Malka-e-Sehra Reshma Wins Hearts

 

Magic Bhaila Show

 

From the Parrot to the Pigeon to the Eagle

Remembering the poems by Allama Mohammed Iqbal, poet / philosopher from Pakistan / India...

He is known as the reincarnation or continuation of Rumi. He frequently refers to “Shaheen” in his poetry. I believe it refers to Hawk, Eagle, Falcon, because to the layman like me, they seem to be all in the same family. Some of these are well known verses or couplets, some of which we were required to memorize, from our Urdu text books. I think he wrote more in Farsi than in Urdu. In Iran he is well known as Iqbal Lahori. As he resided in the historical city of Lahore, where is shrine is, right at the entrance of the Badshahi masjid.

Shaheen kabhi parwaz say thak kar naheen girta:
The eagle never falls down because of being tired.
Tu Shaheen hay, parwaz hay kaam tera:
You are a hawk, your work is to fly.

And this one, sung by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan:
Naheen tera nashayman qasr-e-sultani kay gunbad par
Tu Shaheen hay basayra kar pahaRRon ki chatano’n par
You nest (home) is not on the domes of the palaces of kings
You are a falcon, hang out in the high cliffs of mountans
The first line also refers to the crowd, most people: pigeons hang out in warmth of the crowd, at domes where they are given food, where they don’t have to hunt, and can be in the comfort zone.
Whereas, an eagle is kind of solitary, flies much higher than a pigeon. Does it’s own hunting. Chooses the road less travelled.

Iqbal, as a philosopher repeats this idea, about the nature of human beings. That it’s our nature to choose that high road. The heat which will produce gold. He often talks about this path of "khudi" or Self-Realization (of the higher Self). He was also using these ideas to inspire the Muslims of India, to kick the ass of the British, and to no longer live in slavery, which was called colonization.

Jhapat kar palatna, palat kar jhapatna:
Iqbal describes how an eagle hunts. It does not attack the prey from behind.
The eagle approaches the prey (bird) from the front, and at the first encounter, does a close call, a fly-by. A generous move, to allow the prey to get away, if it can.
Then the eagle turns, and returns to attack again.
Iqbal lived 500 years after Rumi, but often talked to him. Iqbal calls Rumi his spiritual master. In Rumi’s masnavi, there are many amazing stories, with multiple meanings. In his story about the Merchant and the Parrot. The parrot is in a cage. Some scholars see the metaphors as: The parrot is the ego. Or the human being locked in the cage of the body. The way to freedom, is to kill the ego.

Like in Buddhism they say, ego is the I, me and mine, which desires so many things. In psychology and in common language, there are many definitions of ego. In sufism, they say annihilate the ego, to be on a spiritual path. Some teachers say the ego is necessary to survive in the world, as a tool. Though any tool can be used as a weapon. Ego defined in that way, is that thing which makes a man unique, it’s what pushes him to compete, to hunt, to win, it’s what drives him. But that ego needs to be reigned in. If a man does not control his ego, his ego will control him. And that ego kills relationship. Perhaps the ego is also what makes a person selfish, confined, limited, on the ground. While generosity makes a person fly like a hawk, like Shaheen?