سلطان باہوؒ اور علامہ اقبالؒ کے تصّورِ عشق کے مماثلات

Similarities between Sultan Bahu and Allama Iqbal's conception of love

Abstract

According to Sufis, the word Ishq in the Sufi poetic tradition is the central point or Kaaba, around which all Sufi thoughts seem to revolve. Sultan Bahu and Allama Muhammad Iqbal occupy a high position in the mystical poetic tradition of Punjabi and Urdu. Despite their many years gap, there is a lot of similarity in the concept of Ishq bestween them and there are also some distinctive featrues. Sultan Bahu’s concept of Ishq is traditional and continuation of Sufis concept of Ishq while Iqbal acknowledge the Sufi concept of Ishq and expands it further. Iqbal’s concept of Ishq is similar to Sultan Bahu’s concept of Ishq and it is also different in some aspects and there is an attempt to explain the concept of Ishq by the predecessors with new symbols, metaphors and similes. Iqbal’s concept of self-love (khudi) flourishes on the seed of Ishq. According to Iqbal if there is Ishq, disbelief also falls under the category of Islam, and if someone is deprived of Ishq, then he is an infidel and heretic. Both of our Sufi poets, compare intellect and Ishq and consider Ishq as superior. According to them, knwoeldge acts as a veil and intellect becomes an obstacle to the achievement of passion and madness. Intellect guides to a certain extent, but Ishq leads to the destination. Without Ishq, neither the seeker can reach the place of Maarifat and Haqeet, not can the country and the nation set the course of development. According to Iqbal, whether it is the journey of an individual or collective journey of nations, without the guidence of Ishq in both places, the destination is impossible.