I think some of you have already heard me going on about this nowadays…but I’m gonna put up a post about it neway…cuz I’m not happy until EVERYONE knows ^_^

FINE PRINT: Ok so, the title of the post is thus because I will openly admit that I used to make fun of Pakistanis *myself* a lot- cuz I really didn’t know what they were about…and Lubby-chan used to lecture me about it- back then I was like oh Lubna shut up…but I thought about it and she’s right…it’s so stupid…so heeeere goooes….

I’m sorry but I’ve really had enough of people having a go at my homeland- namely, Pakistan. I know a lot of people who do it are actually from there themselves, which is the sad thing about it really, but I guess half the time when they do it, they don’t mean much harm n they’re probably saying it for fun- I know, I know I guess I just take everything too much to heart XD

But to every ‘Paki’ out there- I’VE HAD ENOUGH!!! T_T

So what am I gonna do? I’m gonna tell you what Pakistan is really about ^_^
Uhuh- and guess what, any of you out there who call yourselves Pakistanis HAVE TO READ IT….to educate yourselves on your own HOME LAND!!
Ahem…

Ok here I go, this is a beautiful beautiful beautiful poem by Allama Iqbal. Now if none of you have heard of him before, he’s the most amazing poet- you can’t call yourself a poetry boff if you haven’t heard of him. He’s written poems in German, Urdu, Persian and English, he mastered Law in English from Cambridge and had an entire wing of a University in Germany (I forgot which one!) named after him. Plus his original language was Punjabi, but his ‘shayri’ (poems) were 10 times more amazing in Persian even than his own mother tongue. The reason why I chose this poem in particular is cuz well, it’s my favourite- I’ve been hearing it ever since I was like born and I even sang it in school when I was in Karachi in year 2 as like an end of year play XD

God the embarrassment…

Ok I’ll write the poem in my crappy attempt at Romanized Urdu first XD and then I’ll translate it underneath…P.S pleaaase be sympathetic to my poor poor attempt at translating such a beyond amazing poem into English, I tried my best- obviously I had no hope of making it rhyme like it really does- but all of you that are blessed with understanding Urdu (the really hard kind!) can at least get a taste of what its really about.

-P.s an in-depth knowledge of the Urdu language isn’t all that’s needed to get this poem…you also need to know a lot about world/ Asian (particularly south Asian) history- so I guess I’m gonna have to add a commentary like thing to it too…god this is gonna be one long post- HERE GOES!

Mera Watan Wahi Hai- By Allama Iqbal (1905)

Yonanyon ko jiss ney
Hairan kar diya tha
Sarey jahaan ko jiss ney
‘Ilm-o-henar deya tha

Mitti ko jiss kee haq ney
Zar ka asar diya tha
Turkon ka jiss ney daman
Heeron sey bhar diya tha

Band-e-kaleem jiss key
Parbat jehan ke saina
Noh-e-nabi ka aaker
Thera jehan safeena

Raafat hey jiss zameen ki
Ba’m-e-falak ka zeena
Jannat ki zindagi hey
Jiss ke faza mei jeena

The cry of unity was heard
First from our lands
The lands from which the King of Arabia*
Received true support and loyalty

My people are like the man that that spoke to God*
And our mountains are like Saina
The blessed Ark of Noah
Rests on our shores

This land has no limits
It’s blessed to reach endless heights
Living in these lands
Is like living in Heaven on Earth

That is my Home
That is my Home

***********************************
Ok this is where I explain all the stars ^_^

The Tataars- coming in from Iran and China (I think? *scratches head…) occupied most of the northern parts of Pakistan for quite a while and helped the lands flourish by introducing a lot of trading etc

The Hijaaz- The Hijaaz are basically the people that used to live in Madinah- basically, after the Muslims conquered India, the Arabs flocked in from Makkah and Madinah to live there because it was such a beautiful place

The Turks did find quite a lot of priceless diamonds and gems from Hindustan, as many of you know- India was once called the Golden Bird

The broken stars- here refers to the great scholars and learned philosophers of the day that lost a lot when Persia went into a decline. Hindustan/where Pakistan is now…that place is where they took refuge and enhanced their reputation once again

Pakistan was made in the name of faith- by the united voice of a lot of Muslims that were suffering under British rule and racial abuse- hence it is referred to here as the cry of unity. However, this poem was written like 50 years before Pakistan was even made, so right now he’s praising the unity of the Indian Muslims that were in the Punjab/Hindustan area

The king of Arabia- here meaning the Prophet Muhammed (Peace and Blessings be Upon him). Muslims believe that the Prophet dreamt of getting support from the Indians one day, and having the Indian Subcontinent on the Muslims side was a really big thing cuz there was so much wealth and fertile land there. After the message of Islam was spread there, a lot of loyal supporters rose up from the Indian subcontinent- here Allama Iqbal refers to their support as ‘tandi hawa’ – basically a gust of fresh air, which is metaphorical *I think* for support and encouragement- loyalty etc

Ok, the reference to the man who spoke to God (Moses) as ‘our people’ means they speak to him with true faith and Noahs ark..well now adays people say Noah’s ark is supposed to be in turkey- but here Allama refers to it being in our land because well…this poem was written like in 1905- so I guess he was just exaggerating a bit…XD OR he cud be referring to all the influences and heritage of the Muslims in the Hindustan area…

The endless heights some people say are a reference to Mount Everest- the highest peek in the world
And the reference to ‘jannat’ (heaven) is a direct reference to the area of Kashmir which is known as ‘wadiyeh kashmir, janat nazeer’ meaning Kashmir is the best example of heaven on earth…basically this was when Kashmir was still a part of India and was considered really peaceful and beautiful- and yeah- he’s just referring to the beauty and fertility of the land.

and yeah…

the end…

finally XD

Like I said, Pakistan wasn’t even built when Allama Iqbal wrote all this- he was basically admiring his people, those that shared his faith, and those that dreamt of a land where they could unite and practice their moral code freely, That place became Pakistan- land of the pure- ‘paak’ meaning ‘pure’ (so I guess every time someone calls me a Paki- they’re actually complimenting me…XD) but yea…its a great place, I love it…and honestly I cant think of having better ancestors ^_^