Analysis of The Candle
Allama Muhammad Iqbal 1877 (Sialkot, Punjab) – 1938 (Lahore, Punjab)
O Candle! I am also an afflicted person in the world assembly
Constant complaint is my lot in the manner of the rue
Love gave the warmth of internal pathos to you
It made me the florist selling blood-mixed tears
Whether you be the candle of a celebrating assembly or one at the grave
In every condition associated with the tears of sorrow you remain
Your eye views all with equity like the Secret's Lovers
My eye is the pride of the tumult of discrimination
Your illumination is alike in the Ka'bah and the temple
I am entangled in the temple and the Haram's discrimination
Your black smoke contains the sigh's elegance
Is some heart hidden in the place of your manifestation?
You burn with pathos due to distance from Tajalli's Light
Your pathos the callous ones consider your light
Though you are burning you are unaware of it all
You see but do not encompass the internal pathos
I quiver like mercury with the excitement of vexation
As well I am aware of vexations of the restless heart
This was also the elegance of some Beloved
Which gave me perception of my own pathos
This cognition of mine keeps me restless
Innumerable fire temples are asleep in this spark
Discrimination between high and low is created by this alone!
Fragrance in flower, ecstasy in wine is created by this alone!
Garden, nightingale, flower, fragrance this Cognition is
Root of the struggle of ‘I and you' this Cognition is
At creation's dawn as Beauty became the abode of Love
The sound of "Kun" taught warmth to the spirit of Love
The command came Beauty of Kun's garden to witness
With one eye a thousand dreadful dreams to witness
Do not ask me of the nature of the veil of being
The eve of separation was the dawn of my being
Gone are the days when unaware of imprisonment I was
That my abode the adornment of the tree of Tur was
I am a prisoner but consider the cage to be a garden
This exile's hovel of sorrow I consider the homeland
Memories of the homeland a needless melancholy became
Now the desire for sight, now Longing for search became
O Candle! Look at the excessive illusion of thought
Look at the end of the one worshipped by celestial denizens
Theme of separation I am, the exalted one I am
Design of the Will of the Universe's Lord I am
He desired my display as He designed me
When at the head of Existence' Divan He wrote me
The pearl likes living in a handful of dust
Style may be dull the subject is excellent
Not seeing it rightly is the fault of shortsighted perception
The universe is the show of effulgence of taste for Cognizance
This network of time and space is the scaling ladder of the Universe
It is the necklace of the neck of Eternal BeautyI
have lost the way, Longing for the goal I am
O Candle! Captive of perception's illusion I am
I am the hunter as well as the circle of tyranny's net!
I am the Haram's roof as well as the bird on Haram's roofAm I the Beauty or head to foot the melting love am I?
It is not clear whether the beloved or the Lover am I?
am afraid the old secret may come up to my lips again
Lest story of suffering on the Cross may come up again.
Scheme | AB BX XC XD XD ED FF XG CX XG HX II JJ KK HHLL MMDX NNXX OO AA XX DE XXOO XPP QQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110101010001010 10011110010101 110110101011 11101010111 10110101010001011101 01000100100101110101 1111110010110 11101101010010 1001010100110010 1101000100010010 1110101100 11110001110010 111101110111 110010101011 111101101111 11111010001010 11011001001011 1111011110101 111001001101 11101011110 1010111110 010001010101011 00100110110101101 100101000110101101 10100101010101 11010110110101 1111100100111 011111101011 0011101110110 111010101110 11111010101110 0110101011110 11011011010011 11010010101111 11010010100111010 1110110101001 10010101010001 10010111101101 11011001001011 1101101101010100 11010110010111 01101101111 101010111011 1101101001111 0111000111 11110011100 1101101011110010 01010111111100 1111011010101010 1101010110101 11011010111 110101101011 11010111010111 110111110111110101111010111 111110001101011 101011011111101 110110010111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 3,044 |
Words | 581 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 24 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2 |
Lines Amount | 57 |
Letters per line (avg) | 43 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 2:58 min read
- 95 Views
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"The Candle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1576/the-candle>.
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