Asrar-e-Khudi post 7

Link to the poem: https://ganjoor.net/iqbal/asrar-khodi/sh13
Total couplets: 31
Total completion: 65.6% (573/874)

   Yeah I liked this one! It's about a person who approaches a Sufi Saint called Ali Hajveri and asks for a solution on how to live peacefully surrounded by enemies. The saint obviously says to awaken your Khudi, since this is what this entire masnavi is about, but also says some other interesting things. He says if you keep considering yourself weak and the others strong, you'll break because that's how you consider yourself. He further states that your enemies are friends, as they help you realise your strength and worth, and are infact a blessing from God. The enemies are there so you can become aware of your own capabilities. Finalllly, what is death? Death is not the name of the parting of the soul from its body. Death is being neglectful of your Khudi. This is something he reiterates often in his Urdu ghazals, and now I understand what he meant by that.

   I liked this section; it was straight to the point, short and succinct. Iqbal ends by saying he awakens the hidden secrets of this strength (Khudi) in others, and is aided by narrating stories of others, like he did here, as it is easier. That's something I also like doing.

Link to the poem: https://ganjoor.net/iqbal/asrar-khodi/sh14
Total couplets: 23
Total completion: 68.2% (596/874)

   So this story (hikayat) is about a thirsty bird who sees a diamond and pecks it, assuming it's water. It tries to drink it but the diamond is too hard to break, so the bird flies off. The bird spots a dewdrop trickling on a flower, trying to escape the sun. The dewdrop, trying to save itself from the sun's heat, drips down spontaneously into the bird's mouth when it comes over. Here, Iqbal questions whether the dewdrop's action of saving itself from the Sun, by falling to its inevitable death, is worth it. He then concludes by instructing the reader to become a diamond, as it preserved its Khudi and did not die, unlike the dewdrop, which was drunk up easily and died.


   Yeah..... I did not find this logical, really. Also, I think he could've written a bit more here. It's too short and the point he's trying to get across is very unclear. I ASSUME this is what he meant, because I didn't fully catch his intended meaning.

Link to the poem: https://ganjoor.net/iqbal/asrar-khodi/sh15
Total couplets: 20
Total completion: 70.5% (616/874)


   Another hikayat with a diamond as its character. This time, a piece of coal complains to the diamond that we're both stones, but people break me and use me for burning; they consider me base and mean, while you are the jewel on the kings' heads. The diamond replies that it is because you do not hold yourself together strongly (pointing to a weak Khudi). If your Khudi were stronger, you could also become a valuable stone, like how Hajr ul Aswad is venerated by every Muslim in the Kaaba.

   It's a good story, but it seems like it's written for kids. And it's a stone at the end of the day... we all need coal to live. It burns and provides us warmth, and in the modern world, electricity. To each their own... we all depend on coal, even more than we depend on diamonds. If all the coals strengthened their Khudi and became strong like diamonds, I think coals would become more valuable due to their scarcity. Then having a weaker Khudi would be a bigger goal.