Poetry from the Silence of Tulips and Roses
“Create poetry from the silence of tulips and roses,” wrote poet Allameh Muhammad Iqbal (1877 – 1938), reminding us that out of contemplation arise thoughts and actions. Iqbal is also known as “the spiritual father of Pakistan” and his philosophical treatises are still being widely read and analyzed. But it was his mystical, introspective poetry that I grew to admire for its themes of compassion, love, yearning for knowledge, overcoming divisions and parochial concerns. Any poet whose idea of paradise includes Rumi and Goethe engaged in a conversation is someone I want to know.
From the sensory perspective, Iqbal’s poems are also fascinating. They are full of fragrant references, using aroma as the symbol for the divine, the perfect, and the mystical. But what happens when the source of such perfection is destroyed?
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