Tulip in the Desert A Selection of the Poetry of Muhammad Iqbal by Mustansir Mir. (Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press. 158 pages.)

Abstract

The poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) of the Indian
subcontinent, who has been called the most serious Muslim philosophical
thinker of modem times by Fazlur Rahman, does not occupy the place he
deserves in the memory of the 'Umma of Islam today. For this fallen
'Umma which has not produced world-class thinkers for centuries, this state
of amnesia cannot be afforded if the desire for revival is genuine. To this
end, I believe, the recent book of Mustansir Mir, Tulip in the Desert: A
Selection of the Poetry of Muhammad Iqbal is a very timely contribution.
The book consists of twelve short chapters preceded by an introduction
on the life, poetry and philosophy of Iqbal. The author, who edited and
translated this selection from Urdu and Farsi, is a professor in the
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Y oungston State
University, Ohio. His book is more than a collection of Iqbal's poetry. He
puts his own background to the service of the reader. Each chapter starts
with a commentary on the poems selected according to a theme. Each poem
is supplied with extensive explanatory notes, which sometimes take more
space than the poem itself. As the author rightly states, these commentaries
and notes elucidate Iqbal's use of historical, religious, philosophical and
literary resources of the Islamic tradition. The book is a comprehensive
introduction to various aspects of Iqbal's ideology and art in his poetry.
Considering that the number of existing books on Iqbal is far less than
sufficient as compared to the magnitude and importance of his work, the
present one is a significant contribution to commemorate Iqbal, and teach
lay people, as well as the learned, his recipe for overcoming the problems
that Muslims have been facing for centuries ...