Divine Comedy and the Prophet Muhammad’s Mi’raj journey, the book takes the reader on an imaginative trip with Rumi as the 'tour guide,' meeting significant historical and spiritual figures along the way.
Some of the most intriguing topics I found include critiques of the East and West, reflections on the mind and heart, communism vs. capitalism, the dynamic between rulers and the people, and more.
Overall, it's an engaging read with a lot of deep spiritual themes about the soul and solitude. However, there are also many Muslim figures mentioned whose backgrounds I’m not familiar with.
Inspired by the Divine Comedy and the Prophet Muhammad’s Mi’raj journey, the book takes the reader on an imaginative trip with Rumi as the 'tour guide,' meeting significant historical and spiritual figures along the way.
Some of the most intriguing topics I found include critiques of the East and West, reflections on the mind and heart, communism vs. capitalism, the dynamic between rulers and the people, and more.
Overall, it's an engaging read with a lot of deep spiritual themes about the soul and solitude. However, there are also many Muslim figures mentioned whose backgrounds I’m not familiar with.
October 21, 2012
Sebuah karya klasik yang keuren sekali... Javid Namah (Kitab Keabadian), karya yang dianggap sebagai "magnum opus" M. Iqbal ini merupakan yang ketiga dari trilogi tentang "The Self", Sang Diri, setelah Asrar-i Khudi (Rahasia Diri) dan Rumuz-i Bekhudi (Misteri Kediarian). Mengambil bentuk poetic drama, bertutur tentang perjalanan seorang penyair dari Bumi menziarahi daerah Bulan, Mercurius, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturnus, dan "Di Luar Segala Daerah" hingga kemudian mencapai hadirat Ilahi. Sebuah karya yang lahir dari keprihatinan akan situasi umat Islam yang terpuruk dan tergerus arus modern Barat. Disini Iqbal menyerukan kebangkitan harga diri bangsa Timur lewat regenerasi pribadi-pribadi Muslim yang diawali dari kesadaran tentang hakikat diri insani (human ego). Melalui perenungan dan semangat membangkitkan kesadaran ruhani ini setap pribadi insan membuka potensi yang dianugerahkan dalam dirinya, melampaui batas-batas fisik, melejitkan diri ke tingkatan mulia yang hakiki, dimana sekat-sekat keterbatasan runtuh sama sekali. Mengambil inspirasi dari peristiwa Mi'raj, dengan Nabi Muhammad sebagai representasi insan yang telah mencapai tingkat spiritual tertinggi itu, yang menyinggahi ketujuh lapis langit dipandu Jibril, bertemu di tiap lapisnya dengan nabi-nabi terdahulu hingga akhirnya mencapai kebahagiaan tertinggi: perjumpaan dengan Hadirat-Nya. Disini tokoh penyair dari Bumi dinamai Zinda Rud yang bermakna Arus yang Hidup, menggambarkan pribadi yang penuh semangat pencarian filosofis dan perenungan. Dalam ziarahnya ke langit Zinda Rud dipandu oleh tokoh sufi terkenal, Jalaluddin Rumi, dan di tiap daerah planet yang disinggahinya ditemuinya tokoh-tokoh sufi, penyair, negarawan dari Timur, ruh dan dewa-dewa berhala kuno, dan sebagainya.
Dibuka dengan Prelude di Langit yang menggambarkan cacian Langit pada Bumi di hari pertama penciptaannya, seperti mengingatkan riuhnya makhluk-makhluk langit mempertanyakan "kemampuan" manusia pada awal penciptaannya, yang tak lain terdiri atas tanah dari bumi yang rendah. Lalu pada Prelude di Bumi, Rumi muncul menerangkan rahasia Mi'raj kepada Zinda Rud. Bahwa hakikat insan tak hanya sekadar lahir dari tanah lempung (yang bersifat ragawi), melainkan mensyaratkan sebuah kelahiran yang lain lagi, yakni pembebasan jiwa ke tingkatan yang lebih. Demikianlah kemudian Zinda Rud ditemani Rumi menziarahi planet demi planet, menembus batas-batas angkasa. Sebelumnya, pada bagian Doa, Iqbal sudah menyinggung-nginggung peranan insan yang diberi kepercayaan menjadi khalifah di bumi. Dari sini saja sudah membayang ayat-ayat Al-Quran yang merangkum perihal manusia dan tujuan penciptaannya, berikut hubungannya dengan Sang Pencipta itu sendiri. Pada perlawatan Zinda Rud di planet Mercurius, dibahas gamblang perihal pilihan kiblat ideologi Al-Quran yang unggul ketimbang komunisme dan kapitalisme. Disana bahkan ada penerangan tersendiri tentang Dasar-Dasar Dunia Quran: sebuah prinsip Qurani dimana kedudukan insan sebagai khalifah, posisi Bumi yang dikelolanya, sistem pemerintahan dan hikmah keilmuan dipertegas lagi.
Dan memang, disamping spirit yang diserukan Iqbal memanglah kebangkitan dengan kembali pada pedoman Al-Quran, pada bait-bait yang digubah dalam Javid Namah ini banyak pula Iqbal memakai diksi-diksi yang merujuk pada ayat Al-Quran, selain juga pada beberapa bait Masnawi-nya Rumi dan hadits Nabi. Selain itu, kerap pula diksi-diksinya mengambil nama, peristiwa, atau benda yang merujuk pada arti historis maupun simbolis, kadang mengambil pula dari kisah legenda kuno Timur. Ini menarik, menambah pesona kedalaman bait-bait puisinya yang beraroma sufistik ini.
Membaca Javid Namah ini membangkitkan juga keterpukauan pada pesona AlQuran: jadi pengen belajar tafsir yang belum kesampaian. Dan juga membangkitkan "keinginbacaan" 2 karya terdahulu dari triloginya sebelum Javid Namah ini...
*Uhm, rasanya terlalu dangkal reviewku buat menggambarkan kedalaman Javid Namah ini.
Seperti yang dikatakan Ghalib, "Sulit untuk menjelaskan kepelikan ini dengan kata-kata". (hal.131)
Dibuka dengan Prelude di Langit yang menggambarkan cacian Langit pada Bumi di hari pertama penciptaannya, seperti mengingatkan riuhnya makhluk-makhluk langit mempertanyakan "kemampuan" manusia pada awal penciptaannya, yang tak lain terdiri atas tanah dari bumi yang rendah. Lalu pada Prelude di Bumi, Rumi muncul menerangkan rahasia Mi'raj kepada Zinda Rud. Bahwa hakikat insan tak hanya sekadar lahir dari tanah lempung (yang bersifat ragawi), melainkan mensyaratkan sebuah kelahiran yang lain lagi, yakni pembebasan jiwa ke tingkatan yang lebih. Demikianlah kemudian Zinda Rud ditemani Rumi menziarahi planet demi planet, menembus batas-batas angkasa. Sebelumnya, pada bagian Doa, Iqbal sudah menyinggung-nginggung peranan insan yang diberi kepercayaan menjadi khalifah di bumi. Dari sini saja sudah membayang ayat-ayat Al-Quran yang merangkum perihal manusia dan tujuan penciptaannya, berikut hubungannya dengan Sang Pencipta itu sendiri. Pada perlawatan Zinda Rud di planet Mercurius, dibahas gamblang perihal pilihan kiblat ideologi Al-Quran yang unggul ketimbang komunisme dan kapitalisme. Disana bahkan ada penerangan tersendiri tentang Dasar-Dasar Dunia Quran: sebuah prinsip Qurani dimana kedudukan insan sebagai khalifah, posisi Bumi yang dikelolanya, sistem pemerintahan dan hikmah keilmuan dipertegas lagi.
Dan memang, disamping spirit yang diserukan Iqbal memanglah kebangkitan dengan kembali pada pedoman Al-Quran, pada bait-bait yang digubah dalam Javid Namah ini banyak pula Iqbal memakai diksi-diksi yang merujuk pada ayat Al-Quran, selain juga pada beberapa bait Masnawi-nya Rumi dan hadits Nabi. Selain itu, kerap pula diksi-diksinya mengambil nama, peristiwa, atau benda yang merujuk pada arti historis maupun simbolis, kadang mengambil pula dari kisah legenda kuno Timur. Ini menarik, menambah pesona kedalaman bait-bait puisinya yang beraroma sufistik ini.
Membaca Javid Namah ini membangkitkan juga keterpukauan pada pesona AlQuran: jadi pengen belajar tafsir yang belum kesampaian. Dan juga membangkitkan "keinginbacaan" 2 karya terdahulu dari triloginya sebelum Javid Namah ini...
*Uhm, rasanya terlalu dangkal reviewku buat menggambarkan kedalaman Javid Namah ini.
Seperti yang dikatakan Ghalib, "Sulit untuk menjelaskan kepelikan ini dengan kata-kata". (hal.131)
July 19, 2011
A master piece of urdu poetry by Dr iqbal.
October 15, 2023
10/10
It's a shame it took me this long to discover Persian Iqbal. Any praise I put into words would be insufficient for this genre transcending epic.
It's a shame it took me this long to discover Persian Iqbal. Any praise I put into words would be insufficient for this genre transcending epic.
May 21, 2023
Despite Arberry's dreadful translation of the Quran he has done a great job in his rendition of Javid Nama. Although it is not possible in English to gain an idea of Iqbal's poetical prowess you do get an insight into the underlying themes of Javid Nama; the human ego and its relationship with the Muslim community and the relationship of the Muslim community with the rest of the world.
There is a however an ambiguity in Iqbal's elegiac ode; he exhorts believers to rise up and revolt. But then do what? Does he envision the ideal Muslim society to be one where every Muslim is a Sufi governed by a philosopher king? He decries the science of the West but fails to appreciate its benefical impact on society. He continually hearkens back to the halcyon days of the Islamic world and upbraids Muslims for forgetting their roots; but that argument is naive, if the Islamic world was this paragon of virtue and excellence, why did it decline and subside? Also, Iqbal was part of the Muslim intelligentsia that tried very hard to refashion Islamic thought with Western tools. His 'Reconstruction of Religious thought in Islam' reads like a laboured effort to qualify the mystical experience in terms of Western physchology. So his attack on the West does seem a little shallow.
Many of Iqbal's admirers have recited his poems about 'Khudi' but his ideas about Khudi were derived from Rumi, I don't think Iqbal expanded upon Rumi's ideas but he did elaborate them in the context of his poetry.
This is a difficult book to read because it has been translated in prose; and the imagery is so dense that you may find you yourself having to re-read many of the verses. Nonetheless, it does contain many gems of meaning.
There is a however an ambiguity in Iqbal's elegiac ode; he exhorts believers to rise up and revolt. But then do what? Does he envision the ideal Muslim society to be one where every Muslim is a Sufi governed by a philosopher king? He decries the science of the West but fails to appreciate its benefical impact on society. He continually hearkens back to the halcyon days of the Islamic world and upbraids Muslims for forgetting their roots; but that argument is naive, if the Islamic world was this paragon of virtue and excellence, why did it decline and subside? Also, Iqbal was part of the Muslim intelligentsia that tried very hard to refashion Islamic thought with Western tools. His 'Reconstruction of Religious thought in Islam' reads like a laboured effort to qualify the mystical experience in terms of Western physchology. So his attack on the West does seem a little shallow.
Many of Iqbal's admirers have recited his poems about 'Khudi' but his ideas about Khudi were derived from Rumi, I don't think Iqbal expanded upon Rumi's ideas but he did elaborate them in the context of his poetry.
This is a difficult book to read because it has been translated in prose; and the imagery is so dense that you may find you yourself having to re-read many of the verses. Nonetheless, it does contain many gems of meaning.
March 13, 2021
كتاب رائع هو نثر صوفي معتدل أو بالأصح هو مثنوي الفيلسوف محمد اقبال رسالة الخلود
اليكم الاقتباس التالي روعة في التحليل
ألم تدرك المعني الحقيقي للإنسان،؟ لقد خفيت عنك حقيقة جلية ":
حقا . . . إنه هو الذي جعله الله خليفة له و أودع فيه صلاحية الرقي، و سيظل يطوي مراحل الرقي إلي أن يأتي اليوم الذي الذى يتحقق فيه التوازن في الصفات فيكون معتدلا موزونا كبيت من الشعر، عادلا كخالقه."
اليكم الاقتباس التالي روعة في التحليل
ألم تدرك المعني الحقيقي للإنسان،؟ لقد خفيت عنك حقيقة جلية ":
حقا . . . إنه هو الذي جعله الله خليفة له و أودع فيه صلاحية الرقي، و سيظل يطوي مراحل الرقي إلي أن يأتي اليوم الذي الذى يتحقق فيه التوازن في الصفات فيكون معتدلا موزونا كبيت من الشعر، عادلا كخالقه."
November 16, 2022
An epic poem
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April 17, 2025Great Book about Persian Poetry of Allama Iqbal.
April 29, 2008
Great work from M Iqbal.
March 3, 2012
Berjalan mengitari semesta tuk mengenali hakikat diri. keren!!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews