'Javid' in the works of Iqbal

See also Chapter 81, 'Javid' in The Republic of Rumi: a Novel of Reality

The Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi addressed his son, Muhammad, at the beginning of some of his msanavis. Usually, the advice offered by Nezami to his son is equally useful for the posterity in general, and Iqbal carried on this tradition when he started addressing his second son, Javid, in his poetical works.

Javid Iqbal (later Dr., Justice and Senator) was born in Sialkot in October 1924. His name meant eternity or eternal in Arabic and Persian. The boy was three years old when his father started writing the book that would be eventually named after him: Javid Nama, literally meaning the Book of Javid, but metaphorically understood to be the Book of Eternity.

The prayer at the beginning of Javid Nama introduced it as a book specially written for the youth, who became symbolically represented by Javid in the epilogue.

Javid is mentioned again in Gabriel’s Wing (1935), The Blow of Moses (1936) and The Gift of Hejaz (1938), usually in poems addressed to him on a personal note but also containing meaningful advice for the posterity. On one of these occasions, Iqbal quotes two couplets from Nezami, both of which were addressed by the Persian poet to his son in the masnavi Layla Majnun.