"Shikwa" ( ur, , "Complaint")
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and "Jawab-e-Shikwa" ( ur, , "Response to the Complaint")
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are poems written by

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

, in the

Urdu language Urdu (;"Urdu"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...

, which were later published in his book ''Kulliat-e-Iqbal''. The poems are often noted for their musicality, poetical beauty and depth of thought.

Overview

Though much of his poetry is written in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, Muhammad Iqbal was also a poet of stature in Urdu. ''Shikwa'', published in 1909, and ''Jawab-e-Shikwa'', published in 1913, extol the legacy of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and its civilizing role in history, bemoan the fate of Muslims everywhere, and squarely confront the dilemmas of Islam in modern times. ''Shikwa'' is in the form of a complaint to

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

for having let down Muslims and ''Jawab-e-Shikwa'' is in the form of God's reply. The central idea of the poem ''Shikwa'' is that God is not fulfilling his promise to protect followers of the

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

from loss and a decline in fortune. In ''Jawab-e Shikwa'' God answers directly that he has not broken his promise; instead it is the Muslims, his followers, who have turned away from the Path.

Controversies On ''Shikwa''

The reason why Shikwa raised controversies is that the main theme of the poem was the 'Complaint to God' for Muslim's downfall, ill-treatment and troubles they were facing. When the first of these poems, ''Shikwa'', was published it created confusion among Muslim Scholars who thought that

Iqbal Iqbal, Eqbal, Ikbal, or Eghbal may refer to: Geography Iran * ''Eqbal, Iran'', a village in West Azerbaijan Province *''Eqbaliyeh'', rural district in Iran * ''Eqbal-e Gharbi Rural District'', western provincial district in Qazvin, Iran * ''Eqbal- ...

was being ungrateful for the blessings of God. "When Iqbal wrote Shikwa, orthodox religious clerics called him an infidel, and in all honesty, Shikwa does emanate a very strong sense of entitlement". The second poem, ''Jawab-e-Shikwa'', was not announced with the publication of the first, but when it was published four years later Iqbal was praised for his contribution to

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghalib ...

and

Islamic literature Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many literary forms in ...

Publication

Iqbal recited ''Shikwa'' for the first time in April 1909, at a poetry gathering organized by

Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam ("The Association for the Support of Islam") or Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam ( ur, ) is an Islamic intellectual and social welfare organisation with branches both in India and Pakistan. It was founded in Lahore on 24 Sep ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. In 1913 Iqbal recited its sequel ''Javab-e-Shikwa'' at a political

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

held outside Mochi Gate, Lahore to raise money for the Turkish struggle against a Bulgarian uprising, a prefiguring of the

Khilafat Movement The Khilafat Movement (1919–24), also known as the Caliphate movement or the Indian Muslim movement, was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajma ...

Composition

Iqbal composed both the poems in the Arabic metre ''

ramal Ramal is a village and municipality in the Ujar Rayon of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located ...

''. ''Shikwa'' is made of 31

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s of six lines each, while ''Javab-e-Shikwa'' is made of 36 stanzas of the same length. The first four

hemistich A hemistich (; via Latin from Greek , from "half" and "verse") is a half-line of verse, followed and preceded by a caesura, that makes up a single overall prosodic or verse unit. In Latin and Greek poetry, the hemistich is generally confined to ...

s (''misra'') have the same rhyme and the last two a different one; i.e. the

rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB rh ...

is AAAABB. In the whole work four verses are in Persian. In this metre, the next-to-last long syllable can be replaced at will by two short syllables; i.e., in the first verse of ''Shikwa'', Iqbal replaced next-to-last long syllables by two short syllables:

Translations

The available translations of both poems are: * ''The Complaint And The Answer'' (1943) by

Altaf Husain Altaf Husain ( bn, আলতাফ হোসেইন, ur, ; 26 January 1900 – 25 May 1968) was an educationist, journalist, and Pakistan Movement activist. He is noted as one of the pioneers of print journalism in Pakistan and was the fou ...

* ''Complaint And Answer'' (1955) by A. J. Arberry * ''Shikwa And Jawab-e-Shikwa'' by Nawab Mahmood Ali Khan Tyro * ''Complaint And Answer'' (1981) by

Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...

* ''Allama Muhammad Iqbal's Expostulation With The Almighty And Almighty's Censure'' (1977) by Suleman Zubair * ''Representation And Reply'' (1998) by Raja Sultan Zahur Akhtar

Legacy

Both poems were sung by the

Sabri Brothers The Sabri Brothers ( Punjabi, ) were a musical band from Pakistan who were performers of Sufi qawwali music and were closely connected to the Chishti Order. They are considered as one of the greatest Sufi qawwali singers of all times. The Sabr ...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi music, Sufi devotional music. ...

and the late

Aziz Mian Aziz Mian Qawwal ( ur, عزیز میاں قوال) (17 April 1942 – 6 December 2000) was a Pakistani traditional qawwal famous for singing ghazals in his own style of qawwali and is considered one of the greatest qawwals in South Asia. He ...

. Both poems were recited together in Coke Studio Season 11. Shikwa was sung by

Natasha Baig Natasha Baig ( ur, ), also spelled Nata-sha Baig is a Pakistani singer-songwriter from Hunza Valley. She sings in various genres including Sufi rock and had her latest hit with the Burushaski language song "Ya Maula" in collaboration with the ...

, while

Fareed Ayaz Ghulam Fariduddin Ayaz Al-Hussaini Qawwal (born in Hyderabad, India) is a Pakistani Sufi devotional singer. He belongs to the ''Qawwal Bachchon Ka Gharana'' of Delhi. He and his relatives are the flag-bearers of that school of music ( gharan ...

, Abu Muhammad Qawwal & Brothers sang Jawab-e-Shikwa .

References

External links

*
Allama Iqbal Shikwa translation in English

* Allama Iqba
Shikwa (شکوہ) "The Complaint" Video With English Subtitle
O
InfoBouy (Youtube Channel)
* Allama Iqba
Jawab-e-Shikwa (جواب شکوہ) "Response to the Complaint" Video With English Subtitle
O
InfoBouy (Youtube Channel)
{{Authority control Islamic poetry Poetry about spirituality Poetry by Muhammad Iqbal