IQBAL AND RUMI: A CREATIVE-CRITICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN LOVE, SELFHOOD,AND BEING.

Abstract:

This article offers a creative –re-reading of the intellectual and spiritual relationship between jalal al-Din Rumi and Muhammad Iqbal, moving beyond conventional influence –based or comparative frameworks.Rather then positioning Iqbal merely as a disciple or interpreter of Romi , the study argues that Iqbal engages with Rumi through a dynamic Philosophical dialogue – one that reconfigures classical sufi concepts such as love (ishq),unity of being, and spiritual annihilation in to an active, self-affirning vision of human existence.

By closely reading selected verses from Rumi’s Mathnawi and Iqbal ’s major poetic works –Particularly Asrar –e –khudi, Bal-e-jibril, and javid nama- this Article demonstrates how iqbal creatively transforms Rumi ’s metaphysics of love in Rumi is primarily a mod e of ontological awakening whereas in Iqbal it becomes a force of ethical action and existential becoming .

Employing a creative – critical methodology ,the article situates this Dialogue within contemporary debates on spirituality ,subjectivity ,and the role of poetry in shaping human consciousness. It concludes that the Rumi – iqbal relationship is best under stood not as continuity or rupture , but as a productive tension through which a new model of the “ complete human being ,, emerges – one that integrates spiritual depth with creative action.

Keywords:

Rumi, Iqbal ,love,(ishq),selfhood (Khudi), Being, creative criticism, Sufism,urdu poetry.

Romanized References:

1. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, London: Cambridge University Press, 1925, 1st ed., p. 35.
2. ibid.,
3. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, London: Cambridge University Press, 1926, 2nd ed., p. 112.
4. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Asrār‑e Khudī, Lahore: Iqbal Academy, 2006, p. 21.
5. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Bāl‑e Jibrīl, Lahore: Iqbal Academy, 2006, p. 76.
6. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Asrār‑e Khudī, Lahore: Iqbal Academy, 2006, p. 47.
7. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Bāl‑e Jibrīl, p. 124.
8. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, p. 112.
9. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Bāl‑e Jibrīl, p. 91.
10. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, London: Cambridge University Press, 1927, 3rd ed., p. 390.
11. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Zarb‑e Kalīm, Lahore: Iqbal Academy, 2006, p. 58.
12. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, 1st ed., p. 35.
13. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, 3rd ed., p. 9.
14. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Bāl‑e Jibrīl, p. 138.
15. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Bāng‑e Darā, p. 52.
16. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, 2nd ed., p. 6.
17. Jalāl al‑Dīn Rūmī, Mathnawī, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, 3rd ed., p. 214.
18. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Bāl‑e Jibrīl, p. 63.
19. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Zarb‑e Kalīm, p. 29.
20. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Jāvid Nāmah, p. 23.
21. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Jāvid Nāmah, p. 41.
22. Muḥammad Iqbāl, Bāl‑e Jibrīl, p. 58.