The Secrets of the Self (Asrar-i Khudi) — A Philosophical PoemIqbal, Muhammad, Sir
Islamic
The Secrets of the Self (Asrar-i Khudi) — A Philosophical Poem
Iqbal, Muhammad, Sir
Islamic poetry, Persian -- Translations into English
“As in connexion with the question of the freedom of the Ego we have to
face the problem of matter, similarly in connexion with its immortality
we have to face the problem of time.[13] Bergson has taught us that
time is not an infinite line (in the spatial sense of the word ‘line’)
through which we must pass whether we wish it or not. This idea of
time is adulterated. Pure time has no length. Personal immortality is
an aspiration: you can have it if you make an effort to achieve it.
It depends on our adopting in this life modes of thought and activity
which tend to maintain the state of tension. Buddhism, Persian Súfism,
and allied forms of ethics will not serve our purpose. But they are
not wholly useless, because after periods of great activity we need
opiates, narcotics, for some time. These forms of thought and action
are like nights in the days of life. Thus, if our activity is directed
towards the maintenance of a state of tension, the shock of death
is not likely to affect it. After death there may be an interval of
relaxation, as the Koran speaks of a _barzakh_, or intermediate state,
which lasts until the Day of Resurrection.[14] Only those Egos will
survive this state of relaxation who have taken good care during the
present life. Although life abhors repetition in its evolution, yet on
Bergson’s principles the resurrection of the body too, as Wildon Carr
says, is quite possible. By breaking up time into moments we spatialise
it and then find difficulty in getting over it. The true nature of
time is reached when we look into our deeper self.[15] Real time is
life itself, which can preserve itself by maintaining that particular
state of tension (personality) which it has so far achieved. We are
subject to time so long as we look upon time as something spatial.
Spatialised time is a fetter which life has forged for itself in order
to assimilate the present environment. In reality we are timeless, and
it is possible to realise our timelessness even in this life. This
revelation, however, can be momentary only.
“3. THE EDUCATION OF THE EGO
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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