Sare Jahan se Accha
| Sare Jahan se Accha | |
|---|---|
| by Muhammad Iqbal | |
| Original title | Taranah-e-Hindi |
| First published in | Ittehad |
| Country | British India |
| Language | Urdu |
| Form | Ghazal |
| Publication date | 16 August 1904 |
"Sare Jahan se Accha" (
By 1910, Iqbal's worldview had changed to become global and Islamic. In a new song for children, "Tarana-e-Milli," written in the same metre, he changed the homeland from "Hindustan" to the "whole world." In 1930, in his presidential address to the Muslim League annual conference in Allahabad, he supported a separate nation-state in the Muslim-majority areas of the subcontinent, an idea that inspired the creation of Pakistan.
Saare Jahan se Accha has remained very popular, but only in India.[b] An abridged version is sung and played frequently as a patriotic song and as a marching song of the Indian Armed Forces.[3] The most popular musical composition is that of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.
Text of poem
| Hindustani/Urdu | Romanisation ( ALA-LC )
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|
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English 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,
consider us too [to be] right there where our heart would be.
That tallest mountain, that shade-sharer of the sky,
It (is) our sentry, it (is) our watchman
In its lap where frolic thousands of rivers,
Whose vitality makes our garden the envy of Paradise.
O the flowing waters of the
When our caravan first disembarked on your waterfront?
Religion does not teach us to bear animosity among ourselves
We are of
In a world in which ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome have all vanished
Our own attributes (name and sign) live on today.
There is something about our existence for it doesn't get wiped
Even though, for centuries, the time-cycle of the world has been our enemy.
Iqbal! We have no confidant in this world
What does any one know of our hidden pain?
Composition
Iqbal was a lecturer at the
Iqbal's transformation and Tarana-e-Milli
In 1910, Iqbal wrote another song for children, "Tarana-e-Milli" (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.[6] The sixth stanza of "Saare Jahan Se Achcha" (1904), which is often quoted as proof of Iqbal's secular outlook:
Maẕhab nahīṉ sikhātā āpas meṉ bair rakhnā |
Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves Hind , our homeland is Hindustan.
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contrasted significantly with the first stanza of Tarana-e-Milli (1910) reads:[6]
Chīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā |
Central Asia |
Iqbal's world view had now changed; it had become both global and Islamic. Instead of singing of Hindustan, "our homeland," the new song proclaimed that "our homeland is the whole world."
Popularity in India
- Saare Jahan Se Achcha has remained popular in India for nearly a century.
- In the 1930s and 1940s, it was sung to a slower tune. In 1945, while working in Mumbai with the Pandit Ravi Shankar was asked to compose the music for the K. A. Abbas film Dharti Ke Lal and the Chetan Anand movie Neecha Nagar. During this time, Ravi Shankar was asked to compose music for the song "Saare Jahan se Accha". In an interview in 2009 with Shekhar Gupta, Ravi Shankar recounts that he felt that the existing tune was too slow and sad. To give it a more inspiring impact, he set it to a stronger tune which is today the popular tune of this song, which they then tried out as a group song.[11] It was later recorded by the singer Lata Mangeshkar to a 3rd altogether different tune. Stanzas (1), (3), (4), and (6) of the song became an unofficial national song in India,[1] and the Ravi Shankar version was adopted as the official quick march of the Indian Armed Forces.[12] This arrangement as marching tune of this song was made by Antsher Lobo.[citation needed]
- Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut, employed the first line of the song in 1984 to describe to then prime minister Indira Gandhi how India appeared from outer space.[13]
- In his inaugural speech, the former prime minister of India Manmohan Singh quoted this poem at his first press conference after becoming the Prime Minister.[10]
- The song is popular in India in schools as a patriotic song, sung during morning assemblies, and as a marching song for the Indian armed forces, played during public events and parades.Beating the Retreat.[14]
Text in the Devanagari script
In India, the text of the poem is often rendered in the Devanagari script of Hindi:
| Devanagari |
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See also
- Index of Muhammad Iqbal–related articles
- Iqbal bibliography
- Amar Shonar Bangla
- Jana Gana Mana
- Vande Mataram
- National Pledge (India)
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ "'Taranah-e Hindi' (1904) was explicitly written as a patriotic song for children; Iqbal also composed a number of others meant for children, but this one has always been the most popular. This little ghazal ..."[1]
- ^ This little ghazal, composed by the man widely considered to be the philosophical father of Pakistan, is now extremely popular—but only in India."[1]
Citations
- ^ a b c d Pritchett, Frances. 2000. "Tarana-e-Hindi and Taranah-e-Milli: A Study in Contrasts." Columbia University Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ a b c "Saare Jahan Se Accha: Facts about the song and its creator". India Today. 21 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ^ Imam, Sharjeel (6 July 2016). "Sare Jahan Se Acha: The Idea of India in Early 20th Century Urdu Poetry". The Wire. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Here they are to be pronounced not Hindūstāṉ and gu-lis-tāṉ, respectively, as usual, but Hindositāṉ and gul-si-tāṉ, respectively, to suit the meter." From: Pritchett, F. 2004. "Taraanah-i-Hindii" Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ Pronounced "tiray" to suit the meter, in contrast to the usual "tayray." From: From: Pritchett, F. 2004. "Taraanah-i-Hindii" Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ a b c Iqbal: Tarana-e-Milli, 1910. Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ Although "Chin" refers to China in modern Urdu, in Iqbal's day it referred to Central Asia, coextensive with historical Turkestan. See also, Iqbal: Tarana-e-Milli, 1910. Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ Pritchett, Frances. 2000. Tarana-e-Hindi and Tarana-e-Milli: A Close Comparison. Columbia University Department of South Asian Studies.
- ^ A look at Iqbal; The Sunday Tribune – May 28, 2006
- ^ a b Times of India: Saare Jahan Se..., it's 100 now
- ^ Gupta, Shekhar (5 December 2009). "Walk the talk - Interview with Pandit Ravi Shankar". NDTV. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ Indian Military Marches Archived 2 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ India Empowered to Me Is: Saare Jahan Se Achcha, the home of world citizens
- ^ "Indian tunes to set mood at 'Beating Retreat' today". The Tribune. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
External links
- "Tarana-e-Hindi at Rabia Memorial School, Fatehpur Mau (UP) India". YouTube. 23 January 2013. (Children singing the complete lyrics of the song.)