Popularity of Allama Iqbal in the Arab world

(Special writing on the anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal)

Allama Iqbal is called the poet of the East in the subcontinent, but his poetry is not limited to Urdu and Persian speaking countries, but also in the Arab world, he is considered one of the great Islamic thinkers of the twentieth century and his personality, philosophies, thoughts and poems. They are the subject of serious discussions.

The question arises that Allama Iqbal How did the words of Iqbal, which is in Urdu and Persian, reach the Arabs and who conveyed it with such quality that the Arabs became familiar not only with Iqbal but also with the philosophy and message contained in his words?

“We used to read Payam Mashreq and its poems and thoughts inspired us, we (while reading this diwan) were like walking in a garden whose colors and splendors were the reason for the cooling of eyes and hearts.”

These impressions are those of Abdul Wahab Azzam, a linguist and diplomat from Egypt who later developed a very strong relationship with Iqbal and his words after reading Iqbal’s speech for the first time.

Abdul Wahab Azzam played an important role in introducing Iqbal to the Arab world (Public Domain).

He says that after reading Payam Mashriq, his friends kept sending him collections of Iqbal’s diwans and poems from time to time. He started publishing books through which Arab writers were introduced to Iqbal.

In 1931, Allama Iqbal stayed in Egypt on his way to participate in the Islamic Conference in Palestine, and in the ceremony held in his honor, Abdul Wahab Azzam presented Iqbal to the audience. There was also an opportunity for a short meeting in which Iqbal approved the Arabic translation of his poems by him.

After the death of Allama Iqbal and the establishment of Pakistan, Abdul Wahab Azzam was appointed as the ambassador of Egypt to Pakistan. During this time, he took time out from his hobbies to regularly translate Iqbal’s poems and published Arabic translations of Payam Mashreq, Asrar Khudi, Zarb Kaleem and other collections.

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The depth of Abdul Wahab Azam’s relationship with Iqbal can be gauged from the fact that during his stay in Pakistan, once or twice a week he used to have a meeting called ‘Iqbal’s Dervish’ in which Iqbal’s poetry was used. Enthusiastic people would gather and their poems would be read and discussed.

Abdul Wahab Azzam himself was a great writer and poet. In 1947, he traveled to Delhi and Lahore during which he visited Iqbal’s grave and also recited some poems in praise of Iqbal.

The academic value of Abdul Wahab Azzam was that in 1957, the first university in Saudi Arabia, Jamia Mulk Saud, was established, and the Saudi government appointed Abdul Wahab Azzam as its first president.

Azzam fulfilled this responsibility in a full manner and steered the university in the right direction and held the position of president of the university till his death in 1959.

On the death of Abdul Wahab Azzam, the then Saudi Minister of Education Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz (who later became the Saudi ruler) said that the death of Abdul Wahab Azzam is more of a loss for us than his family and the people of Egypt.

Allama Iqbal’s famous poems ‘Shakwah’ and ‘Jawb Shakwah’ were translated into Arabic by another Egyptian writer and poet Sawi al-Sha’lan under the name of ‘Hadith al-Rooh’ and he did it so well that even today, the Arab audience still reads Iqbal’s translated verses. Enjoy reading.

The popularity of this translation in the Arab world can be gauged from the fact that the most famous Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum also sang this poem in her soulful voice, for which the government of Pakistan awarded her the Star of Distinction in 1967.

Umm Kulthum sang an Arabic translation of Allama Iqbal’s words at a concert in 1967, which is said to have moved the audience to tears (Public Domain).

Despite being blind, Sawi al-Sha’lan had such a mastery of Urdu, Persian and Arabic that he used to translate the poems in Arabic and Arabic, that is, he explained the meaning of Urdu poems in poetry rather than in Arabic prose. Sawi was a graduate in Linguistics from Al-Azhar University, he translated into Arabic the works of Allama Saadi, Rumi, Ghalib and many other poets besides Iqbal.

Apart from this, there are other personalities who translated Iqbal’s words into Arabic. A well-known scholar and thinker from India, Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, wrote a book called ‘Rawa’i Iqbal’ (The Best Poems of Iqbal) in which he translated selected poems of Iqbal. This book was published from Damascus.

Apart from this, Abul Hasan Nadwi gave a lecture on Allama Iqbal’s thoughts in Cairo University entitled ‘Al-Insan al-Kamal fi Nazar Iqbal’ (The Perfect Man, in the Eyes of Iqbal) in 1951 and brought Iqbal’s thought to light in the Arab world . Apart from this, he also wrote articles about Iqbal in several Arabic journals.

In his book, Abul Hasan also mentions meeting Allama Iqbal and asking him for permission to translate his poetry into Arabic.

A recent blog on Allama Iqbal published on ‘Al Jazeera’ also mentions the Syrian writer Zaheer Zaza, who has translated Bal Jibreel into Arabic.