Sare Jahan se Accha
Saare Jahan Se Achchha (Urdu:سارے جہاں سے اچھا), formal name: Tarana-e-Hindi (Urdu: ترانۂ ہندی "Anthem of the People of Hindustan"), is one of the enduring patriotic poems of the Urdu language. Written originally for children in the ghazal style of Urdu poetry by poet Muhammad Iqbal also known as Allama Iqbal, the poem was published in the weekly journal Ittehad on 16 August 1904.[1] Recited by Iqbal the following year at Government College, Lahore, now in Pakistan, it quickly became an anthem of opposition to the British rule in India. The song, an ode to Hindustan—the land comprising present-day Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan—both celebrated and cherished the land even as it lamented its age-old anguish. As Tarana-e-Hindi, it was later published in 1924 in the Urdu book Bang-i-Dara.
Iqbal was a lecturer at the Government College, Lahore at that time, and was invited by student Lala Har Dayal to preside over a function. Instead of delivering a speech, Iqbal sang Saare Jahan Se Achcha. The song, in addition to embodying yearning and attachment to the land of Hindustan, expressed "cultural memory" and had an elegiac quality. In 1905, the 27-year old Iqbal was still in his idealistic phase and viewed the future society of the subcontinent as both a pluralistic and composite Hindu-Muslim culture. Later that year he left for Europe for a three-year sojourn that was to transform him into an Islamic philosopher and a visionary for the future of Muslim society as he continued to have concern for India as a whole. In his 1930 Allahabad address, he emphasized to the Muslim delegates of the Muslim League that "We have a duty towards India where we are destined to live and die."Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). [2] [3]
Comparison with Tarana-e-Milli
In 1910, Iqbal wrote another song for children, Tarana-e-Milli (Anthem of the Religious Community), which was composed in the same metre and rhyme scheme as Saare Jahan Se Achcha, but which renounced much of the sentiment of the earlier song.[4] The sixth stanza of Saare Jahan Se Achcha (1904), which is often quoted as proof of Iqbal's secular outlook:
mażhab nahīñ sikhātā āpas meñ bair rakhnā
hindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā
or,
Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves
We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.
contrasted significantly with the first stanza of Tarana-e-Milli (1910) reads:[4]
chīn-o-arab hamārā, hindostān hamārā
muslim hain ham, vatan hai sārā jahān hamārā
or,
Central Asia[5] and Arabia are ours, Hindustan is ours
We are Muslims, the whole world is our homeland.[4]
Popularity in India
Saare Jahan Se Achcha has remained popular in India for over a century. Mahatma Gandhi is said to have sung it over a hundred times when he was imprisoned at Yerawada Jail in Pune in the 1930s.[6] The poem was set to music in the 1950s by sitarist Ravi Shankar and recorded by singer Lata Mangeshkar. Stanzas (1), (3), (4), and (6) of the song became an unofficial national anthem in India,[1] and were also turned into the official quick march of the Indian Armed Forces.[7] Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian cosmonaut, employed the first line of the song in 1984 to describe to then prime minister Indira Gandhi how India appeared from outer space.[8] Current prime minister, Manmohan Singh, quoted the poem at his first press conference.[1]
Urdu text
سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا
ہم بلبليں ہيں اس کی، يہ گلستاں ہمارا
غربت ميں ہوں اگر ہم، رہتا ہے دل وطن ميں
سمجھو وہيں ہميں بھی، دل ہو جہاں ہمارا
پربت وہ سب سے اونچا، ہمسايہ آسماں کا
وہ سنتری ہمارا، وہ پاسباں ہمارا
گودی ميں کھيلتی ہيں اس کي ہزاروں ندياں
گلشن ہے جن کے دم سے رشک جاناں ہمارا
اے آب رود گنگا، وہ دن ہيں ياد تجھ کو؟
اترا ترے کنارے جب کارواں ہمارا
مذہب نہيں سکھاتا آپس ميں بير رکھنا
ہندی ہيں ہم وطن ہے ہندوستاں ہمارا
يونان و مصر و روما سب مٹ گئے جہاں سے
اب تک مگر ہے باقی نام و نشاں ہمارا
کچھ بات ہے کہ ہستی مٹتی نہيں ہماری
صديوں رہا ہے دشمن دور زماں ہمارا
اقبال! کوئي محرم اپنا نہيں جہاں ميں
معلوم کيا کسی کو درد نہاں ہمارا
Roman Transliteration
sāre jahāñ se acchā hindostāñ hamārā
ham bulbuleñ haiñ us kī vuh gulsitāñ[9] hamārā
ġurbat meñ hoñ agar ham, rahtā hai dil vat̤an meñ
samjho vahīñ hameñ bhī dil ho jahāñ hamārā
parbat vuh sab se ūñchā, hamsāyah āsmāñ kā
vuh santarī hamārā, vuh pāsbāñ hamārā
godī meñ kheltī haiñ us kī hazāroñ nadiyāñ
gulshan hai jin ke dam se rashk-e janāñ hamārā
e āb-rūd-e gangā! vuh din haiñ yād tujh ko?
utarā tire[10] kināre jab kāravāñ hamārā
mażhab nahīñ sikhātā āpas meñ bair rakhnā
hindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā
yūnān-o-miṣr-o-romā sab miṭ gaʾe jahāñ se
ab tak magar hai bāqī nām-o-nishāñ hamārā
kuch bāt hai kih hastī miṭtī nahīñ hamārī
sadiyoñ rahā hai dushman daur-e zamāñ hamārā
iqbāl! koʾī maḥram apnā nahīñ jahāñ meñ
maʿlūm kyā kisī ko dard-e nihāñ hamārā!
Translation
Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan,
We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode
If we are in an alien place, the heart remains in the homeland,
Know us to be only there where our heart is.
That tallest mountain, that shade-sharer of the sky,
It (is) our sentry, it (is) our watchman
In its lap frolic those thousands of rivers,
Whose vitality makes our garden the envy of Paradise.
O the flowing waters of the Ganges, do you remember that day
When our caravan first disembarked on your waterfront?
Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves
We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.
In a world in which ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome have all vanished without trace
Our own attributes (name and sign) live on today.
Such is our existence that it cannot be erased
Even though, for centuries, the cycle of time has been our enemy.
Iqbal! We have no confidence in this world
What does any one know of our hidden pain?
Hindi transliteration
सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोस्ताँ हमारा हम बुलबुलें हैं इसकी वो गुलसिताँ हमारा
ग़ुरबत में हों अगर हम रहता हो दिल वतन में समझो वहीं हमें भी दिल है जहाँ हमारा
परवत वो सब से ऊँचा हम साया आसमाँ का वो संतरी हमारा वो पासबाँ हमारा
गोदी में खेलती है इसकी हज़ारों नदियाँ गुलशन हैं जिनके दम से रश्क-ए-जहां हमारा
ए आब-ए-रूद-ए-गंगा वो दिन है याद तुझको? उतरा तेरे किनारे जब कारवाँ हमारा
मज़हब नहीं सिखाता आपस में बैर रखना हिन्दी हैं हम वतन है हिन्दोस्ताँ हमारा
यूनान-ओ-मिस्र-ओ-रोमा सब मिट गए जहाँ से अब तक मगर है बाक़ी नाम-ओ-निशान हमारा
कुछ बात है कि हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी सदियों रहा है दुश्मन दौर-ए-ज़माँ हमारा
इक़्बाल कोई मेहरम अपना नहीं जहाँ में मालूम क्या किसी को दर्द-ए-निहाँ हमारा
Notes and references
- ^ a b c Pritchett, Frances. 2000. "Tarana-e-Hindi and Taranah-e-Milli: A Study in Contrasts." Columbia University Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ http://www.muslim.org/allegs/iqbal-lett.htm
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allahabad_Address
- ^ a b c Iqbal: Tarana-e-Milli, 1910. Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ Although "Chin" refers to China in modern Urdu, in Iqbal's day it referred to Central Asia, coextensive with historical Turkestan. See also, Iqbal: Tarana-e-Milli, 1910. Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ Times of India: Saare Jahan Se..., it's 100 now
- ^ Indian Military Marches.
- ^ India Empowered to Me Is: Saare Jahan Se Achcha, the home of world citizens
- ^ "Here it is to be pronounced not 'gu-lis-taa;N' as usual, but 'gul-si-taa;N', to suit the meter." From: Pritchett, F. 2004. "Taraanah-i-Hindii" Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ Pronounced "tiray" to suit the meter, in contrast to the usual "tayray." From: From: Pritchett, F. 2004. "Taraanah-i-Hindii" Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.