Saare Jahan Se Achchha (
UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
:) is one of the enduring patriotic poems of the
UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
language. Written originally for children in the
ghazalThe ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
style of
Urdu poetryUrdu poetry is one of the most dominant and prominent poetries of times and has many different colours & types...
by poet
Muhammad IqbalHazrat Allama Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal was a Persian and Urdu poet, philosopher and politician whose vision of an independent state for the Muslims of British India was to inspire the creation of Pakistan...
, the poem was published in the weekly journal
Ittehad on 16 August 1904. Recited by Iqbal the following year at Government College, Lahore, now in
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
, it quickly became an anthem of opposition to the
British ruleThe British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...
in
IndiaIndia may refer to:In politics:* Contemporary Republic of India * Former Union of India In geography and culture:* The Indian subcontinent...
. The song, an
odeOde is a lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode...
to
HindustanHindustan "land of Hind", is one of the popular names of South Asia. Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, after the partition of India it primarily refers to the Republic of India.-Etymology:...
—the land comprising present-day
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
, and
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
—both celebrated and cherished the land even as it lamented its age-old anguish.
Saare Jahan Se Achchha (
UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
:) is one of the enduring patriotic poems of the
UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
language. Written originally for children in the
ghazalThe ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...
style of
Urdu poetryUrdu poetry is one of the most dominant and prominent poetries of times and has many different colours & types...
by poet
Muhammad IqbalHazrat Allama Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal was a Persian and Urdu poet, philosopher and politician whose vision of an independent state for the Muslims of British India was to inspire the creation of Pakistan...
, the poem was published in the weekly journal
Ittehad on 16 August 1904. Recited by Iqbal the following year at Government College, Lahore, now in
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
, it quickly became an anthem of opposition to the
British ruleThe British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...
in
IndiaIndia may refer to:In politics:* Contemporary Republic of India * Former Union of India In geography and culture:* The Indian subcontinent...
. The song, an
odeOde is a lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode...
to
HindustanHindustan "land of Hind", is one of the popular names of South Asia. Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, after the partition of India it primarily refers to the Republic of India.-Etymology:...
—the land comprising present-day
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
, and
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
—both celebrated and cherished the land even as it lamented its age-old anguish. Also known as
Tarana-e-Hindi (Urdu: ترانۂ ہندی "Anthem of the People of
HindustanHindustan "land of Hind", is one of the popular names of South Asia. Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, after the partition of India it primarily refers to the Republic of India.-Etymology:...
"), it was later published in 1924 in the Urdu book Bang-i-Dara.
Iqbal was a lecturer at the Government College,
LahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. Historically the main city of the undivided Punjab, it is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its rich Mughal heritage...
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
elegiacAn elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The term "elegy" originally denoted a type of poetic meter . It commonly describes a poem of mourning, from the Greek elegeia derived from elegos —a reflection on the death of someone...
quality. In 1905, the 27-year old Iqbal was still in his idealistic phase and viewed the future society of the
subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
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 of a future Islamic society.
Iqbal's transformation and Tarana-e-Milli
In 1910, Iqbal wrote another song for children,
Tarana-e-MilliTarana-e-Milli or Anthem of the Community is an enthusiastic poem in which Dr. Allama Mohammad Iqbal paid tribute to the Muslim Ummah and said that nationalism in Islam was not recommended. He recognized all Muslims anywhere in the world as part of a single nation, whose leader is the Muslim...
(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. For example, the sixth stanza of
Saare Jahan Se Achcha (1904) 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.
In contrast, the first stanza of
Tarana-e-Milli (1910) reads:
chīn-o-arab hamārā, hindostān hamārā
muslim hain ham, vatan hai sārā jahān hamārā
or,
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
and Arabia are ours, Hindustan is ours
We are Muslims, the whole world is our homeland.
Iqbal's world view had now changed; it had become both global and Islamic. Instead of singing of India, "our homeland," the new song proclaimed that "our homeland is the whole world." Two decades later, in his presidential address to the
Muslim LeagueThe All-India Muslim League , founded at Dhaka, Bengal, in 1906, was a political party in British India that played a role in the Indian independence movement and developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent...
annual conference in
AllahabadAllahabad Allahabad Allahabad , is a city in north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and administrative headquarters of Allahabad District. The ancient name of the city is Aggra (Sanskrit for "place of sacrifice") and is believed to be the spot where Brahma offered his first...
in 1930, he was to propose a separate
nation-stateThe nation-state is a certain form of state that derives its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
in the Muslim majority areas of the sub-continent, an idea that inspired the creation of
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
. Due to this he later became known as as
Muffakir-e-Pakistan ("The Thinker of Pakistan"). He is officially recognized as the national poet of Pakistan.
Popularity in India
In spite of its creator's disavowal of it,
Saare Jahan Se Achcha has remained popular in India for over a century.
Mahatma GandhiMohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
is said to have sung it over a hundred times when he was imprisoned at Yerawada Jail in
PunePune , formerly known as Punawadi or Punya-Nagari or Poona, is the eighth largest city in India, and the second largest in the state of Maharashtra, after Mumbai...
in the 1930s. The poem was set to music in the 1950s by sitar maestro
Ravi ShankarRavi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian classical musician and composer who plays the sitar. He was described as "the most famous Indian musician on the planet" by Ken Hunt of Allmusic....
and recorded by singer
Lata MangeshkarLata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She sang in over a thousand Bollywood movies and has sung songs in over twenty regional Indian...
. Stanzas (1), (3), (4), and (6) of the song became an unofficial national anthem in India, and were also turned into the official quick march of the Indian Armed Forces.
Rakesh SharmaRakesh Sharma was a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force, was the first Indian and 138th person to travel in space. He retired from the Air force as Wing Commander.-Early life and background:...
, the first Indian cosmonaut, employed the first line of the song in 1984 to describe to then
prime ministerThe Prime Minister of India is the head of government of the Republic of India, and head of the Council of Ministers, appointed by the President to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the executive in India...
Indira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi ( Indirā Priyadarśinī Gāndhī; née: Nehru; (19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was the Prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977...
how India appeared from outer space. Current prime minister,
Manmohan SinghManmohan Singh is the 14th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the first person of Sikh faith to hold the office...
, quoted the poem at his first press conference.
Urdu text
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
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Hindi transliteration
सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोस्तान हमारा
हम बुलबुले हैं इसकी ये गुलसिता हमारा ॥धृ॥
घुर्बत मे हो अगर हम रहता है दिल वतन मे
समझो वही हमे भी दिल है जहाँ हमारा ॥१॥
परबत वो सब से ऊंचा हमसाय आसमाँ का
वो संतरी हमारा वो पासबा हमारा ।२॥
गोदी मे खेलती है इसकी हजारो नदिया
गुलशन है जिनके दम से रश्क-ए-जना हमारा ।३॥
ए अब रौद गंगा वो दिन है याद तुझको
उतर तेरे किनारे जब कारवाँ हमारा ॥४॥
मझहब नही सिखाता आपस मे बैर रखना
हिन्दी है हम वतन है हिन्दोस्तान हमारा ॥५॥
युनान-ओ-मिस्र-ओ-रोमा सब मिल गये जहाँ से
अब तक मगर है बांकी नामो-निशान हमारा ॥६॥
कुछ बात है की हस्ती मिटती नही हमारी
सदियो रहा है दुश्मन दौर-ए-जमान हमारा ॥७॥
इक़्बाल कोइ मेहरम अपना नही जहाँ मे
मालूम क्या किसी को दर्द-ए-निहा हमारा ॥८॥
Roman Transliteration
sāre jahāñ se acchā hindostāñ hamārā
ham bulbuleñ haiñ us kī vuh gulsitāñ hamārā
ġhurbat meñ hoñ agar ham, rahtā hai dil vat̤an meñ
samjho vuhīñ 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
ay āb-rūd-e gangā! vuh din haiñ yād tujh ko?
utarā tire kināre jab kāravāñ hamārā
mażhab nahīñ sikhātā āpas meñ bair rakhnā
hindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā
yūnān-o-miṣr-o-rumā sab miṭ gaʾe jahāñ se
ab tak magar hai bāqī nām-o-nishāñ hamārā
kuchh 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
GangesThe Ganges is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India, and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal...
, 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
GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
,
EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
, and
RomeAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
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 confidant in this world
What does any one know of our hidden pain?
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