“Bachashme Man Jahan Juz Rahguzar Naist” is a deeply philosophical Persian Rubai (quatrain) from Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s final work, Armaghan-e-Hijaz. In these verses, Iqbal reflects on the loneliness of the visionary and the realization that in the journey of the soul, one must eventually transcend even the closest of human bonds.
بچشم من جہاں جز رہگزر نیست
ہزاراں رہرو و یک ہم سفر نیست
گذشتم از ہجوم خویش و پیوند
کہ از خویشاں کسے بیگانہ تر نیست
Ba-Chashme Man Jahan Juz Rahguzar Naist
Hazaraan Rahraw-o-Yak Hamsafar Naist
Guzashtam Az Hujoom-e-Khaish-o-Paivand
Ke Az Khaishaan Kase Baigana-tar Naist
میری نظر میں دنیا ایک راستے کے سوا کچھ نہیں
یہاں ہزاروں مسافر ہیں مگر ایک بھی (حقیقی) ہم سفر نہیں ہے
میں عزیزوں اور رشتہ داروں کے ہجوم سے (آگے) گزر گیا
کیونکہ حقیقت میں اپنوں سے بڑھ کر کوئی اجنبی نہیں ہے
In my eyes, this world is nothing but a passage,
Thousands of wayfarers are here, yet not a single true companion.
I have passed beyond the crowd of kith and kin,
For there is none more stranger than one’s own relatives.
Philosophical Insight
Iqbal highlights a painful spiritual reality: the higher a soul climbs in its development (Khudi), the more solitary its journey becomes. The “crowd of relatives” represents the worldly attachments that often fail to understand the spiritual fire within a person. Ultimately, the seeker finds that “oneness” with the Divine requires moving past the superficial “oneness” of the crowd.
Thanks Azkalam