''Zabur-i-Ajam'' (, ''Persian Psalms'') is a philosophical poetry book, 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 ...

, of

Allama 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 ...

, the great poet-philosopher of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. It was published in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

Introduction

''Zabur-i Ajam'' includes the mathnavi ''

Gulshan-i Raz-i Jadid "The Gulshan-i-Raz-i-Jadid" (, "New Garden of Secrets") is a poem in the Persian language written by Sir Muhammad Iqbal, as a part of his ''Zabur-i-Ajam'' collection. See also * Index of Muhammad Iqbal–related articles This page list topics re ...

'' and ''Bandagi Nama''. There are four sections. The first two are sequences of ghazals in the classical form and the other two are single long poems. Iqbal forcefully expresses his inner convictions and urges the reader to advance himself to achieve progress and prosperity by discovering and strengthening the self. The first of the two longer poems is the ''Gulshan-i Raz-i Jadid'' (, "New Garden of Mysteries"). It alludes to the ''

Gulshan-i Raz ''Gulshan-i Raz'' (also spelled ''Gulshan-e Raz'' and ''Golshan-e Raz''; ( fa, گلشن راز, "Rose Garden of Secrets") is a collection of poems written in the 14th century by Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari. It is considered to be one of the greate ...

'', the treatise on Sufism written in Persian verse by

Sa'd ad-Din Mahmud Shabistari Mahmoud Shabestari or Mahmūd Shabestarī ( fa, محمود شبستری‎; 1288–1340) is one of the most celebrated Persian Sufi poets of the 14th century. Life and work Shabistari was born in the town of Shabestar near Tabriz in 1288 (6 ...

. Here Iqbal poses and answers nine questions on philosophical problems such as the nature of discursive thought, of the self, and of the relation between the eternal and the temporal. The subject of the second poem, the ''Bandagi Nama'' (, "Book of Servitude") is the loss of freedom, particularly spiritual freedom, of an individual or society, and its consequent evils. It is divided into several sections and touches on the music and other arts of enslaved people, their religious tenets and the art of reconstructing free men. In Zabur-i Ajam, Iqbal's Persian ghazal is at its best as his Urdu ghazal is in '' Bal-i Jibril''. Here as in other books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the present and preparing for the future. His lesson is that one should be dynamic, full of zest for action and full of love and life. Implicitly, he proves that there is no form of poetry which can equal the ghazal in vigour and liveliness.

External links

Read Online at Iqbal Academy site
1927 books Persian poems Islamic philosophical poetry books Poetry by Muhammad Iqbal Poetry collections {{Islam-book-stub