“If you are bareheaded, develop high resolve,
For here the crown is only for the Eagle’s head.”
—— (Bal-e-Jibril)
—— (Bal-e-Jibril)
The central theme of Iqbal’s poetry is “khudi”. Khudi as conceived by him is the name of several attributes, found in an ideal character. These are self-assertion, self-realization, the spirit of independence, sense of honour, noble idealism and action. Its object is not material aggrandizement but spiritual adornment and elevation. In the eagle we observe almost all these salient characteristics. That is why Iqbal conveys his message to the youth and advises them to foster an “eagle-like” spirit.
His Shaheen stands for courage and self-respect, purity of soul and character, devotion and dedication, struggle and endurance, prestige and perseverance, self-control and self-reliance. In Shaheen he envisages the desired attributes of a devoted Muslim or Momin.
In Islam, the eagle represents nobility and dominion. The Hawk of Quraish is a symbol which is found on a number of emblems, coats of arms and flags of several states of the Arab League. Also the traditions and recorded history about the Quraish and prophet MUHAMMAD (PBUH) claim a falcon had been used as clan symbol. Salahudin Ayubi carried a yellow flag adorned with an eagle (Eagle of Saladin). The Eagle was taken as a symbol of pride and dignity.
The remarkable strength and courage of the eagle have inspired mankind throughout the ages. An Eagle stands for a nation or a person who soars to the highest realms of truth and knows no fear and no bounds of time and space. It is the symbol of a passion, an ambition, an ideal as the Eagle is seen high above in the heavens and is endowed with exalted spirits. Eagles represent divine majesty, the superiority of the intellect over the physical and of the spiritual over the material.
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