Iqbal Day (November 9): Life, Poetry & Legacy of Allama Iqbal

Iqbal Day (Youm-e-Iqbal, یومِ اقبال) is observed in Pakistan on November 9, the birthday of Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) — the poet, philosopher and thinker known as the “Poet of the East” (Shair-e-Mashriq) and the national poet of Pakistan.

About Allama Iqbal
Born	November 9, 1877, Sialkot (Punjab)
Died	April 21, 1938, Lahore
Titles	Allama, Shair-e-Mashriq (Poet of the East), Hakeem-ul-Ummat
Languages of his poetry	Urdu and Persian
Education	Government College Lahore; Cambridge; PhD from Munich (1908)
Resting place	Mazar-e-Iqbal, next to the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore
Iqbal Day status	Public holiday in Pakistan (restored in 2022)

Life of Allama Iqbal

Iqbal was born into a modest family in Sialkot. A brilliant student, he studied philosophy in Lahore and then in Europe, earning a degree from Cambridge, qualifying as a barrister in London and completing a doctorate in Germany on Persian metaphysics. He returned to Lahore to practise law, teach and write — but poetry became his life’s work.

Major Works

Year	Work	Language
1915	Asrar-e-Khudi (Secrets of the Self)	Persian
1918	Rumuz-e-Bekhudi (Mysteries of Selflessness)	Persian
1923	Payam-e-Mashriq (Message of the East)	Persian
1924	Bang-e-Dra (The Call of the Marching Bell)	Urdu
1930	The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (lectures)	English
1932	Javid Nama	Persian
1935	Bal-e-Jibril (Gabriel’s Wing)	Urdu
1936	Zarb-e-Kalim (The Rod of Moses)	Urdu

The Idea of Khudi (Selfhood)

At the heart of Iqbal’s philosophy is khudi — self-respect, self-reliance and the inner strength of the individual. He urged young people to develop their character, act with courage and dream big. The shaheen (falcon), soaring high and independent, became his favourite symbol for the ideal young person.

Iqbal and the Idea of Pakistan

In his famous Allahabad Address of 1930, as president of the All-India Muslim League session, Iqbal proposed a separate homeland for Muslims in north-western India. He encouraged Muhammad Ali Jinnah to lead the Muslim League. Although Iqbal died nine years before Pakistan was created in 1947, he is honoured as the nation’s spiritual father and visionary.

His children’s prayer-poem “Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri” is recited in schools across Pakistan, and his “Saare Jahan Se Accha” (1904) remains one of the best-loved songs in South Asia.

How Iqbal Day Is Observed

• Change of guard ceremony at Iqbal’s mausoleum in Lahore, with wreaths laid by national leaders.
• Seminars, poetry readings (mushairas) and debates in schools, colleges and universities.
• Television and radio programmes on his life and philosophy.
• Special prayers and recitations of his poetry.
• Iqbal Day events abroad — also in Iran and Turkey, where his Persian poetry is admired.

👉 Pakistan’s founder: Quaid-e-Azam Day — December 25

👉 Plan ahead: All November holidays

FAQs