Iqbal’s poem “Parinde Ki Faryad” from Bang-e-Dara, written for children

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

Background

Iqbal wrote this poem, spoken in the voice of a caged bird, for children. It appears in the first part of “Bang-e-Dara”¹²³. It is also described as an early Urdu poem on kindness to animals and the value of freedom⁴.

The poem

I remember the days that are goneThe spring in the garden, the chirping of all

Where now is the freedom of my nestTo come at my own pleasure, to go at my own pleasure

My heart is struck when I rememberThe buds smiling at the tears of dew

That dear, dear face, that delicate formBy whom my nest was kept alive

Her voice does not reach me in my cageIf only my release were in my power

How unlucky I am, longing for homeMy companions are in the homeland, I lie imprisoned

Spring has come, the buds of the flowers are laughingIn this dark house I weep over my fate

O God, to whom can I tell the sorrow of this captivityI fear I may die of grief right here in the cage

Since I left the garden, this has become my stateThe heart is eating the grief, the grief is eating the heart

Do not be glad, listener, thinking this a songThis voice is the cry of aching hearts

Set me free, O you who imprison me. I am voiceless, a captive. Release me and take my blessing!

Difficult words

• Faryad: a cry for help, a complaint
• Chehchahana: birds calling together
• Shabnam: dew, the moisture that settles on leaves at night
• Kamini: delicate, beautiful
• Moorat: face, form
• Ashiyana: nest
• Sada: voice
• Qafas: cage
• Rihai: freedom, release
• Dukhra: story of sorrow
• Chaman chhuta: the garden was lost, separation from the garden
• Be-zuban: one who cannot speak for himself