Saare Jahan Se Achcha
Encyclopedia
Saare Jahan Se Achchha 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. 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.". Later, when his speech was misconstructed as a support of Choudhary Rahmat Ali
's Pakistan scheme, he promptly wrote a letter rejecting this idea and stated that he had not presented the idea of a separate Muslim State; rather he wanted a large Muslim province by amalgamating Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Baluchistan into a big North-Western province within India.
is said to have sung it over a hundred times when he was imprisoned at Yerawada Jail in Pune
in the 1930s. 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, and were also turned into the official quick march of the Indian Armed Forces. 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. Current prime minister, Manmohan Singh
, quoted the poem at his first press conference.
سارے جہاں سے اچھاھندوستاں 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
ham bulbuleñ haiñ us kī vuh gulsitāñ
hamārā[2]
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 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!
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?
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
Hindustan
Hindustan or Indostan, literal translation "Land of River Sindhu ", is one of the popular names of South Asia. It can also mean "the land of the Hindus"...
"), is one of the enduring patriotic poems of the Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
language. Written originally for children in the ghazal
Ghazal
The 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 poetry
Urdu poetry
Urdu poetry is a rich tradition of poetry and has many different types and forms. Borrowing much from the Persian language, it is today an important part of Pakistani and North Indian culture....
by poet Muhammad Iqbal
Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal , commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal , was a poet and philosopher born in Sialkot, then in the Punjab Province of British India, now in Pakistan...
also known as Allama Iqbal, 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 Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, it quickly became an anthem of opposition to the British rule in India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. The song, an ode
Ode
Ode is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist...
to Hindustan
Hindustan
Hindustan or Indostan, literal translation "Land of River Sindhu ", is one of the popular names of South Asia. It can also mean "the land of the Hindus"...
—the land comprising present-day Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located 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...
, India
India
India , 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 with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
—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
Government College
Government College refers to various colleges.* Government College University, Lahore, is probably the most frequent college referred to by this name. It may also refer to:* Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, India* Darjeeling Government College...
, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
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
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
quality. In 1905, the 27-year old Iqbal was still in his idealistic phase and viewed the future society of the subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
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.". Later, when his speech was misconstructed as a support of Choudhary Rahmat Ali
Choudhary Rahmat Ali
Choudhry Rahmat Ali was a Pakistani Muslim nationalist who was one of the earliest proponents of the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is credited with creating the name "Pakistan" for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia and is generally known as the founder of the movement for its...
's Pakistan scheme, he promptly wrote a letter rejecting this idea and stated that he had not presented the idea of a separate Muslim State; rather he wanted a large Muslim province by amalgamating Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Baluchistan into a big North-Western province within India.
Popularity in India
Saare Jahan Se Achcha has remained popular in India for over a century. Mahatma GandhiMahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological 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 Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
in the 1930s. The poem was set to music in the 1950s by sitarist Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
and recorded by singer Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
. 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 Sharma
Rakesh Sharma
Wing commander Rakesh Sharma, AC, is a former Indian Air Force test pilot, and Cosmonaut aboard Soyuz T-11 as part of an Intercosmos Research Team...
, the first Indian cosmonaut, employed the first line of the song in 1984 to describe to then prime minister
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
how India appeared from outer space. Current prime minister, Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
, quoted the poem at his first press conference.
Urdu text
سارے جہاں سے اچھاھندوستاں 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 hamārāham bulbuleñ haiñ us kī vuh gulsitāñ
hamārā[2]
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 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
Ganges River
The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...
, 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
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, and Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to 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 confidence in this world
What does any one know of our hidden pain?
Hindi transliteration
सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोस्ताँ हमाराहम 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
See also
- Iqbal bibliographyIqbal bibliographyThis is a selective list of scholarly works related to Muhammad Iqbal, the poet-philosopher of the Indian subcontinent....
- Tarana-e-MilliTarana-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...
, another hymn by Iqbal which is a Pan-Islamic equivalent of Saare Jahan Se Achcha - Qaumi TaranaQaumi TaranaThe Qaumī Tarāna is the national anthem of Pakistan. The words "Qaumi Tarana" in Urdu literally translate to "National Anthem". The Pakistani national anthem is unique in that its music, composed by Ahmad G. Chagla, preceded its lyrics, which are in Persianized Urdu and were written by Hafeez...
- Amar Shonar BanglaAmar Shonar BanglaAmar Shonar Bangla is a 1905 song written and composed by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore , the first ten lines of which were adopted in 1972 as the Bangladeshi national anthem...
- Jana Gana ManaJana Gana ManaJana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India. Written in highly Sanskritized Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of a Brahmo hymn composed and scored by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It was first sung at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress on 27 December 1911...
- Vande MataramVande MataramVande Mataram is a poem from the famed novel Anandamath which was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1882. It was written in Bengali and Sanskrit....