Sare Jahan se Accha

The poem Saare Jahan Se Achcha was composed by the poet Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal in 1904/1905 while India was under British administration in the Urdu language book Bang-i-Dara. It is also known as Tarana-e-Hindi. It was written in the ghazal style, a form of Urdu poetry.. Iqbal was a lecturer at the Government College, Lahore at that time. He was invited by his favorite student Lala Hardayal to preside over a function. Instead of making a speech, Iqbal sang Saare Jahan Se Achcha with gusto. The poem is in praise of Hindustan and preaches harmony between people of separate religious beliefs. Ironically, Iqbal is also credited with being one of the earliest proponents for a separate nation-state in the Muslim majority areas of the sub-continent. One of the first formal articulations of this demand was made in his presidential address to the annual conference of the All India Muslim League in 1930 in Allahabad.

Set to tune by the sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, the poem is sung by Indians on occasions of national importance and in schools as part of morning prayer. After the Indian National Anthem Jana-Gana-Mana and the Indian National Song Vande Mataram, Sare Jahan Se Achcha enjoys the reputation as the most popular patriotic song in India. Unlike Jana-Gana-Mana and Vande Mataram which are written in Sanskritized Bengali, Sare Jahan Se Achcha is written in Hindustani which is understood by a larger population in India.

The poem epitomises love for the nation and patriotism. Mahatma Gandhi sang it over a hundred times when he was imprisoned in Yerawada Jail in Pune in the 1930s. Astronaut Rakesh Sharma spoke the first line of the song to describe India from space when Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from the Space. Manmohan Singh quoted it at his first press conference as Prime Minister to underline India's greatness.

سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا
ہم بلبليں ہيں اس کي، يہ گلستاں ہمارا

غربت ميں ہوں اگر ہم، رہتا ہے دل وطن ميں
سمجھو وہيں ہميں بھي، دل ہو جہاں ہمارا

پربت وہ سب سے اونچا، ہمسايہ آسماں کا
وہ سنتري ہمارا، وہ پاسباں ہمارا

گودي ميں کھيلتي ہيں اس کي ہزاروں ندياں
گلشن ہے جن کے دم سے رشک جناں ہمارا

اے آب رود گنگا، وہ دن ہيں ياد تجھ کو؟
اترا ترے کنارے جب کارواں ہمارا

مذہب نہيں سکھاتا آپس ميں بير رکھنا
ہندي ہيں ہم وطن ہے ہندوستاں ہمارا

يونان و مصر و روما سب مٹ گئے جہاں سے
اب تک مگر ہے باقي نام و نشاں ہمارا

کچھ بات ہے کہ ہستي مٹتي نہيں ہماري
صديوں رہا ہے دشمن دور زماں ہمارا

اقبال! کوئي محرم اپنا نہيں جہاں ميں
معلوم کيا کسي کو درد نہاں ہمارا

सारे जहाँ से अच्छा, हिन्दोस्तां हमारा
हम बुलबुले हैं इसकी, यह गुलसितां हमारा

गुरबत में हों अगर हम, रहता है दिल वतन में
समझो वहीं हमें भी, दिल हो जहाँ हमारा, सारे...

पर्वत हो सबसे ऊँचा, हमसाया आसमाँ का
वो संतरी हमारा, वो पासवां हमारा, सारे...

गोदी में खेलती हैं, जिसकी हज़ारों नदियां
गुलशन है जिसके दम से, रश्क\-ए\-जिनां हमारा
सारे....

ऐ आब\-ए\-रौंद\-ए\-गंगा! वो दिन है याद तुझको
उतरा तेरे किनारे, जब कारवां हमारा, सारे...

मजहब नहीं सिखाता, आपस में बैर रखना
हिन्दी हैं हम वतन हैं, हिन्दोस्तां हमारा, सारे...

यूनान, मिस्र, रोमां, सब मिट गए जहाँ से
अब तक मगर है बाकी, नाम\-ओ\-निशां हमारा,
सारे...

कुछ बात है की हस्ती, मिटती नहीं हमारी
सदियों रहा है दुश्मन, दौर\-ए\-जहाँ हमारा, सारे

'इक़बाल' कोई मरहूम, अपना नहीं जहाँ में
मालूम क्या किसी को, दर्द\-ए\-निहां हमारा, सारे

sāre jahān se acchā hindostān hamārā
ham bulbulain hai is ki, yeh gulsitān hamārā

ghurbat men hon agar ham, rahta hai dil vatan men
samjho vahīn hamen bhī, dil hain jahān hamārā

parbat voh sab se ūncā, hamsāya āsmān ka
voh santari hamārā, voh pāsbān hamārā

godi men kheltī hain is ki hazaaron nadiyā
gulshan hai jin ke dum se, rashk-e-janān hamārā

aye āb, raud, ganga, voh din hen yād tujhko
utarā tire kināre, jab kārvān hamārā

maz'hab nahīn sikhātā āpas men bayr rakhnā
hindi hai ham, vatan hai hindostān hamārā

yūnān-o-misr-o-romā, sab miṭ gaye jahān se
ab tak magar he bāqi, nām-o-nishān hamārā

kuch bāt he kih hastī, miṭati nahīn hamārī
sadiyon rahā he dushman, daur-e-zamān hamārā

iqbal ko'ī meharam, apnā nahīn jahān main
m'alūm kya kisī ko, dard-e-nihān hamārā

Our India is the finest Country on this planet earth
This is our garden abode, we are nightingales of mirth

Though in foreign lands we may reside, with our motherland our hearts abide
Our spirit remains with thee, where our hearts exist

That mountain most high; neighbor to the skies
It is our sentinel; it is our protector

A thousand rivers play in its lap,
Gardens they sustain, the envy of the heavens is ours

O water of the mighty flow of the Ganga, do you remember the day
When on your banks, our caravan had landed

Faith does not teach us to harbour grudges between us
We are all Indians and India is our homeland

Greece, Egypt and Rome are lost, now only memories
But our civilization remains; it has stood the test of time

Something is in us, that preserves us, that keeps us ever-smiling
Though the fates and chances of the world have ever tried to break us

Iqbal! Is there no soul that could
Understand the pain in thy heart?