Saare Jahan Se AchchaSaare Jahan Se Achchha (
Urdu:سارے جہاں سے اچھا) 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. 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-MilliIn 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. 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 rakhnāhindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā
or, Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselvesWe are of
Hind, our homeland is Hindustan. In contrast, the first stanza of Tarana-e-Milli (1910) reads:
chīn-o-arab hamārā, hindostān hamārāmuslim hain ham, vatan hai sārā jahān hamārā
or,
Central Asia and
Arabia are ours, Hindustan is oursWe 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." 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. Due to this he later became known as as Muffakir-e-Pakistan ("The Thinker of Pakistan"). He is officially recognized as the
national poet of Pakistan.
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. 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.
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. Current prime minister,
Manmohan Singh, quoted the poem at his first press conference.
Urdu text
سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہماراہم بلبليں ہيں اس کي، يہ گلستاں ہمارا
غربت ميں ہوں اگر ہم، رہتا ہے دل وطن ميںسمجھو وہيں ہميں بھي، دل ہو جہاں ہمارا
پربت وہ سب سے اونچا، ہمسايہ آسماں کاوہ سنتري ہمارا، وہ پاسباں ہمارا
گودي ميں کھيلتي ہيں اس کي ہزاروں ندياںگلشن ہے جن آب رود گنگا، وہ دن ہيں ياد تجھ کو؟اترا ترے کنارے جب کارواں ہمارا
مذہب نہيں سکھاتا آپس ميں بير رکھناہندي ہيں ہم وطن ہے ہندوستاں ہمارا
يونان و مصر و روما سب مٹ گئے جہاں سےاب تک مگر ہے باقي نام و نشاں ہمارا
کچھ بات ہے کہ ہستي مٹتي نہيں ہماريصديوں رہا ہے دشمن دور زماں ہمارا
اقبال! کوئي محرم اپنا نہيں جہاں ميںمعلوم کيا کسي کو درد نہاں ہمارا
Hindi transliteration
सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिन्दोस्तान हमारा ।हम बुलबुले है इसकी ये गुलसिता हमारा ॥धृ॥
घुर्बत मे हो अगर हम रहता है दिल वतन मे ।समझो वही हमे भी दिल है जहाँ हमारा ॥१॥
परबत वो सब से ऊंचा हमसाय आसमाँ का ।वो संतरी हमारा वो पासबा हमारा ॥२॥
गोदी मे खेलती है इसकी हजारो नदिया ।गुलशन है जिनके दम से रश्क-ए-जना हमारा ॥३॥
ए अब रौद गंगा वो दिन है याद तुझको ।उतर तेरे किनारे जब कारवाँ हमारा ॥४॥
मझहब नही सिखाता आपस मे बैर रखना ।हिन्दवी है हम वतन है हिन्दोस्तान हमारा ॥५॥
युनान-ओ-मिस्र-ओ-रोमा सब मिल गये जहाँ से ।अब तक मगर है बांकी नामो-निशान हमारा ॥६॥
कुछ बात है की हस्ती मिटती नही हमारी ।सदियो रहा है दुश्मन दौर-ए-जमान हमारा ॥७॥
इक़्बाल कोइ मेहरम अपना नही जहाँ मे ।मालूम क्या किसी को दर्द-ए-निहा हमारा ॥८॥
Roman Transliteration
sāre jahāñ se acchā hindostāñ hamārāham bulbuleñ haiñ us kī vuh gulsitāñ hamārā
ġhurbat meñ hoñ agar ham, rahtā hai dil vat̤an meñsamjho vuhīñ hameñ bhī dil ho jahāñ hamārā
parbat vuh sab se ūñchā, hamsāyah āsmāñ kāvuh santarī hamārā, vuh pāsbāñ hamārā
godī meñ kheltī haiñ us kī hazāroñ nadiyāñgulshan hai jin ke dam se rashk-e janāñ hamārā
ay āb-rūd-e gangā! vuh din haiñ yād tujh ko?utarā tire kināre jab kāravāñ hamārā
mażhab nahīñ sikhātā āpas meñ bair rakhnāhindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā
yūnān-o-miṣr-o-rumā sab miṭ gaʾe jahāñ seab tak magar hai bāqī nām-o-nishāñ hamārā
kuchh bāt hai kih hastī miṭtī nahīñ hamārīsadiyoñ rahā hai dushman daur-e zamāñ hamārā
iqbāl! koʾī maḥram apnā nahīñ jahāñ meñmaʿlūm kyā kisī ko dard-e nihāñ hamārā!
TranslationBetter 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 dayWhen our caravan first disembarked on your waterfront?
Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselvesWe are of
Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.
In a world in which ancient
Greece,
Egypt, and
Rome have all vanished without traceOur own attributes (name and sign) live on today.
Such is our existence that it cannot be erasedEven though, for centuries, the cycle of time has been our enemy.
Iqbal! We have no confidant in this worldWhat does any one know of our hidden pain?
