© 2018 IJRAR October 2018, Volume 5, Issue 4 www.ijrar.

org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

Representation of Spiritual Atrophy in Allama

Iqbal’s Poetry.

Dr. Vani Khurrana,

Assistant Professor,

Lovely Professional University

Aadil Zeffer,

P.hD Scholar (English)

Lovely Professional University.

Abstract
The paper is an attempt to explore the spiritual atrophy in modern life which finds place in the poetry of Allama
Iqbal. He tried to advocate the authority of religion and believed that the modern perplexities and chaos were
because of a lack of a unified ethical social code which religion alone could guarantee. Iqbal believed that
emancipation from the authority of the religion had led to social chaos, even to the point of anarchy and that the
consequence is the inevitable doom. He is of the opinion that religious beliefs should determine the behaviour
and habits of a successful social life and emphasises the need of higher spiritual knowledge and power than the
material progress of society. The poetry produced by him can be of great use in awakening man’s spirituality and
improving one’s life by establishing a harmonious relationship with God and fellow human beings. His poetry is
unparalleled in its beauty, its power, its bewitching appeal and its capacity to ennoble and humanize and above
all its capacity to move man to a glorious action.
Keywords: Allama Iqbal, religion, atrophy, modern, perplexities, spiritual, God.

Introduction:

Allama Iqbal’s diagnosis of the malaise of modern civilization, when people felt dazzled by the visual aspect of
the western civilization, Iqbal explored beneath its surface and saw the hidden dangers: “There on the western
Horizon/it is not the rosy hue but a stream of blood” (Iqbal Western 16). A wary study of modern age revealed to
Iqbal that the post Renaissance civilization of the west was gravely biased which gave rise to the dreadful
conflict between Christian faith and scientific discipline. Iqbal saw with agony that like other Oriental
communities, the Islamic community had also accepted materialism as a way of life. He asserts in Bang-i-Dara:

Western democratic systems is the same old musical instrument

Which contains no tunes other than imperial ones

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It is the demon of autocracy dancing in the garb of democracy.

And you think it is a fairy of freedom come from Paradise

Legislative councils, Reforms, Concessions and Grants, Rights etc. are the

western medicine

Which tastes sweet but in effect is opiate

This eloquence of the members of the Legislative Council is irresistible.

It is (in reality) nothing but warfare of capitalists to make more money

You take this mirage of colour and smell for a garden.

I am sorry for you. You account of your foolishness, see cage as your nest.

(Iqbal Dimensions 48)

The above verses clearly assert about and warn against bogus democracy. Iqbal took all such democratic
process as deceptive and misleading which was apparently granting freedom but was inwardly a tool of
imperialism and autocracy. Moreover, these playthings of democracy were actually meant for the aristocratic and
the capitalistic classes who through such a democratic exercise aimed at nothing but gaining more wealth.

Iqbal exposes the seamy side of modern civilization and also dwells upon the wretched aspect of city life
which is characterised by a sense of decay and frustration. He finds that the greatest evil of the modern industrial
and technological civilization is the fact that it has de humanized mankind. He asserts in Bal-i-Jibril, “The
domination of the machine is the death of the heart/Tools crush the sense of humanity” (Iqbal Western 92). It is
also worth mention here that the literary genius look forward to the birth of a new world order based on a
combination of the scientific knowledge of the West and the wholesome spiritual values of the East. Iqbal
communicates this thought in Javid Namah as:

For the Westerner life’s proper equipment is Reason

While for the East the secret of being lies in love

Reason knows truth through love

While it strengthens the foundations of love

When love and Reason embrace each other

A new world is born

Arise and lay the foundations of a new world

By combining love with reason. (Iqbal Western 81)

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The age in which Iqbal was born was the age of Western domination of the East. The Western world view
and the Western values were incontestably accepted. Iqbal asserts: “The glitter of the Western philosophy failed
to dazzle me/As the antimony of my eyes is the dust of Medina and Najaf.” (Iqbal Western 155)

The same thought echoes in Iqbal’s Zarb-i-Kaleem also when he says:

Your age (time) must have your impact.

You are ignorant of the fact that it is not under the influence of stars

I have such madness as well (determination that looked like madness)

Which has sewn what the destiny had torn up. (Iqbal Dimension 66)

Apparently things do look impossible. There are hurdles which people find challenging. Yet there are
individuals determined and unwavering who takes upon themselves to prove that. They can resist any opposition
to their will. History stands witness to the fact that goals which were thought impossible at a certain juncture of
time were tuned into possible. Life is will and where there is no will there is death.

A human is born as a lump of matter. Countless material elements build his physique. But in his material
frame of form is placed a soul particle as well. The soul particle grows into what is called man’s spiritual aspect.
Man hungers for food and other sensual materials. This is his material aspect. Then comes a stage when a
capacity to distinguish begins to operate that what is good, just and suitable to seek for and what is evil, unjust
and hence not suitable to aspire for. This discerning faculty when it comes to operate in a person’s conscious
behaviour entitles him to be called the leader of his fate and the master of his soul. The material aspect of man is
always after dragging him down to dust by sidelining the spiritual aspect. The spiritual aspect on the contrary, is
always after subduing the material and rising to higher spheres. This battle goes on and where there is spiritual
dominance, there is life because values are upheld. While as if the material aspect is in command there is death
as values are not operative.

Allama Iqbal has repeated the same theme in the following verse, “The living God is in search of living
soul/A dead prey does not deserve an eagle’s assault” (Iqbal Dimension 62).

It is obvious that society is not something which is vague rather it is a concrete collection of wide awake
and soulful individuals. It can be called a living society if there is harmony between the spiritual and material
aspects and the individual and collective aspirations are maintained. So it is incumbent upon every individual that
whatever one attains is aimed at the collective good of the society or the nation to which he or she belongs.
Iqbal’s message to every person is to always keep in mind that: “The destiny of nations is vested with the
individuals/Every person belonging to the Muslim Ummah is its destiny’s star” (Iqbal Dimension62).

Iqbal bemoans the spiritual atrophy of humanity in his poetry and decries the loss of spirituality in his
verses, which reflects the state of modern civilization and dwells upon its dreadful conditions, horror and
ugliness. It grippingly reveals the state of degeneration in the modern civilization. Iqbal makes idea of spiritual

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degeneration clear through his writings that the persons who are spiritually dead cannot be expected to accept
guidance. In this regard they are like those buried in graves. Thus it is obvious that the Prophet of God had only
to inform, teach and warn. Iqbal says in “Bal-i-Jibril”:

Your body has no soul.

No wonder if your sighs are not answered.

The Creator is disgusted with a soulless frame.

God is all life and He is God of those who are alive. (Iqbal Dimensions 61)

Iqbal expresses his disgruntlement with the inertia, inaction and loneliness of the modern man, gave vent
to his displeasure about the nominal democracy in his poetry. In his famous poem, “Devil’s Advisory Council”
contained in his Armaghan-i-Hijaz, he expressed his utter disgust with the so called ‘Democracy’. Iqbal asserts:
“Have you not observed the Western Democratic system?/The face of this democracy is better but the soil is
darker than that of chengiz Khan” (Munawwar Dimensions52)

Instead of subduing the worldly things and using it as a means of spiritual emancipation, the modern man
under the influence of West considers this world as an end in itself. Thus the demon of materialism holds the
whole world in the grip of its tentacles and what is the way out of this deadly impasse? Iqbal answers:
“Humanity needs three things today-a spiritual interpretation of the universe, spiritual emancipation of the
individual and basic principles of a universal import directing the evolution of the human society on a spiritual
basis”. (Reconstruction 142)

Again in some of his famous poems like “Tarana–i-Hindi” (The Indian Anthem), “Hindustani Bachon Ka
Quami Geet” (the National Song of the Indian Children) and “Naya Shiwala” (The New Temple), Iqbal shows
his concern for the people and urges upon his countrymen to overlook their differences of caste and creed and
work unitedly for the freedom and welfare of India, “Religion does not preach mutual hatred/We are all Indians
and India is our motherland” (Iqbal Western 40).

In 1905, Iqbal went to Europe. He observed into the heart of things there and found it (Europe) diseased.
Iqbal found the so called high propositions of the time like Materialism, Imperialism and Nationalism, eating into
the vitals of Europe and leading it to a suicidal warfare. The holocaust of 1914-18 had started casting its shadows
for those who possessed a discerning eye and there is no doubt about the fact that Iqbal was one of them:

O Westerners, God’s world is not a shopping centre,

What you hold to be genuine and true will turn out false and counterfeit.

Your culture will stab itself to death;

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Unstable is the nest built on a precarious twig. (Iqbal Western41)

The above lines deal with the barrenness of city life in modern civilization. There is the scene of a wintry
morning covered with fog is symbolic of the desolation and spiritual decay. Seeing the same crisis everywhere,
Iqbal thus gives man a central position and to this effect he says in Bal-i-Jibril: “The tumult of the world is due
to the passion of man/The sun is only a looker-on, the stars are mere spectators.” (Iqbal Western 54). Iqbal
believes in the inherent goodness and impeccability of man. The stars, the worlds above, are frightened by the
prospect of human evolution. He beautifully sums up the idea in Bal-i-Jibril: “The rise of the clay-made man
frightens the stars who fear/Lest this fallen star acquires the stature of full moon” (Iqbal Western 107).

Iqbal positively looks forward to a golden age when man will be able to realise his full potential and
reach the heights destined for him. Iqbal traces the development of the idea of revolution. He feels that in the
modern world it had started with Luther’s movement in Germany and the French Revolution and will be
completed with the revolution of the Orient. In “Masjid-i-Qurtubah” (The Mosque of the Cordova), he says:

Germany has experienced the tumult of Reformation

Which obliterated the vestiges of the past

And declared the innocence of the church-father to be an error,

And set afloat the fragile boat of free thinking.

The French eye too has seen the Revolution

Which metamorphosed the Western world.

The Turks, who are hoary with the worship of the past,

Are also relishing the taste of rejuvenation.

The soul of the Muslim is again in ferment;

It is a Divine secret which the tongue cannot unveil. (Iqbal Western108)

Similarly, Iqbal impresses upon the individual the need for a constructive role in these bad times. Iqbal
thus says and celebrates the grandeur of man in the following verse: “Exalt thy ego to the extent that every
decree of fate/Is issued by God in consultation with man.” (Iqbal Western 126). Iqbal’s man looks forward
hopefully to the position of grandeur where he can will his fate. It is the vigour of Love that distinguishes the
religion of the Free man from that of slaves. He says in Bal-i-Jibril: “Love is the prime guide of reason and heart
and vision/Religion and the law (of shariah) are an idol-house of concepts without love” . He says in Bal-i-Jibril
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that “The salvation of mankind lies only in this/That junaidi (sainthood) and Ardsheri (Kingship ) are combined
into one.” (Iqbal Western58)

In Iqbal’s opinion man is not a mere animal whose venture of life begins and ends in the dust as is the
general view of western Humanism; man is God’s own deputy on earth and carries the Divine spark in him-his
soul. The soul has to be cultured and developed in this world, so that it may lead to a spiritual direction which
culminates in a higher and nobler phase in the life hereafter.This amounts to a clear refusal of the atheistic
humanism of the West which does not insist on the belief in God and does not look behind the earthly life.
Iqbal’s man is not a mere being of flesh and blood clinging to the dust; he is a God-man, at once an emperor and
a dervish.Undoubtedly, Iqbal has given a very clear picture of spiritual and cultural chaos of European society
after the First World War. The importance of moral and spiritual realization has increased today where our mind
is assailed by doubt and despair and disbelief.

WORKS CITED

Primary Source:

Iqbal, Allama. The Western Horizon. Translated by G. R. Malik, Iqbal Academy, 2009.

Secondary Sources:

Anand, Mulk R. The Golden Breath: Studies in Five Poets of the New India. London: J.
Murray, 1933.

Arberry, A.J. The Mysteries of Selflessness, John Murray, London, 1953.

Ashraf, Sheikh Muhammad. Iqbal As a Thinker. Iqbal Academy.1944.

Iqbal, Mohd. Reconstruction of Religious thought in Islam.Oriental Publisher and Distributor, 1985.

Khan, Shazia Z. Theistic Philosophy of Tagore and Iqbal: A Comparative Study. Lap

Lambert Academic Publishing, 2015.

Kiernan, V.G., Poems From Iqbal, Bombay: Kutub Publishers Limited, 1947.

Sinha, Sachchidananda. Iqbal: the Poet and His Message. Allahabad: R.N. Lal, 1947.

Munawwar, Muhammad. Dimensions of Iqbal. Iqbal Academy, 1996.

Nicholson, R.A. The Secrets of the Self. Macmillan and Co., London, 1920.

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