A Child’s Prayer: Iqbal’s poem “Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua”

Allama Muhammad Iqbal · Bang-e-Dara, Part One

Background

Morning assembly in almost every school in Pakistan begins with this prayer. Iqbal wrote the poem for children. It is included in the first part of his first Urdu collection, “Bang-e-Dara” (1924), which contains poetry up to 1905². In the Kulliyat it is marked “adapted” (makhooz), meaning the idea was taken from another poem¹³. According to a common account, it was written in 1902⁴.

The poem

A prayer comes to my lips as a longing: may my life, O God, be like a candle!

May the darkness of the world be removed through me! May every place be lit by my shining!

May my homeland be adorned by meAs a garden is adorned by a flower

May my life, O Lord, be like the moth’sMay I love the candle of knowledge, O Lord

May my work be to support the poorTo love the suffering and the weak

My God! Save me from evilAnd lead me along the path that is good

Difficult words

• Tamanna: longing, wish
• Shama ki soorat: like a candle, which burns itself to give light
• Dam: existence, being (mere dam se: because of me)
• Zeenat: adornment, beauty
• Chaman: garden
• Parwane ki soorat: like the moth; the parwana is the insect that circles a candle and dies for it; here, a true lover
• Himayat: help, support
• Dardmand: people who are sad or in pain
• Zaeef: weak, old
• Nek raah: a good and straight path