Stray Reflections (Sang-e-Meel 2014), edited by Javid Iqbal, unveils the man behind hte poet/philosopher.
Time and again, the conservatives, the right-wingers, the atheists and the believers have used select portions of Iqbal’s work to abet their propagations. Was he a devout Muslim? Was he a non-believer? Was he first a poet and then a philosopher? Or was he first a philosopher and then a poet?
He is a left-winger, a right-winger, a believer, an atheist, a conservative and a liberal in turns and if his poetry were not evidence enough to prove this, his essays are, his lectures are, his notebook, Stray Reflections, in which records his careless thoughts, is. In this notebook, which he never wished to publish in his lifetime, his entries comprise of short sentences on subjects as assorted as the political future of Afghanistan, the poetic relevance of infinity, the virtues of self-control, Shakespeare, Ghalib, Goethe and Hafiz. , He wrote “power toucheth falsehood and lo! It is transformed into truth.” Amongst other such entries that define his way of looking at teh world.
All in all “Stray reflections” is a journey into the mind of “Iqbal” The man behind the philosopher.
