IQBALS CONCEPTION OF EGO *

Iqbal (1877-1938) occupies a unique position in the modem histmy of Muslim thought because he was the first one to make a serious attempt t reconstruct Islamic philosophy in the light of recent n western thought. Iqbals early training made him eminently suitable for his role. After obtaining (1899) the degree of Master of Philosophy under T. W. Arnolds care from the Punjab University in Lahore, Iqbal went to Europe in 1 9 5 for advanced graduate studies in Britain and Gennany. In London he studied at Lincolns Inn in order to qualify at the Bar, and at Trinity College at Cambridge University he enrolled as an advanced student of philosophy in order to benefit from the lectures of the neo-Hegelian, Professor MacTaggart, and Professor James Ward. At Cambridge, Iqbal also cultivated friendships with turo outstanding orientalists-E. G. Bmwne and Reynold A. Nicholson. Simultaneously, however, Iqbal submitted his doctoral dissertation, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia, to Professor F. Hommel of Munich University, for which the German university awarded him doctoris philosophize gradum in November,

=go70
In I@ Iqbal started his professional career in Lahore as an attorney, college professor and poet-all at once. At length, however, the true poet-philosopher won out at the expense of the professor and the attorney. Before 1905 the vehicle for his poetic composition had been Urdu, the Muslims lingua franca in India, but in Europe Iqbal shifted to Persian. In addition to two prose works in English, I q b l composed altogether nine poetical works, out of which six are in Persian, and the remaining three in Urdu.2 Among these Persian works, Asrar-i Khudi together with its complimentary second part, Ramuz-i Bekhudi, is truly Iqbals magnirm ofis. This muthnavi contained his innovated doctrine of Khudi (ego) ; all subsequent works of Iqbal supplemented and further refined this central concept. Only five hundred copies of Asrur-i Khudi were first published by but Iqbal in 1915, they raised a storm of vilification against him. The iicathnaz.i not only expounded the doctrine of Khudi, but was also an indictment of the wahdat alwujzld (unitarian monism) school of Sufism, beginning with a criticism (in thirty-five verses) of Hafiz
Conn., on March 23, 1967.

Presented at the American Oriental Society Annual Meeting. Xew Haven,

1 The dissertation was published in 1908 by Luzac and Company, London, and was dedicated to Professor T. W. Arnold. Cf. also, Muhammad Din Fauq, Doctor ShrUlih Sir Muhammad Iqbal : Mulchtaser Swmih Hayat. Nayrang-i Khayal, Iqbal number (Lahore : September-October, I932), pp. 2j-29. f The following are the poetical works of Iqbal and the years of their publications. I ) A v w - i Khudi (Persian, I~IS), 2) Ramuz-i Bekhudi (Persian, 1917); 3) Payam-i Muslrrq (Persian, 1923); 4) Bang-i Dara (Urdu, 1924); 5 ) /avid

I60

IQBALS CONCEPTION OF EGO

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(13A-13@).3 Some ill-informed critics charged that Iqbal was only a Muslim Nietzsche, propagating the worship of power.

DEFINITION OF KHUDI
In Persian and Urdu literature the word Khudi has been used to mean vanity, arrogance and haughtiness.* For example, Iraqi in one of his Persian verses says: + dl2 2 . 5 .-4- J 1 l ; &I $128 2 p & j lJ + 2 The begmning i this, do you h o w whats its end? s To achieve deliverance of the self from ones own conceit. In a similar vein the famous Urdu poet Sauda says: 5
2 ,&I Alas, I could not leach Him from the prison of my egotism It has been difficult to be released from my own trap.
J&,
C

&

CI-

Nameh (Persian, 1932); 6) B d l i Jibrzl (Urdu. 1935) ; 7) Pes Cheh Bayad Kard A y Aqwami Skarq (Persian, 1936); 8) Dharbi Kalim (Urdu, 1936); 9) A m g h n i Hedjap (Persian, posthumously published, 1 3 ) Including their first edi98. tions, altogether 305&0 copies of these works had been published by 1959. Cf. Faqir Sayyid Wahid-ud-Din, Rugar-i Faqir (Karachi: Line Art Press, I@), I, 214-216. addition to his doctoral dissertation, the other prose work is The In Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (Lahore: 1 9 3 ; subsequently a seventh chapter, Is Religion Possible, was added and the new edition was published in 19% in London). 3 For instance, some of the verses warned of Hafiz: Beware of Hafiz the drinker, His cup is full of the poison of death. His garment of abstinence is mortgaged to the cupbearer, Wine is the remedy for the horror of the resurrection. From the second edition of Asrar-i Khudi, Iqbal eliminated the Introduction as well as the thirty-five critical verses about Hafiz. Criticism of Hafiz, stated Iqbal, was not a personal criticism, but was aimed at a literary objective. In deference to the sensitivity of some friends, those verses have been eliminated and some new were substituted, containing a description of the criterion on which the literature of any nation should be judged. Cf. Deybacheh Asrar-i Khudi Edition Dowem, i Maqalaii Iqbal, e. Sayyid CAbdul Vahid MuCini (Lahore: n d. Ashraf, 19631, P. y3.. The most noted Iii&viduals who continued their polemics against Iqbal included Hakim Firoz-ud-Din Tughrayyi, Malik Muhammad Kashmiri, Dhauqi Shah, Akbar Allahabadi, Khawja Hasan Nizami, Pirzadeh Muzaffar-ud-Din Ahmad Fadli. In refutation of Asrar-i Khudi, and in defense of Hafiz, Fadli composed a d h n a v i , Rds-i Beithndi and Tughrayyi composed Liran al-Ghaib. They are now forgotten, and one tm hardly find their copies. Cf. Ghulam Rasul Mehr, Malalib Asrar-wa-Ramus (Lahore: Ghulam CAli & Sons, 1960). p. 26. 4 Cf. the standard work of Steingass: ( I ) selfishness, ( 2 ) conceic (3) egotism; ste also Nlir aCLugMt: ( I ) ananiyat, kkud prasti, (2) Klaud gharzi, khud mukhtari, ( 3 ) gharur, nikhwat, takaber. 5 For many more examples of this kind, and Iqbals attitude toward wahdat al-wjiid see an excellent study, Abu Sayeed Nur-ud-Din, Islami TasaMMIf Awr Iqbal (Karachi: Iqlial Academy, 1959). pp. 267-270; also, Muhammad Farman, Iqbal A w Tasawwuf (Lahore: Bazm-i Iqbal, 1958); the central thesis of Farmans study is that Sufi tenets are derived from the Qur% and Iqbal never repudiated Sufism.

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THE MUSLIM WORLD

Recognizing this semantic difficulty, Iqbal stated that the other words for the metaphysical fact of the I are equally bad, e.g., U M , shakhs, nufs, and um~iyuf.He wanted a color-less word in order to express the concept of self or ego, having no ethical significance. At last, considering the requirements of verse, Iqbal adopted Khudi as the most appropriate term to denote the self. H e stated: Thus metaphysically the word Khudi is used in the sense of that indescribable feeiing of I,, which forms the basis of the uniqueness of each individual. Metaphysically it does not convey any ethical significance for those who cannot get rid of its ethical significance.. . Ethically the word Khudi means (as used by me) self-reliance, self-respect, self-confidence, self-preservation, even self-assertation, when such a thing is necessary, in the interests of life and the power to stick to the cause of truth, justice, duty, even in the face of death.6 Dictating his views to Nazir Niyazi i 1937, Iqbal +utly n stated that the Asrwi Khudi is based upon two principles: a) That personality is the central fact of the universe; b) That personality, I-am is the central fact in the constitution of man. The first principle, Iqbal believed, is described in the Old Testament as the great I-am. The Qur;)S.n, however, described the ultimate personality in much grander terms (S.59: 23, 24).7 This concept of personality, Iqbal pointed out, is illuminated in the second chapter of the Asruri Khudi; for instance: The form of existence is an effect of the Self, Whatsoever thou seest is a secret of the Self.

. . .

Its self-deceptions are the essence of Life; Like the rose, it lives by bathing itself in blood. For the sake lof a single m e it destroys a hundred rose gardens, n And makes a hundred lamentations i quest of a single melody.

. . .

When life gathers strength from the Self The river of life expands into an ocean. 8

6 Note on Nietzsche, in Thoughts and Reflections of Iqbal, d, S.A. Vahid (Lahore: Ashraf, 1964). p. 243. 7 Ibid., p. 238; The QurJ5n says (S. 59 :23) : God is He, than Whom There is no other god; The Sovereign, the Holy One, The Source of peace (and perfection), The Guardian of faith, The Preserver of safety, The Exalted in might, The Irresistible, the Supreme. The translation given is that of A. Yusuf Ah, The Holy QwJm (Lahore: Ashraf, 1938). S Muhammad Iqbal, Asrar-i Khudi (Lahore: 1959), pp. 12-13; (tr.) Reynold A. Nicholson, The Secrets of the Self (Lahore: Ashraf, I @ ) , pp. 16-17.

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The ,second principle of the smaller or dependent I-am, Iqbal maintained, is variously described in the Qur3.n i.e., &zcif, [weak] jahd, [ignorant] zaZJm, [unjust] yet it is also described as aban alt a v - m , the bearer of Divine trust.. . Ihas the quality of growth as well as the quality of corruption, it has the power to expand by absorbing tlie elements of the universe of which it appears to be an insignificant part, it has also the power of absorbing the attributes of God (takhallaq~ bi-akhldq Alldh : create in yourself the attributes of God). The various stages of its spiritual expression are described in the Asrari Khudi as follows: I ) Itdot, complete surrender to the Law; 2 ) Zobt-i nafs, self-control; 3) niyabcti Ilahya, vicegerency of God [on earth]. Q

In the tenth chapter of the ASYW-iKhudi, Iqbal maintained that the complete submission to the law is symbolized by the camel : Service and toil are t e traits of the camel, h Patience anti perseverance are ways of the camel Noiselessly lie steps along the sandy track H e is the ship of those who voyage in the desert.

. . .
Thou, too, do m t refuse the burden of duty: So wilt thou enjoy the best dwelling-place, which is with God. Endeavor to obey, 0 heedless one !
Liberty is the fruit o compulsion. 10 f Regarding the significance of self -control, Iqbal s a p : He that b e s not command himself Becomes a receiver of commands from others

. . .
One to whom God is the sod in his body, His neck is not bowed before vanity Fear finds no way into his bosom, His heart is afraid of none but All&. 11 Explaining the concept of divine vicegerency, Iqbal basically developed in his own way ihe Sufi doctrine of insan-i kamil (the perfect man), and did not present Nietzsches iibermensch (superman) as an ideal. Here are some of the qualities of the perfect man:
0 Note on Nictzschc, op. cif., p. 239. See also Nicholson, op. cif., p. xxvii; that Iqbal was stimulated and impressed by the provocative language and thoughts

of Nietzsche i not denied Iqbal has at times utilized Nietzsches philosophic techs nique without adopting his ideas. The three stages of Khudis development are very much reminiscent of Nietzsches Of the Three Metamorphoses, in which the spirit becomes a camel, and the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child Cf. Nietzsche. Thw Spake Zarathuttra (Baltimore: @ I ) , pp. 54-56. 10 Iqba, Asrari-Rhudr, p. 45; Nicholson, op. c k , pp. 72-73. Ibid., pp. 75-76.

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Gods vicegerent is as the soul of the Universe, His being is the shadow of the Greatest Name.

Then Iqbal longs for his a m d on the scene of the world. Appear, 0 rider of Destiny ! Appear, 0 light of the dark realm of Change! Illumine the scene of existence. Dwell in the blackness of our eyes! Arise and tune the harp of b m t h e r h d , Give us back the cup of the wine of love ! Bring once more days of peace to the world, Give a message of peace to them that seek battle. 12
Gods vicegerent is obviously not Nietzsches superman; however, when Iqbal says Be as hard as the diamond a superficial similarity develops. In the fourteenth chapter of the Asrw-i Khudi, IqbaJ compares strong ego to the radiance of the diamond and then concludes:

Whosoever strives hard and grips tight, The two worlds are illumined by him

. . .

In solidity consists the glory of Life; Weakness is worthlessness and immaturity. 13 Unlike Nietzsches ideal, this is not a message of callousness or pitilessness. To Iqbal the diamond represents the integration of the elements of the ego so that it may be able to obstruct the forces of destruction in its means towards personal immortality.1* (Iqbal, thus, emphatically claimed that in its essence the ASYUY-~ Khudi and Nietzsche are diametrically opposed to each other.) In the strengthening of ego, Ishq (love) is the determining factor in Iqbals philosophic system. Love means the desire to assimilate, to absorb. Its highest form is the creation of values and ideals and the endeavour to realize them. The opposite of love, to Iqbal is s d (asking), and all that is achieved without personal effort comes under suwd. Iqbal also defined love as the power of assimielative action, and described asking as a synonym for inaction. Partaking in the creative functions of God 1 5 individual ego demonstrates the power of assimilative action. Ego, according to Iqbal, remains creative in a state of perpetual tension. If the tension is not maintained, relaxation ensues, leading
12

13 14
15

Iqbal stated it indicated the possibility of other creators than cod (Nichol:on, ob. cit.. 0. xviii). thus returning to a QurJanic argument dating from the class~cal . . ~uCt&iiite-AshCaritecontroversy.

Ibid., pp. 79. 83-84. I b d . . m. 106-107. Noieon Niet&he, p. z ~ j . Citing the QurJZn (S. 23 : 14)Blessed is God, the best of those who create,

IQBALS CONCEPTION OF EGO

65

man to inactivky. Thus the state of tenxion (is the most valuable achievement of man, he should ,see that he does not revert to a state of relaxation. That which tends to maintain a state of tension tends to make US immortal.. . That which fortifies personality is good, that which weakens it is bad.16 Iqbals conception of ego functioned as the frame of reference, enabling him to judge art, religion and ethics. 17

CRITICISM Wuhdut al- Wujed OF

In I,slam, Iqbal critiazed the doctrine of &dot d-wuja, which had been innovated by the Hispanic-Arab mystic Muhyil-Din Ibn aLCArabi (1165-1240). Although in his doctoral dissertation Iqbal had paid a glowing tribute to Ibn aLCArabi,in his Introduction to the first edition of the A w u A Klrudi, he repudiated him. 18 To Ibn aLCArabi all paths lead to one straight path (al-ruriq al-umm), which leads to God. 19 The different religions were thus in his opinion identical. Following his views, Ibn aLCArabis Indic disciples during the sixteenth century had sought to reconcile the symbols of the VaiShnaVtte poetry and other devotional Hindu songs with Muslim beliefs. In 1566, Mir cAbdul Wahid Bilgrami wrote a treatise, Huqoiqi Hind in which he endeavored to reconcile and integrate more than fifty symbols o the Vaishnavites and w v e d other terms of devotional f Hindu songs with Islamic beliefs.
16
17

Ibid., pp. xxi.

Consequently, Iqbal became a firm exponent of the theory of purposive art as against art for arts sake. Writing on this subject in 19x6, Iqbal said: the highest art is that which awakens our dormant will-force and new- us to face the trials of life manfully.. . There should be no opium-eating in a r t The dogma of art for the sake of art is a clever invention of decadence to cheat us out of life and power. Muhammad Iqbal, Our Prophets criticism of contemporary Arabian Poetry, The New Era (19r6), p. 251. Twelve years later, in a foreword to the work of a young artist, Iqbal stated: I look upon art as subservient to life and personality.. . The spiritual health of a people largely depends on the kind of inspiration which their poets and artists receive.. . The inspiration of a single decadent, if his art can lure his fellows to his song or picture, may prove more ruinous to a people than whole battalions of an Attila or Changez. Cf. Dr. Sir M&ammad Iqbal, Foreword, Mwaqqa-i Chughtai: Diwani Ghalib by M&ammad CAbd al-Rahman Chughtai (Lahore: Ripon Printing Press, *rp8),pp. a-b. 18 Muhammad Iqbal, Daybacheh-i Asrar-Khudi in LVahid-ud-Din, op. cif., I I , 4 - 5 2 ; M&amm;td Iqbal, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (Lahore: B a n - i Iqbal, 1959), p. x. 19 Ibn al-CArabi tried to derive this doctrine from the QurJanic verse: For each one of you we have made a religion and a pathway (S. 5 : 52). Affifi, a competent authority on Ibn al-CArabi, has stated that monotheism and polytheism, together with other creeds, are, when interpreted in the light of his [Ibn al-CArabis] theory, nothing but one universal religion.. . And SO, Ibnul Arabi does not reject polytheism, provided that the worshippers of images and idols elt fully r d i s e that there is a R a i y behind the forms of their gods, regarding the forms as mere mujdi (theatres) of m j i h (aspetts) or manifestation of this reality. A. E. Affifi, The Mysfical Philosophy of M 4 y i d Din-Ibnul CArobi (Lahore: Ashraf, n . , pp. 14&149. d)

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For example, Krishna (a Kshatriya hem gradually deified in the Mahabhu7atu), 20 and other names symbolized for Bilgrami [the] Prophet Mdpmmad. Gopis (cow-herd KrishnaJs wives), sometimes symbolized angels, sometimes the human race. . . Gobra (cow-dung) symbolized the faults and f l i s of human beings.. . Bzaj rof Gokul ole (a town near Mathura) sometimes symbolized c&m-i Nosut (the human world) , sometimesCulam-iMalkut (the invisible world) and sometimes Calam-i Juabruf (the highest world). Jumna and Ganga [rivers] some times indicated the Sea of Wu!ufuit (unity) and at the other occasion m C n f a t (gnosis) . . .,,2 1 In order to meet the wahdat al-wujtZd brand of Islam half way, the Hindus also wrote the Allopunishad [Alloh Upunishad].*2 The Mughal Emperor Akbars (1556-160s) Din4 Ilahi23 (Religion of God, promulgated i 1582), was designed to n synthesize Islam with other Indic religions and creeds, and was the triumph of @ t a k al-uncjild in India. Iqbal believed that if this synthetic trend had been allowed to oontinue the distinctive culture of Indic Islam would have been assimilated into the dominant Hindu culture and m d d have completely disappeared from India. However, this potential synthesis of Hindu-Mush cultures was shattered by t e movement of Shaykh Ahmad Sarhindi Mujadded Alf Thani24 h (born in 1564),who subscribed to, and further developed the theory of wahdut-d-shuh&f (unity of the Phenomenal), in order to refute the doctrine of zmhdat al-wjtki. Finally, the Mughal Emperor,
~~

20 Pusalker, a noted Hindu historian, has maintained that evidence of the different stages in the progress of deification of fipla [Krishna] will be found in the Mohobharata itself. (Mahabharato, cr. e. 11, 35, zz-zg). In contrast to d, the earliest portions which clearly bring out the human elements of Kfsna and portray him as a human hero, he is represented as a semidivine being in later portions; whereas the parts of the epic that came stiII later, regard Knna as the The Epics and Pwaw (Bombay: Supreme God. A. D. Pusalker, Shcdies i Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1963), p. 8g. 21 M r CAbdul Wahid Bilgrami, Haqaiqi Hind (Aligarh Muslim University i Ms. Ahsan Collection), f. 106; cf. also, S a i d Athar Abbas Rizvi, Mtulim ReuEoolirt Movements in Northern India in the Sirteenth and Seventeenth Cenfuries (Agra: University Press, I&), pp. 31-39. 22 The Hindus were willing to absorb the Muslims; they wrote the Alfopanishad and went perilously near to making an cruatur of the Emperor M a r . Sir Jadunath Sarkar, India Through the Ages (Calcutta: M. C . Sarkar & Sons, 1928),pp. 15-16. ~3 For Akbars and Abul Fadls (the high priest of the Din4 Ilahs? religious innovations, KC CAbdul Qadir Badatmi, Muntakhab al-Tmdrikh (Calcutta: College Press, 1868),Vols. I, 11; cf. also, Vincent Arthur Smith, ARbw, The G e u f Mughal (Oxford University Press, I917), pp. 1b170. 24 For the Mujaddeds views on the synthetic Dmi-Ilahi, and his doctrine of vra!sdat &shah&, see his P r i n letters to leaders and officers in the administraesa Mujadded Alf Thani, Makhbati 1 4 tion of Emperor Jahangir (1605-1628). Rabbani (Lucknow: Nawal Kashore P e s nd), 1 1 vols; contain 313 letters; rs, 1 also. Sayyid Imam CAli Shah, Maktubat-i Qutabi Rabbani, ed.,Muhammad Fad1 NaCim (Lahore: n.d) ; M&ammad Manzur NuCmani, Tadhkira-i Imam4 Rabbani Mujadded Alf Thani (Lucknow: I*), I1 edition; AI-Fwqdn: Mujadded Aff Tlaani Number (Lucknow: 1357A.H./1938), Burhan Ahmad Faruqi, The M ~ j o d dids Conception of Tawhid (Lahore: Ashraf, XMO).

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Aurangzeb CAlamgir (d.1707) struck the coup de grace which stopped the endeavors toward synthesis. Since Muslinis were outnumbered four to one in India, Iqbal came to believe that the pantheism of Ibn al-CArabi would dissolve their collective Khucfi in the Hindu cultural milieu. Khudi (or self-preservation) became the frame of reference for Iqbals analysis of Indian history. Political forces or persons were virtuous insofar as they strengthened the collective Muslim K h d i . Hence Iqbals lack of appreciatian for Emperor Akbars Din-i Ilahi, and its concomittant cultural syncretism, and his approbation of Shaykh Ahmad Mujadded Alf Thani, who spent his life combating the legacy of the Din4 Ikzhi. Extolling the virtues of the Mujadded, Iqbal says in B d i Jibril:

I stood by the Reformers tomb: that dust Whence here below an orient splendour breaks, Dust whose least speck stars hang their heads, Dust shrouding that high knower of things unknown Who to Jahangir would not bend his neck, Whose ardent breath fans every free hearts ardour, Whom Allah sent in season t keep watch o In India on the treasure-house of Islam. 25
By the same token Aurangzeb was considered to have reinforced the collective Muslim ego, because in Iqbals judgment he undersbood the reality of the ideological and cultural as well as the ecological struggle in India. Discussing in Ramuz-i Bekhudi (the mysteries of sdflessness) the personal fulfillment of the individual in society, Iqbal described Aurartgzeb CAlamgiras:

Shah Alamgir, the high and mighty king, Pride and renown of Gurgan Timurs [ Tamerlane] line, I n whom Islam attained a loftier fame And wider honour graced the Prophets Law, He the last arrow to our quiver left I n the affrsy of Faith with Unbelief; When that the impious seed of heresy, By Akbar nourished, sprang and sprouted fresh 26 In Daras soul, the candle of the heart Was dimmed in every breast, no more secure Against corruption our Commfity Continued; then God chose from India That humble-minded warrior, Alamgir, Religion to revive, faith to renew.
3 Iqbal, E d - i Jibril (Lahore: 1546), pp. 211-2; V. G. Kiernan, P o r n from Iqbal (London: John Murray, I955), p. jS. 26 This refers to Dara Shikoh (1615-59), a great-grandson of Akbar, and Aurangzebs elder brother. In the war of succession Dara was defeated by Aurangzeb.

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The lightning of his sword set all ablaze The harvest of impiety; faiths torch Once more its mdiance oer our counsels shed.

. . .

H e was a moth that ever beat its wings About the candleflame of Unity, An Abraham in Indias idol-house. 27 I n the light of the doctrine of Khudi, Iqbals interpretation of Indian history led him to develop the twn-nation theory, which was officiallly adopted by the All-India Muslim League in 1940. Iqbal attributed the development of Indic Muslims as a nation largely to the endeavors of Aurangzeb. The political genius of Aurangzeb was extremely comprehensive, wrote Iqbal in his private note-book, which he had started writing in 1910. He continued: His [Aurangzebs] one aim of life was, as it were, to subsume the various communitia of this country under the notion of one universal empire.. . Ignoring the factor of time in the pulitical evolution of his contemplated empire he started an endless struggle [ref. to his fifty years wars against the Sikhs, Rajputs, and Marathas] in the hope that he would be able to unify the discordant political units of India in his own life-time. H e failed to Islamise (not in the religious sense) India just as Alexander had failed to HeIlenise Asia.. . The history of the preceding Muslim n dynasties had taught Aurangzeb that the strength of Islam i India did not depend, as his great ancestor Akbar had thought, so much on the goodwill of the people of this land as on the strength of the ruling race. With dl his keen political perception, however, he could not undo the doings of his forefathers. Sevajee [ Shivaji, the Maratha leader] was not the product of Aurangzebs reign; the Maharatta owed his existence to social and political forces called into being by the policy of Akbar. Aurangzebs political perception, though true, was too late. Yet considering the significance of this perception he must be looked upon as the founder of Musalman [Muslim] nationality in India. I am sure posterity will one day recognize the truth of what I say. 28 Iqbal was not a professional historian and he never did claim to be one. However, he was a maker of history. I n view of this, it is not without significance that most Muslim scholars and historians have
3 A. J. Arberry, The Mysteries of Selflessness (London: John Murray, I953), P. 17. 3s Stray Reflectiuns, Ed., ]avid Iqbal (Lahore: Ghulam CAli & Sons, I#I), P. 44-46,

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accepted his interpretation of the Muslim period of Indian history as valid. This also vividly demonstrates the abiding influence of Iqbal's philosophic concepts in the evolution of Indic Muslim historiography. 29

Villanova University Villanova, Po.

HAFEEZ MALIX

29 For Iqba's political philosophy see also, Hafees Malik (Ed), I q b d : PoetPhilosopher of Pukirton (New York : Columbia University Press, 1969).