Dr. Allama Iqbal was born on 9th of November in 1877 at Sialkot, Pakistan. He got

traditional educational from his home town. Later on, he traveled to Europe for higher

education. Iqbal qualified for a scholarship from Trinity College in Cambridge in 1907,

and was called to the bar as a barrister from Lincolns Inn in 1908.

Iqbal also went to Heidelberg Germany in 1907 and received admission to the Faculty

of Philosophy of the Ludwig Maximilian University in 1907 at Munich. Iqbal published his

doctoral thesis in 1908. His devotion to research and studies showed extraordinary

results, three degrees from three prestigious Universities in only three years is a

remarkable achievement by any standards.

Iqbal’s personality was truly unique. Although Iqbal was clearly a great scholar, he was

always critically examining himself. One day, Iqbal confessed that he did not know the

truth about himself and that he wished someday “to see Iqbal”. In a poem he concludes

with this couplet:

“Even Iqbal does not know Iqbal

And this, by God, is no joke at all!”

The poetry and philosophy of Maulana Rumi had a great influence on Iqbals mind. He

began intensely concentrating on the culture and history of Islamic civilization and its

political future. Iqbal\'s work focuses on reminding his readers of the past glories of

Islamic civilization, and delivering the message of a pure and spiritual Islam as a source

for socio-political liberation. Iqbal denounced political and ethnic divisions within Muslim

and frequently alluded to the global Muslim community, or the Ummah.

Among his 12,000 verses of poetry, about 7,000 verses are in Persian. In 1915, he

published his first collection of poetry, the Asrar-e- Khudi (Secrets of the Self) in Persian.

The poems emphasis the spirit and self from a religious, spiritual perspective. His poetry

has also been translated into several European languages where his works were

famous during the early part of the 20th century.

Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal has been known by many names, for example, Shair-e-

Mashriq which means Poet of the East. He is also called Mufakkir-e- Pakistan The

Inceptor of Pakistan, and Hakeem-ul- Ummat The Sage of the Ummah. Pakistan has

officially recognised him as the National Poet. In Egypt and Arab world, he is famous

as Iqbal-e lahori (Iqbal of Lahore). We celebrate Iqbal day to honour both the life and

achievements and the impressive work of literature he gave us.

Iqbal died in Lahore on 21st April, 1938 and was buried near the Badshahi Mosque in

Lahore, Pakistan. His messages and ideals live on after him. One of that is, “Excel in

learning and observe and reflect on your surroundings...!. We wish all a very happy

Iqbal day.