(Zarb-e-Kaleem-175) Daam-e-Tehzeeb

Daam-e-Tehzeeb
Civilization’s Clutches

Iqbal Ko Shak Iss Ki Sharafat Mein Nahin Hai
Har Millat-e-Mazloom Ka Yourap Hai Khareedar

Iqbal has no doubt of Europe’s humaneness:
She sheds tears for all peoples groaning beneath oppression;

Ye Peer-e-Kaleesa Ki Karamat Hai Ke Uss Ne
Bijli Ke Charaghon Se Munawwar Kiye Afkar

Her reverend churchmen furnish her liberally 
With wiring and bulbs for moral illumination.

Jalta Hai Magar Sham-o-Falasteen Pe Mera Dil
Tadbeer Se Khulta Nahin Ye Uqda-e-Dushwar

And yet, my heart burns for Syria and Palestine,
And finds for this knotty puzzle no explanation—

Turkaan-e-‘Jafa Paisha’ Ke Panje Se Nikl Kar
Bechare Hain Tehzeeb Ke Phande Mein Giraftar!

Enlarged from the ‘savage grasp’ of the Turk, they pine,
Poor things, in the clutches now of ‘civilization.’