This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sarvagnya (talk | contribs) at 05:09, 15 October 2006 (Revert to revision 81515004 dated 2006-10-15 02:25:28 by Sarvagnya using popups). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 05:09, 15 October 2006 by Sarvagnya (talk | contribs) (Revert to revision 81515004 dated 2006-10-15 02:25:28 by Sarvagnya using popups)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The poem Saare Jahan Se Achcha was composed by the poet Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal in 1904/1905 while India was under British Colonial rule. Also known as Tarana-e-Hindi, it was composed in the Urdu language book Bang-i-Dara. It was written in the ghazal style, a form of Urdu poetry. Iqbal was a lecturer at the Government College, Lahore at that time. He was invited by his favourite student Lala Hardayal to preside over a function. Instead of making a speech, Iqbal sang Saare Jahan Se Achcha with gusto. The poem is in praise of Hindustan and preaches harmony between people of separate religious beliefs. Ironically, later in his life Iqbal changed his views completely and is generally credited with being one of the earliest proponents for a separate nation-state in the Muslim majority areas of the sub-continent. One of the first formal articulations of this demand was made in his presidential address to the annual conference of the All India Muslim League in 1930 in Allahabad.
Set to tune by the sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, the poem is sung on occasions of national importance. Sare Jahan Se Achcha enjoys the reputation as a popular patriotic song in India. Unlike Jana-Gana-Mana and Vande Mataram, both written in Sanskritized Bengali, Sare Jahan Se Achcha was written in Urdu.
The poem epitomizes the people's love for the nation. Mahatma Gandhi sang it over a hundred times when he was imprisoned in Yerawada Jail in Pune in the 1930s. Astronaut Rakesh Sharma spoke the first line of the song to describe India from space when Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from the Space. Manmohan Singh quoted it at his first press conference as Prime Minister to underline India's greatness.
Perso-Arabic Lyrics
سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا
ہم بلبليں ہيں اس کي، يہ گلستاں ہمارا
غربت ميں ہوں اگر ہم، رہتا ہے دل وطن ميں
سمجھو وہيں ہميں بھي، دل ہو جہاں ہمارا
پربت وہ سب سے اونچا، ہمسايہ آسماں کا
وہ سنتري ہمارا، وہ پاسباں ہمارا
گودي ميں کھيلتي ہيں اس کي ہزاروں ندياں
گلشن ہے جن کے دم سے رشک جناں ہمارا
اے آب رود گنگا، وہ دن ہيں ياد تجھ کو؟
اترا ترے کنارے جب کارواں ہمارا
مذہب نہيں سکھاتا آپس ميں بير رکھنا
ہندي ہيں ہم وطن ہے ہندوستاں ہمارا
يونان و مصر و روما سب مٹ گئے جہاں سے
اب تک مگر ہے باقي نام و نشاں ہمارا
کچھ بات ہے کہ ہستي مٹتي نہيں ہماري
صديوں رہا ہے دشمن دور زماں ہمارا
اقبال! کوئي محرم اپنا نہيں جہاں ميں
معلوم کيا کسي کو درد نہاں ہمارا
Roman Transliteration
sāre jahān se acchā hindostān hamārā
ham bulbulain hai is ki, yeh gulsitān hamārā
ghurbat men hon agar ham, rahta hai dil vatan men
samjho vahīn hamen bhī, dil hain jahān hamārā
parbat voh sab se ūnchā, hamsāya āsmān ka
voh santari hamārā, voh pāsbān hamārā
godi men kheltī hain is ki hazāron nadiyā
gulshan hai jin ke dam se, rashk-e-janān hamārā
aye āb, raud, ganga, voh din hen yād tujhko
utarā tere kināre, jab kārvān hamārā
maz'hab nahīn sikhātā āpas men bayr rakhnā
hindi hai ham, vatan hai hindostān hamārā
yūnān-o-misr-o-romā, sab miṭ gaye jahān se
ab tak magar hai bāqi, nām-o-nishān hamārā
kuch bāt hai keh hastī, miṭati nahīn hamārī
sadiyon rahā hai dushman, daur-e-zamān hamārā
iqbal ko'ī meharam, apnā nahīn jahān men
m'alūm kya kisī ko, dard-e-nihān hamārā
Translation
Our India is the finest Country on this planet earth
This is our garden abode, we are nightingales of mirth
Though in foreign lands we may reside, with our motherland our hearts abide
Our spirit remains with thee, where our hearts exist
That mountain most high; neighbor to the skies
It is our sentinel; it is our protector
A thousand rivers play in its lap,
Gardens they sustain, the envy of the heavens is ours
O water of the mighty flow of the Ganga, do you remember the day
When on your banks, our caravan had landed
Faith does not teach us to harbour grudges between us
We are all Indians and India is our homeland
Greece, Egypt and Rome are lost, now only memories
But our civilization remains; it has stood the test of time
Something is in us, that preserves us, that keeps us ever-smiling
Though the fates and chances of the world have ever tried to break us
Iqbal! Is there no soul that could
Understand the pain in thy heart?
References
- http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060528/spectrum/book7.htm A look at Iqbal; The Sunday Tribune - May 28, 2006