— from the ghazal beginning “sitaaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain”, Allama Iqbal (1877–1938)
About this quote
देवनागरी
सितारों से आगे जहान और भी हैं
अभी इश्क़ के इम्तिहान और भी हैं
اردو
ستاروں سے آگے جہاں اور بھی ہیں
ابھی عشق کے امتحاں اور بھی ہیں
English
Beyond the stars there are other worlds still; there are more trials of love yet to come.
What it means
Iqbal’s answer to anyone who thinks they have arrived. The second line is what stops it being mere cosmic optimism: the worlds beyond are not rewards, they are further examinations. Ishq in Iqbal is closer to committed striving than to romance.
What it teaches you
The usable instruction is in the second line, so do not quote the first one alone as congratulation. The couplet tells you what to ask after something goes well: not what reward is due, but what the next examination will demand of you. Applied honestly, it makes a promotion, a degree or a finished piece of work a starting line rather than a summit — and it warns you that the new worlds cost more effort, not less, since ishq here is sustained striving. If a line makes you feel you have arrived, you are reading only half of it.
अर्थ और सीख
सितारों से आगे भी जहान हैं — और वहाँ इनाम नहीं, इश्क़ के और इम्तिहान मिलेंगे। इक़बाल के यहाँ ‘इश्क़’ का मतलब जुस्तुजू और जद्द-ओ-जहद है।
पहला मिसरा अकेले बधाई की तरह मत लीजिए — काम का हिस्सा दूसरा मिसरा है। कोई कामयाबी मिले तो पूछिए कि अगला इम्तिहान क्या माँगेगा, क्योंकि आगे के जहान इनाम नहीं, और कड़ी मेहनत हैं।
Where it comes from
Verified against the collected work of Allama Iqbal (1877–1938) on Urdu Wikisource, in the poem beginning ستاروں سے آگے جہاں اور بھی ہیں (source). Devanagari transliteration and English rendering are our own.
