Saare Jahan Se Achcha

Saare Jahan Se Achchha (Urdu:nastaliq|سارے جہاں سے اچھا, Hindi: सारे जहां से अच्छा) 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, the poem was published in the weekly journal "Ittehad" on 16 August 1904.Pritchett, Frances. 2000. [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/taranahs/juxtaposition.html "Tarana-e-Hindi and Taranah-e-Milli: A Study in Contrasts."] Columbia University Department of South Asian Studies.] 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. Also known as "Tarana-e-Hindi" (Urdu: ترانۂ ہندی "Anthem of the People of Hindustan"), 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 of a future Islamic society.

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. [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/taranahs/milli_text.html Iqbal: Tarana-e-Milli, 1910] . Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.] For example, the sixth stanza of "Saare Jahan Se Achcha" (1904) is often quoted as proof of Iqbal's secular outlook:

"mażhab nahīñ sikhātā āpas meñ bair rakhnā"
"hindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā"

or,

Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves
We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.

In contrast, the first stanza of "Tarana-e-Milli" (1910) reads:

"chīn-o-arab hamārā, hindostān hamārā"
"muslim hain ham, vatan hai sārā jahān hamārā"

or,

Central Asia [Although "Chin" refers to China in modern Urdu, in Iqbal's day it referred to Central Asia, coextensive with historical Turkestan. See also, [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/taranahs/milli_text.html Iqbal: Tarana-e-Milli, 1910] . Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.] and Arabia are ours, Hindustan is ours
We are Muslims, the whole world is our homeland.

Iqbal's world view had now changed; it had become both global and Islamic. Instead of singing of India, "our homeland," the new song proclaimed that "our homeland is the whole world." [ Pritchett, Frances. 2000. [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/taranahs/comparison.html "Tarana-e-Hindi and Tarana-e-Milli: A Close Comparison] . Columbia University Department of South Asian Studies.] Two decades later, in his presidential address to the Muslim League annual conference in Allahabad in 1930, he was to propose a separate nation-state in the Muslim majority areas of the sub-continent, an idea that inspired the creation of Pakistan. [ [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060528/spectrum/book7.htm A look at Iqbal; The Sunday Tribune - May 28, 2006] ]

Popularity in India

In spite of its creator's disavowal of it, "Saare Jahan Se Achcha" has remained popular in India for over a century. Mahatma Gandhi is said to have sung it over a hundred times when he was imprisoned at Yerawada Jail in Pune in the 1930s. [ [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1082625.cms Times of India: Saare Jahan Se..., it's 100 now] ] The poem was set to music in the 1950s by sitar maestro 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. [ [http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/Marches.html Indian Military Marches] .] 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. [ [http://www.financialexpress.com/print.php?content_id=110972 India Empowered to Me Is: Saare Jahan Se Achcha, the home of world citizens] ] Current prime minister, Manmohan Singh, quoted the poem at his first press conference. The song is, however, little known in Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Roman Transliteration

"sāre jahāñ se achchā hindostāñ hamārā"
"ham bulbuleñ haiñ us kī vuh gulsitāñ"Here it is to be pronounced not 'gu-lis-taa;N' as usual, but 'gul-si-taa;N', to suit the meter." From: Pritchett, F. 2004. [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/taranahs/hindi_text.html "Taraanah-i-Hindii"] Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.] hamārā"

"ġhurbat meñ hoñ agar ham, rahtā hai dil vat̤an meñ"
"samjho vuhīñ 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"

"ay āb-rūd-e gangā! vuh din haiñ yād tujh ko?"
"utarā tire [Pronounced "tiray" to suit the meter, in contrast to the usual "tayray." From: From: Pritchett, F. 2004. [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/taranahs/hindi_text.html "Taraanah-i-Hindii"] Columbia University, Department of South Asian Studies.] kināre jab kāravāñ hamārā"

"mażhab nahīñ sikhātā āpas meñ bair rakhnā"
"hindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā"

"yūnān-o-miṣr-o-rumā [Pronounced "rumā" instead of "romā" to suit the metre.] sab miṭ gaʾe jahāñ se"
"ab tak magar hai bāqī nām-o-nishāñ hamārā"

"kuchh 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, 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 confidant in this world
What does any one know of our hidden pain?

Notes and References

ee also

*Iqbal bibliography
*List of patriotic songs
*Vande Mataram
*Amar Shonar Bangla
*Jana Gana Mana
*Qaumi Tarana

External links

* [http://www.geetganga.org/sare-jahan-se-acha Geet Ganga: Audio Version of Sare Jahan Se Acha] - Available for Download
* [http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/VUbsof-zQd.As1NMvHdW/ Music India Online: Saare Jahan Se Achcha]
* [http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/movie/T0000525.html Raaga: Patriotic Songs Vol. 6 (2003) - Sare Jahan Se Achcha (Instrumental)]