Muhammad Iqbal: Encyclopedia II - Muhammad Iqbal - Return to the Subcontinent

Muhammad Iqbal - Return to the Subcontinent

Upon his return to India from Europe in 1908, Iqbal embarked on a career in law, academics and poetry, all at once. Of the three pursuits, he excelled in what was his true calling and first love--poetry. There is a widely held belief that had the Government College in Lahore been more generous with their monthly stipend and academic freedom, he would have been as brilliant an academician as he was a poet. In fact, it was financial considerations that forced him to relinquish his assistant professorship in 1909 to take up a fulltime law career. But he did not earn much as a lawyer either, although he could have. Instead of concentrating on the profession, he preferred to divide his time between the law and his own spiritual development. Already a famous poet by then, Iqbal received a knighthood from the British Government in honour of the brilliant Asrar-i-Khudi.

While dividing his time between the law and poetry, Iqbal, with the encouragement of friends and supporters, decided once more to enter the political arena. In November 1926, he contested a seat in the Muslim District of Lahore and beat his opponent by a wide margin of 3,177 votes.

In 1931, Iqbal made a second visit to Europe to renew old acquaintances and make new ones and to reflect and write. He attended conferences in the United Kingdom, and met various scholars and politicians, including the French philosopher Henri Louis Bergson and the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. A visit to Spain inspired three beautiful poems, which were later incorporated into a major composition, Bal-I Jibril (Gabriel's Wing).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Return to the Subcontinent", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki