| Alter
egos
At least on three occasions
in his poetical works, Iqbal assumes fictitious identities:
Mir Nijat Naqshband, a.k.a. Baba-i-Sihrai in Secrets
and Mysteries (1915-1922), Mihrab Gul Afghan in The
Blow of Moses (1936) and Mullahzadah Zaigham Kashmiri
Lolalbi in The Gift of Hijaz (1938). These characters,
delivering long monologues, are the alter egos of Iqbal.
His fascination with
the genre of dramatic monologue may have started with his
admiration of the English poet Robert Browning (1812-1889).
However, he saw in that genre an opportunity which most
of his contemporary literary critics in the West had failed
to notice. As he jotted down in his his private notebook,
Stray Reflections, in 1910:
The result of all
philosophical thought is that absolute knowledge is an
impossibility. The poet Browning turns this impossibility
to ethical use by a very ingenious argument. The uncertainty
of human knowledge, teaches the poet, is a necessary condition
of moral growth; since complete knowledge will destroy
the liberty of human choice.
As someone claiming
to have insight into destiny and an adequate knowledge about
the future history of the world, Iqbal must have found it
rather difficult to introduce “the uncertainty of
human knowledge”, which he deemed “a necessary
condition of human growth”. Hence, for the sake of
the moral growth of his readers, if not his own, he may
have needed these alter egos – characters, who are
not perfect like the poet himself, and who betray uncertainties
with which the readers can relate more easily. |
Special
thanks to Iqbal Academy Pakistan
