A Stylistic Analysis of Iqbals Shikwah

LANGUAGE IN INDIA
Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 5 May 2012
ISSN 1930-2940
Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.
A Stylistic Analysis of Iqbal's Shikwah
Sardar Fayyaz ul Hassan

==================================================
Mohammad Iqbal
Courtesy: http://www.allamaiqbal.com/
Abstract
Stylistics is a newly developed branch of linguistics. It studies a piece of literature through linguistic
choices. It is a link discipline between linguistics and literary criticism. Pedagogical stylistics helps
the learners to appreciate a literary text particularly, a poetic piece, in a faithful and objective way.
The present paper is a Stylistics analysis of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal's Shikwah, a famous poem which is
appeared in his book "Bang-e-Dra", the call of the road.
Keywords: Stylistic Analysis, Iqbal's Shikwah, Lexical & Phonological features, Deviation,
Semantics
Language in India www.languageinindia.com
12 : 5 May 2012
Sardar Fayyaz ul Hassan, M.A., Ph.D. Scholar
325-349
1. Introduction
The aim of this research is to analyse the famous poem of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal ' Shikwah ',
(Complaint). The poem is analysed from a perspective of linguistics stylistics. This paper
starts discussing the background and points out the research problems. It observes the
objectives, states the significance, mentions the Research Methodology and looks into the
related literature review. This paper ends with a conclusion that has been drawn on the base
of the detailed stylistic study of Iqbal's Shikwah.
1.1 Background
According to Bassnett and Gundy (1993):
Literature is a high pint of language usage; arguable it makes the

greatest skill a language user can demonstrate. Anyone who wants to
acquire a profound knowledge of language that goes beyond the
utilitarian will read literary texts in that language. (p.7)
Traditionally, literature is regarded to be the prerogative of certain people who are endowed
with certain faculty for understanding literature. Literature is beyond the reach of common
people. It is something mystic and should not be corrupted by linguistic analysis.
Doing linguistic analysis is laying a flower at botanical table which destroys its beauty. A
flower is to see and admire. But on the other hand, modern approaches investigate that
literature is made of language so lies within the preview of linguistic study.
The analysis does not destroy the beauty but enhances it. So, literature can be demystified
and can be analyzed. Literary criticism explains literature subjectively. From Aristotle to

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Eliot, almost all the literary work was analyzed and evaluated from a perspective of
subjectivity. Saussure and Jakobson developed course of stylistics in twentieth century.
Rhetoric is ancient and pre-modern discipline which was the part of Greece grammar and
logic provided the basis for stylistics. It is an art of speaking effectively in public.
N. Krishnaswamy writes in this context (2004):
In Rome it was developed by Cicero and Quintilian, and during the

middle ages rhetoric was a key subject in university education.
Renaissance reviewed the interest in the Greek models but in 18th and
the 19th centuries, the art of rhetoric declined and, in a way, it was
gradually absorbed into linguistics. In the twentieth century the re-
incarnated form with a new interest in literary style is known as
stylistics. (p.133)
In 1920s Russian Formalism introduced it in a new way and Roman Jakobson's 'Closing
Statement' which he had presented in a famous conference, held in 1958 on style, became the
manifesto of stylistic studies. Comparatively, stylistics is a new area of study. It appears in
the domain of language study at the start of 20th century. Swiss linguist Charles Bally
developed it initially in two directions, linguistic stylistics and literary stylistics. The first is
represented and theorized by Bally himself and the second one is represent by Karl Vossler.
Krishnaswmy, John Varghese and Sunita Mishra (2004) write in this regard:
Linguistic Stylistics, based on linguistics, streams off into

Structuralism and Structuralist Stylistics, the Prague School
Stylistics, the Neo-Firthian Functional Stylistics, Transformational
Stylistics and so on. Literary Stylistics, as advocated by Spitzer and
his followers in 1940s is more subjective than objective as possible;
like Chomsky's 'Linguistic Competence' and Hymes'
'Communicative Competence'. (p.135)
Ancient Greece used to recognize language in terms of practical Functions, known as
Rhetoric, Poetics and Dialectics. The objective of Rhetoric was to prepare the speakers for

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active and attractive speeches but unlike Rhetoric, Poetics aimed at Studying a Piece of art to
focus at the problems of expressing the ideas before actual moment of utterance.
Dialectics was another technique of creating and guiding a dialogue, talk or discussion.
Stylistics developed on the base of the above mentioned sources but poetics went on its own
way and created the field of literary criticism. However, Rhetoric and Dialectics developed
into stylistics.
The researcher has highlighted this process of development by a self-devised diagram, given
below.
Practical Functions
of Language
Diagram 'A'
Rhetoric Poetics Dialectics
Literary
Criticism
Stylistics

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1.2 Objectives
There are two basic reasons for studying and teaching literature in any language program or
in general: cultural and linguistic. In cultural sense the main objective is to find grounding in
target culture and getting familiarity with history, various ages, movements etc. whereas
linguistic purpose is how to understand the language of literary texts. Understanding the
language of literature through linguistic tools is now a widely accepted notion in the field of
foreign language teaching literature.
Stylistics is an interdisciplinary approach which seeks to integrate language and literary
studies in a way that they inform each other. It is also believed that literary critic is deaf to
linguistics insights and a linguist who does not take literature into account are 'flagrant
anachronisms' (borrow the term from Roman Jakobson). Since literature is made of language
and linguistics is a systematic study of the language, their syntactic and semantic relations
with each other are obvious.
In this research, the researcher realizes that the stylistic-study recognizes the importance of
paying a systematic attention to the language of a literary piece. Just as painting cannot be
interpreted without allowing for the colour scheme, their combination and contrast etc.,
similarly no literary text can be understood properly without paying a systematic attention to
the way the language has been structured.
The objective of this research is to study and analyze Mohammad Iqbal's Shikwah
(complaint) according to the notion of modern stylistics. This study is tailored in a linguistic
fashion. The final destination of this research is to find out objectively how he uses different
linguistic techniques in his poetic language. An endeavour has also been made to
demystifying the meaning of the selected poem of Mohammad Iqbal with the help of stylistic

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techniques. For this purpose the researcher also maps out the language of Shikwah for lexical
and phonological features.
1.3 Significance of Study
According to the knowledge of the researcher, not enough attention has been given to the
language-oriented or text-cantered approach in analyzing and understanding the poetry of Dr.
Mohammad Iqbal. So, the researcher intends to apply a stylistic approach in analyzing and
comprehending the selected poetic work of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal. In this regard, the
researcher selects Iqbal's Shikwah from the domain of his Urdu poetry for stylistic study.
Stylistics is one of the wonderful approaches to analyze and appreciate literary work. This
approach is considerably descriptive. Stylistic study is focused on finding out the meanings
that lie behind the lines of the poem on an objective basis. Ones' personal sentiments do not
involve in this kind of analysis.
1.4 Research Methodology
This research work concentrates on the selected poetic work of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal. The
nature of this research is analytical. So, the researcher uses various approaches to achieve
data for this study but mainly he gets benefits from the published material.
The researcher adopts the revised methods of stylistic analysis, proposed by Geoffrey Leech
and Mick Short in their works like A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry, Longman (1969);
Language in Literature, Style and Foregrounding (2008) and Exploring the Language of
Poems, Plays, and Prose (1996) respectively.

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1.5 Literature Review
According toWikipedia (modified on 15 March 2010), "Stylistics is a branch of linguistics,
which deals with the study of varieties of language, its properties, and principles behind
choice, dialogue, accent, length and register."
H.G. Widdowson (1986, p.4) defines stylistics as, "The study of literary discourse from a
linguistics orientation." To Leech (1985) stylistics is the study of the style which can be
applied in both literary and non-literary texts. In a non-literary text, style is learned because
we want to explain something, while literary stylistics explains the relations between
language and artistic function. According to Gabriela Miššikova (2003):
Stylistics is a field of study where the method of selecting and

implementing linguistic, extra-linguistic or expressive means and
devices in the process of communication are studied. (p. 15)
Short (1996) believes that stylistics is a linguistic approach to study the literary texts. In other
words we can say that stylistics studies literary texts using linguistic description. Short also
shows his interest not only in the (linguistics) forms of he analyzed texts (i.e. How), but he
also studies the meaning (i.e. what) of the text in the sense of plot and overall message of a
story. From this point of view short (1996, p.1) further says, "Stylistics can sometimes look
like either linguistics or literary criticism, depending upon where you are standing where
looking at it". Stylistics is an area of meditation between language and literature (H.G
Widdowson, 1986, p.4). Considering the multi-faceted nature of stylistics and its relationship
with linguistics and literary study, Nils Erik Enkvist writes in Linguistic Stylistics:
We may --- regard stylistics as a subdepartment of linguistics and

give it a special subsection dealing with the peculiarities of literary
texts. We may choose to make stylistics a subdepartment of literary
studies which may draw on linguistic method. Or we may regard
stylistics as an autonomous discipline which draws freely, and
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eclectically, on methods from linguistics and from literary study.
An Encyclopedia of the Arts Vol.4 (6) P. 560 (2006)
Some scholars understand 'stylistics' as a controversial branch of language study. Crystal and
Davy have pointed out towards this issue. They write that stylistics has been considered "a
developing and controversial field of study for several decades." (Longman1969, p.vii) The
well-known linguist Jean-Jacques Lecercle (1993, p.14) does a serious attack on stylistics and
says that nobody has ever known what the term 'stylistics' means, and in any case, hardly
anyone seems to care. (The European English Messenger 2, 1, 14-18). He calls stylistics
'ailing'; and according to him it is on the 'wane' in one hand but on the other hand he himself
accepts that "more alarming again, few university students are eager to declare their intention
to do research in stylistics".( Paul Simpson 2006, p.2)
Though Lecercle had prophesized that at the end of 20th century this discipline would be no
longer anymore but opposite to what he had envisaged "stylistics in the early 21st century is
very much alive and well. In this context, Paul (2006, p.2) points out:
It is taught and researched in university departments of language,

literature and linguistics the world over. The high academic profile
stylistics enjoys is mirrored in the number of its dedicated book-
length publications, research journals, international conferences and
symposia, and scholarly associations.
During last decade many eminent scholars have published valuable books on stylistics. Mick
Short and Geoffrey Leech are the leading figures in this field. Especially Leech's Language
and Literature; Style and Foregrounding (2008) is accepted by the scholars as another of his
classic works in stylistics after his A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry (1969).

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2. Iqbal's Short Biography
According to official record (http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Thesis), Doctor Sir Mohammad Iqbal was
born on November 9, 1877 in Sialkot Punjab province of British India which is now included
in Pakistan. Iqbal's forefathers belonged to Kashmiri Pandit family and they "embraced Islam
two hundred years earlier" (YesPakistan.Com). He got his basic education in Sialkot. Here he
got a chance to be the student of Allama Mir Hasan who "gave Iqbal a thorough training in
the rich Islamic Literary tradition. His influence on Iqbal was formative" (allamaiqbal.com).
When the British Governor announced (1922) to give away the title of 'Sir' to Iqbal to
acknowledge his literary accomplishments, he asked the same award for his teacher but the
governor gave the remarks that he had not written any book."Iqbal responded that he, Iqbal,
was the book Mir Hasan had produced" (Ibid). So the teacher of Iqbal, Allama Mir Hassan
was awarded the title of Shams al-’Ulama’ means, 'Sun of Scholars'.
In 1899, he did his M.A in Philosophy from Government College Lahore and served for six
years as a lecturer in Philosophy at the same institution. “He had already obtained a degree in
law in 1898" (allamaiqbal.com). He stayed in Europe from 1905 to 1908 where he studied
Philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge (V.G.Kiernan: xi). He qualified as a barrister at
London’s Middle Temple in 1906 and earned a PhD from Munich University in 1908
(allamaiqbal.com).
On his getting back to India, he practiced as a lawyer from 1908 to 1934 but his health did
not allow him to continue the legal practice further. In fact, his heart was not into it. So, he
gave up this profession and devoted himself to studying philosophy and literature. Iqbal
wrote in Urdu, Persian and English Languages in both the genres of literature, i.e., prose and
poetry but poetry gave him an immense popularity throughout the world.

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The following table summarizes the work of Iqbal, (allamaiqbal.com, Wikipedia,
yespakistan.com & Kiernan: 2003).
Table.1
Sr. Work Year of Language Genre
No Publication
1 Ilm al-Iqtisad (The Knowledge of Economics) 1903 Urdu Prose
2 The Development of Metaphysics in Persia 1908 English Prose
3 Israr-i-Khudi (Secrets of the Self)--- First Poetic Work 1915 Persian Poetry
4 Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (Hints of Selflessness) 1918 Persian Poetry
5 Payam-i-Mashriq (The Message of the east) 1923 Persian Poetry
6 Bang-i-Dara (The Call of the Road) --- First Poetic Work in Urdu 1924 Urdu Poetry
7 Zabur-i-Ajam (Persian Psalms) 1927 Persian Poetry
8 The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam 1930 English Prose
9 Javid Nama (Book of Javed) 1932 Persian Poetry
10 Bal-i-Jibril (Gabriel's Wing) 1935 Urdu Poetry
11 Zarbi-Kalim (The Rod of Moses) 1935 Urdu Poetry
12 Pas cheh bayed kard ai Aqwam-i-Sharq (What Should Them be done 1936 Persian Poetry
O people of the east)
13 Armuhgan-i-Hijaz (The Call of Hijaz) --- The first part is in Persian, 1938 Persian & Poetry
and the second is in Urdu. Urdu
14 Letters of Iqbal (Compiled & Edited by Bashir Ahmad Dar) 1978 English Prose
15 Stray Reflection (Iqbal's Private Notebook, Edited by Javid Iqbal) 2006 English Prose
Iqbal was not only a poet and philosopher but also a political thinker. He was very much
concerned about Muslims' affairs throughout the world in general and in Indian Subcontinent
in particular. In 1908, he became the member of the executive council of Muslim League. He
represented Indian Muslims in Round Table Conferences in 1931 and 1932 held in England.
In his famous presidential address at Allahabad (December1930), Iqbal raised his voice for a
Muslim State in India. He said (allamaiqbal.com. Retrieved 2010-11-09):
I would like to see the Punjab, North-West Frontier Provinces, Sind and
Baluchistan into a single State, Self-Government within the British
Empire or without the British Empire. The formation of the consolidated

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North-West Indian Muslim State appears to be the final destiny of the
Muslims, at least of the North-West India.
During the last phase of his life though, Mohammad Iqbal remained constantly ill but did not
give up his creative activity. Even a few minutes before his death he uttered the following
beautiful lines (yespakistan.com, allamaiqbal.com):
The departed melody may return or not!

The zephyr Hijaz may blow again or not!
The days of this Faqir has come to an end,
Another seer may come or not!
His last breaths broke down in the early hours of April 21, 1938, in the arms of his old,
faithful and devoted servant Imam Al-Deen, and a faint smile was playing on his lips like a
truthful Muslim. (Nadwwi, 2002)
3. Stylistic Analysis
3.1 General explanation of Iqbal’s Shikwah (The Complaint)
The early twentieth century was the prime time of Iqbal's poetic revelation "which is called
his third period that began in 1908 and ended at his death in 1938", (allamaiqbal.com). He
wrote Shikwah (the complaint) and Jawab-i-Shikwah (response to complaint) during the
period, mentioned above. This poem is included in his famous book, Bang-i-Draw –The Call
of the Road (1924), which is also the part of his Kulliyat (collection of the poetry). Shikwah is
88th poem of the 3rd edition of Kulliyat-i-Iqbal (1996 p.163). This is one of the most thrilling
poems of Iqbal. He himself recited it in April, 1911 in the annual session of Anjuman
Himayat-i-Islam (AHI), held in the compound of Islamia College, Lahore (Ibid).
Shikwah created an intellectual confusion among Muslim scholars "who thought that Iqbal is
being rude and harsh in his words when talking to God..."(Wikipedia) but at the publication
of Jawab-i-Shikwa (response to complaint) in 1913, the confusion went away and everyone
started praising Iqbal for his contribution in the domain of Urdu poetry (Ibid).
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Shikwah is categorized into Musaddas, "a genre of Urdu poetry in which each unit consists of
6 lines-sestain- (misra)" (Wikipedia, last modified on 10 November 2011). Musaddas of Hali is
an example of this famous form of Nazam (poem) in Urdu Poetry.
Diagram "B" NAZAM

(Poem)
MUSAMMAT
A kind of Nazam (poem)
MUSADDAD
A kind of Musammat (poem)
Shikwah is written in this genre
3.2 Linguistic Stylistic features
3.2.1 Lexical Compounds (LC)
Shikwah consists of 31 Bands (stanzas). Each stanza consists of six verses. Words in Shikwah
have been selected very carefully. The following grid manually counts the lexical items, used
in the said poem:
Table.2 (Manually Counted)
Total Non- Compound Total Compound Percentage Percentage
Words(TW) Words(N.CW) Words(CW) Of N.CW of CW
1371 1234 137 90% 10%
In Shikwah, the poet appears with his feelings at three stages. These stages intend:
i. to counts chivalrous deeds
ii. to show the state of decline of Muslim nation
iii. to make a direct complaint to God.
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The compound words, which are 10% of the total lexicon of the poem, make semantic
coherence with the idea as expressed in the above mentioned three points. The following
tables (3, 4, & 5) present the examples of this claim.
Table.3
i. Compound words that count the chivalrous deeds of Muslim Nation
Compounds Meaning Stanza Line Type*
Those who accustomed to praising

1 Khugar-e-Hamd [xu:gr--hmd] 2 6 PAPC
God
Quwwat-e-Baazoo-e-Muslim
2 The strength of Muslim's arm 4 6 PAPC
[qwt--bazu--mslm]
3 Maarka Aaraaon [mrk-arao] thronged as warriors 6 1 Atb.C
4 Sar-Bakaf [sr-bkʌf] Head in hand 7 4 PACC
5 Wafa-dar [vfa-d̪ar] Faithful 13 5,6 PAODC
*PAPC: Perso-Arabic phrasal Compound, PACC: Perso-Arabic copulative Compound, Atb.C: Attributive Compound
PAODC: Perso-Arabic objective determinative Compound
Table. 4
ii. Compound words that refer to the state of decline of Muslim Nation
Compounds Meaning Stanza Line Type
Doulat-e-Dunya (Nayaab)°
1 Worldly wealth (unobtainable) 17 1 PAPC
[d̪olt--d̪na] (/najab/)
Taan-e-Aghiyaar (Hai)°
2 Taunting by the others 17 5 PAPC
[t̪ an--jar] (/h/)
Aazurdagi-e-Ghair-Sabab
3 Coldness without cause 20 5 PAPC
[azd̪g-e-er-sbb]
(Ishq Ki)° Ashuftah-Sari
4 distress of passion 21 3 Cop.C*
(/q k/)° [aft̪ a-sr]
5 Sokhta Saman [soxt̪ a sama] Burnt-out 23 8 Cop.C*
°This word is not the part of compound *copulative compound

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Table. 5
iii. Compound Words that refer direct complaint to God
Compounds Meaning Stanza Line Type
Shikwah-e-Arbab-e-Wafa Complaint of the possessors of
1 2 5 PAPC
[kwa--arbab--wfa] faithfulness
Dil-dar (Nahin)°
2 (Not) affectionate 13 6 PAODC
[d̪l-d̪ar] (/nahi/)
(Shaidaaon Pe Yeh)° Chashm-e-Ghazab

3 (Upon the Faithful) Eye of wrath 20 6 PAPC
[/d̪ao p j/)]° [ʌm--azb]
Bad̪ah-kash (Gair Hain Gulshan Mein)° Wine drinking (other seated in the
4 25 1 PAODC
[bada-kʌ] (/r-h-glʌn-m/) garden)
Boo-e-Gul (Le Gyi---)°

5 The rose fragrance (took off---) 28 1 PAPC
[bu:-i-gl] (/l g)
°This word/phrase is not the part of compound
3.2.2 Anaphoric Repetition of Lexical Items
In Greek language anaphora means "carrying back" Katie (2001, p.19). Parallelism is a
technique that involves in repeating the same word at the start of successive clauses,
sentences or verses (Ibid).
Example:
How pleasant it is to have money, heigh ho!
How pleasant it is to have money.

(MARS 1985:88)
In this example, in both the lines, the word 'how' is repeated in the beginning. This is
anaphoric repetition. Mathematically, it can be shown like (a …) (a …). Here 'a …' refers the
repetition of words at initial position. According to Katie (2001) anaphora is a kind of
reference in grammar and text studies, p.19. Wales quotes Halliday & Hasan (1976) who call

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it an important aspect of "COHESION or connectedness of DISCOURSE" (Ibid).
Muhammad Iqbal also uses this lexical repetitive technique in Shikwah (2007, p.19, 21, & 27):
[1] (Stanza.9, Line 5-6)
KisNe Thanda Kia Atishkuda-e-Iran Ko? : KisNe Phir Zinda Kiya Tazkara-e- YazdaanKo?
[ks n ʌnd̪a kia at̪ kd̪--i:ra ko] : [ks n pr znd̪a ki:a tzkr -- jzd̪a ko]
(Who made cold the fire-temple of Iran?) : (Who made alive again the memory of God?)
Kis Ki Shamsheer Jahangeer, Jahandar Huwi : Kis Ki Takbeer Se Dunya Teri Baidar Huwi
[ks k ʌmir dhgir dhdar hu] : [ks k tkbir s dnja tr bd̪ar hu]
(Whose world-seizing sward became world-holding):(From whose "God is great!" did your
world awake)
Tere Kaabe Ko Jabeenon Se Basaya Hum Ne: Tere Quran Ko Seenon Se Lagaya Hum Ne
[t̪ r kab ko dbino s bsa hʌm n] : [t̪ r qra ko sino se lgaja hʌm n]
(With our foreheads we populated your ka'abah): (We pressed your Qur'an to our bosoms)
So, in [1] the initial words Kis Ne [ks n], in [2] Kis Ki [ks k] and in [3] Tere [t̪ r] are the
examples of anaphoric repetition. They occur in the beginning of each line.
3.2.3 Lexical and Grammatical Cohesion
Kaite (2001, p.303) points out that "poetic Language is popularly regarded as the most
CREATIVE of discourses, original in its ideas and inventive in its FORMS". The creativity
in poetic language is achieved through foregrounding and one of the patterns of creating this
technique in a piece of literature is through linguistic choices. Linguistic choices may appear
in the form of lexical and grammatical cohesion which can create semantic and conceptual
cohesion.

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The title of the poem is 'Shikwah' which means 'complaint'. The researcher has calculated
manually that ten percent (10%) of the total lexical items in the poem consists of compound
words. Poet uses these words to express the conceptual theme of the 'Complaint'.
1. Ziyaan Kaar[za kar] --- loss-causer (L-1)
2. Sood Framosh [su:d̪framo] --- gain-forgetter (L-1)
3. Mahw-e-Ghum-e-Dosh [mhv-- m--d̪o] --- absorbed in grief (L-2)
4. Hama Tan Gosh [hm t̪ ʌn go] --- remain all ears (L-3)
5. Hum-nawa [hʌm-nova] --- a fellow –bard (L-4)
The above words are adjectival compound in Urdu language. These compounds give meaning
of direct 'Complaint to God' when interrogative adverb 'Kyun' [keo] (why) is inserted in the
beginning of sentences to form Wh-questions.
Q1. Kyun Ziyaan Kaar Banun?

(Why would (I) become a loss-causer?)
Q2. Kyun Sood Framosh Rahun?

(Why would (I) remain a gain-forgetter?)
Q3. Kyun Mahw-e-Ghum-e-Dosh Rahun?

(Why would (I) remain absorbed in grief?)
Q4. Kyun Hama Tan Gosh Rahun?

(Why would (I) remain all ears?)
Q5. Kyun Hum-nawa Banun?

(Why would (I) become fellow-singer?
In the last two lines of first stanza, the poet has made an explicit complaint to God. He writes:
Jurrat Aamoz Miri Taab-e-Sakhun Hai Mujh Ko : Shikwa Allah Se Khakam Badahan Hai Mujh Ko
[drt amoz mr t̪ ab -- sxan h md ko] : [kva ʌlah s xakm bd̪hʌn h md ko]
(I have my courage of speech : I have --- dust in my mouth --- a complaint against God)
(Stanza1 Lines: 5, 6)

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325-349
But the Persian noun compound "Khakam Badahan"[xakam bad̪hn] (dust in my mouth)
indicates the complaint is made politely not arrogantly.
3.3 Phonological Features
3.3.1 Alliteration
In sentence "Pat put purple paint in the pool" (CUP 2007, p.14) the aspirated bilabial plosive
[p] has repeated in the beginning of stressed syllable. The repetition of this initial sound at
stressed syllable is called alliteration. Katie (2001, p, 14) uses the term "initial rhyme" for it
and says, "Alliteration is the REPEAT of the initial consonant in two or more words".
Short (1996, p.10) shares the following lines of George Crabbe as an example of alliteration:
A dreadful winter passed, each day severe

Misty when mild, but cold when clear
('Tale 17: Resentment', lines 351-2)
Here, /m/ and /k/ sounds are repeated initially in Misty and mild, cold and clear respectively.
Another example can be given from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo says:
How silver-sweet sound lover's tongues by night,

Like softest music to attending ears
(Act II scene II)
In first line the consonant sound /s/ is repeated initially in words silver-sweet and
sound, and hence it aligns alliteration.
Iqbal too, uses this technique in his Shikwa to create musical effect. Following lines of the
poem are taking up the technique of alliteration:
[1] Deen Azaanen Kabhi Europe Ke Kaleesaaon Mein

[d̪i azan kab jorp k klisao m]
(Sometimes we raised the call to prayer in the churches of Europe.) Stanza 6, L: 3
[2] Tu Hi Keh De Ke Ukhara Dar-e-Khyber Kis Ne
[t̪ u hi kh d̪ k kaa d̪r--xbr ks n]

12 : 5 May 2012
325-349
(You yourself say who uprooted the gate of Khaibar?)
Sheher Qaiser Ka Jo Tha, Us Ko Kiya Sar Kis Ne

[hr--qsr ka do ta s ko kia sr ks n]
(That city of Caesar's --- Who subdued it.) Stanza 9, L: 1, 2
[3] Tujh Ko Chora Keh Rasool-e-Arabi (S.A.W.) Ko Chora?

[t̪ d ko toa k rsu--rab(S.A.W) ko toa]
(Did we abandon you, or did we abandon the Prophet of Arabia?)
Boutgari Paisha Kiya, Bout Shikani Ko Chora?

[bt̪ gr pa kia bt̪ kn ko toa]
(Did we make idol-making our profession, did we abandon idol-breaking?)
Stanza 21, L: 1, 2
In [1], [2], and [3] the Voiceless Velar Stop [k] is repeated in Stanza 6, Line 3, Stanza 9,
Lines: 1& 2, Stanza 21, Lines 1&2 respectively and in Stanza 21, Line 2, Voiced Bilabial
Stop [b] is repeated in the beginning of the words Boutgari [bt̪ gr] and Bout Shikani [bt̪
kn].
In above examples, the [k] and [b] sounds create alliteration. These sounds also bind the
concept which is expressed through the words.
3.3.2 Assonance
It is a type of half rhyme, used in poetic diction. Katie Wales (2001). In assonance, "the same
(STRESSED) vowel sound is repeated in words, but with different final consonant (e.g.
cough drop; fish 'n' chips"). (Ibid, p.33) Katie quotes an example of assonance from
Tennyson which creates an expressive effect:
Break, break, break

On the cold gray stone, O sea! (Ibid)

12 : 5 May 2012
325-349
In the first line, in word 'break' the diphthong /e/ has been repeated. This repetition is called
'assonance'. To Short (1969), short, front unrounded vowel // in words "withered, nipped and
shivering" (p. 111) is assonance. It is repeated in the following lines of George Crabbe:
I like yon wither'd leaf, remain behind,

Nipped by the frost, and shivering in the wind; 'The Village'. I, 210-11
(Ibid)
Iqbal uses this technique of repetition (assonance) in his poetry abundantly. Below, an
example of assonance is given from his famous poem ' Shikwah '.
Ae Khuda Shikwah-e-Arbab-e-Wafa Bhi Sun Le

Khugar-e-Hamd Se Thora Sa Gila Bhi Sun Le (stanza: 2 Line: 5/6)
[ kd̪a kwa--rbab--vfa bi sn l] (5)

[xugr--hmd̪ s toa sa gla bi sn l] (6)
In the above example the [a] vowel is repeated four times in line'5' and three times in line'6'
of stanza No.2 of Shikwah. The vowel [] is also repeated in Perso-Arabic phrasal Compound
[xugr--hmd̪]. This repetition of sounds in compounds "Khuda Shikwa-e-Arbab-e-Wafa"
[kd̪a kwa--rbab--vfa] and in "Thora Sa Gila" [toa sa gla] not only does create music
in these poetic lines but also connect these compounds semantically.
3.3.3 Consonance
In Greek language it means to harmonize the sounds in a poetic line. A Dictionary of
Stylistics (200, p.79) states consonance, a kind of 'half-rhyme' or 'end- alliteration'.

12 : 5 May 2012
325-349
According to http://wiki.answers.com:
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds within words.

Consonance is very similar to alliteration, but the distinction between
the two lies in the placement of the sounds. If the repeated sound is at
the start of the words, it is alliteration. If it is anywhere else, it is
consonance. In most cases, consonance refers to the end sound (like
"nk" in blank and think
The poetic diction of Iqbal's Complaint (Shikwa) contains consonance in large quantities:
[1] Hum Ko Jamiat-e-Khatir Ye Preshani Thi

Warna Ummat Tere Mehboob (S.A.W.) Ki Diwani Thi (Stanza: 3 Lines: 5/6)
[hʌm ko dmjt̪ --xat̪ r j prani t̪ i ]
[vʌrn mʌt̪ t̪ r mhbub ki d̪ivani t̪ i ]
[2] Taan-e-Aghiyaar Hai, Ruswai Hai, Nadaari Hai,

Kya Tere Nam Pe Marne Ka Iwaz Khwari Hai? (Stanza: 17 Lines: 5/6)
[t̪ an -- jar h rsvai h nad̪ari h ]
[ka t̪ r nam p mʌrn ka vz xari h]
In [1], Stanza: 3, Bilabial Nasal [m], Dental Stop [t̪ ], Dental Aspirated Stop [t̪ ] and
Frictionless Continuant Post-alveolar[r] occur in two lines to create consonance. The same
sounds are repeated in [2] for creating the technique of consonance.
3.3.4 Rhyme
Rhyme scheme is one of the most outstanding features of poetic language. It is the repetition
of the final sound of different lines of a piece of poetry.
According to Katie Wales (2001, p.346), "Rhyme is a kind of PHONETIC echo found in
verse: more precisely, "PHONEMIC matching". Mick Short (1996, p.113) observes it more
closely and writes:
Rhyme is usually reserved to refer to the final syllables of different

lines of poetry when the vowel and syllable – final consonants
12 : 5 May 2012
325-349
(if any) of the words in question are identical. Thus five can rhyme
with live and alive. Slightly looser connections than this
(e.g. five/fife) are usually called half rhymes, and if the rhymes occur
in positions other than at the end of a line, they are usually called
internal rhyme.
Example:
Wake! For the sun, who scattered into flight
The stars before him from the field of Night,
Drives Night along with them from He cav'n and Strikes
The Sultans' Turret with a Shaft
of Light
(Edward Fitzgerald – The Rubaiyat of Omer Khayyam)
The ending words of lines 1, 2, and 4 of this stanza are flight, Night and light. These words
end with the same final consonant sound /t/ that according to Katie (2001) creates an end
rhyme. He further says, if words like June/moon; rose/toes occur within the lines they are
called internal rhyme.
Iqbal has composed his 'Complaint' in rhyme scheme. Ending words of two parallel lines of
the whole poem are in rhyme composition:
1. Rahun/ Rahun [rhu/ rhu] Stanza: 1 Lines: 1, 2
2. Ko/ Ko [ko/ ko ] Stanza: 1 Lines: 5, 6

3. Qadim/Shamim[qd̪i m/mim] Stanza: 3 Lines: 1, 2
4. Tera/ Tera [tra/tra] Stanza: 4 Lines: 5, 6
5. Ne/ Ne [n/n] Stanza: 13 Lines: 3, 4
3.4 Semantic Deviation
Semantics is the study of meaning. When a poet uses other than commonly used meaning of a
word it is called semantic deviation. In semantic deviation surface level meanings are
changed with the meanings at deeper level. This type of deviation is made by using different
figures of speech like Simile, metaphor, irony, and hyperbole etc. According to Geoffrey N.
12 : 5 May 2012
325-349
Leech (1969, p. 156), "Simile is an overt, and metaphor a covert comparison". Metaphor is a
figure of speech that aims at understanding a kind of resemblance between two objects
without starting the similarity in clear terms. (Hassan Ghazala, 2008, p.146). Poetry of Dr.
Iqbal is packed densely with metaphorical expressions. Few examples from his Shikwah are
being stated here:
1. Qissa-e-Dard [qsa--d̪ʌrd̪] (Tale of pain) Stanza: 1 Line: 2

2. Saaz-e-Khamosh [saz--xamo] (voiceless lyres) Stanza: 1 Line: 3
3. Preshan Shamim [pran mim] (worried breeze) Stanza: 3 Line: 2
4. Chaon Mein Talwaron Ki [tao m t̪ lwaro k] Stanza: 6 Line: 6
5. Mai-e-Tauheed [m--tohid] (wine of oness) Stanza: 12Line: 2
6. Safah-e-Dahar [sʌfa--dhr] (page of the world) Stanza: 13Line: 1
7. Khandah Zan Kufr [xʌnda zʌn kfr] (smiling infidility) Stanza: 15Line: 5
8. Chashm-e-Ghazab[tʌm--zb (eye of wrath) Stanza: 20Line: 6
9. Aag Takbeer Ki [ag tʌkbir k] (the flame of "Takbir") Stanza: 21Line: 5
10. Bang-e-Dara [ba--dra] (rousing bells) Stanza: 31 Line: 2
4. Conclusion
The researcher starts this paper introducing the background, aim, significance, research
methodology and the related literature review. After giving a short biographical sketch of the
poet, he comes up to stylistic analysis of Shikwah, the selected poem of Dr. Muhammad
Iqbal. This analysis starts explaining the poem generally, and then discusses different
linguistic stylistic features of the poem. The researcher counts the entire strength of lexical
items of the poem including different types of compounds. Table.2 explains this in detail.
Iqbal appears in this poem with three different but inter linked themes. He counts the
chivalrous deeds, shows the decline of Muslim nation and makes a direct complaint to God.
12 : 5 May 2012
325-349
Compound words which are given in Tables 3, 4 & 5 carry out this theme. The researcher
does look into lexical and grammatical cohesion in various compound words. Phonological
features form the real face of poetic diction. The present paper also analyses the language of
Shikwah from this perspective. The researcher finds the evidence of alliteration, assonance,
consonance and the technique of rhyme scheme in the poem and presents them in this paper.
Deviation is a departure from accepted norms of language. A poet deviates to foreground his
piece of writing. In this research the researcher presents ten examples of semantic deviation
from Iqbal’s ‘Complaint’.
=================================================================
References
Abul Hassan Ali Nadwwi, Shaykh (2002). Glory of Iqbal. Awakening Publications. U.K.
Allop, Jake (1996). Student English Grammar, ELBS.
Bassnett, S. and P. Grundy (1993). Language through Literature. London: Longman.
Bradford, Richard (2006). Stylistics. Routledge, London and. New York.
Crystal, David (1985). What is linguistics? Edward Arnold.
Crystal. D, and Davy. D (1969, p. vii). Investigating English Style, Longman,
Eagleton, Terry (2008). Literary theory: an introduction. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press
Ghazala, Hasan(2007). Translation as problems and solutions. Dar El-Ilm Lilmalyin, Beruit.
Humayoun,Muhammad (2006). Urdu Morphology, Orthography and Lexicon Extraction.

Printed at chalmers, Goteborg, Sweden.
Kiernan, V.G (2003). Poems from Iqbal. Iqbal Academy Pakistan.
Leech, Geoffrey N (1969). A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. Longman.
Leech, Geoffrey N (2008). Language in Literature, Style and Foregrounding. Longman.
Nadeem Shafiq, Malik (2009). Perception of Life and Works of Allama Iqbal in Pakistani
English Journalism:A Survey of English Dailies. A PhD Thesis (http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Thesis)
Iqbal, Muhammad (1996). Kulliyat-i-Iqbal (3rd). Sheikh Ghulam Ali & Sons. Lahore, Pakistan.
Richard, Jack. Platt, John. Platt, John (1985). Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics.
Longman.
12 : 5 May 2012
325-349
Salama, Adel (1985). A Poetry: An Anthology. MARS Publishing House Cairo.
Short, Mick (1996). Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays, and Prose. Longman.
Simpson, Paul (2006). Stylistics: A resource book for students. Routledge, London and. New
York.
Verma, S. K (2006). Modern Linguistics: An introduction. OUP
Wales, Katie (2001). A Dictionary of Stylistics. Longman.
http://www.yespakistan.com/
http://www.allamaiqbal.com/person/perbrief.html
Allamaiqbal.com. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
http://www.allamaiqbal.com/ias/shikwaandjawab.html (G. Sabir, Copenhagen 11.07.2007)
-- Designed by: Muhammad Irfan Tariq
http:// en. Wikipedia.org /wiki/ stylistics-linguistics (Modified on 15 March 2010)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musaddas This page was last modified on 10 November 2011 at
16:25.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_assonance_and_consonance.
=================================================================
Sardar Fayyaz ul Hassan

M.A., Language and Literature (Pakistan)
Lecturer in English
Buraydah Community College
Qassim University
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
&
Ph.D. (Linguistics) Scholar, Atlantic International University
Honolulu Hawaii, USA
[email protected]

12 : 5 May 2012
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A Stylistic Analysis of Iqbals Shikwah

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LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

A Stylistic Analysis of Iqbal's Shikwah

Sardar Fayyaz ul Hassan

of the detailed stylistic study of Iqbal's Shikwah.

According to Bassnett and Gundy (1993):

Literature is a high pint of language usage; arguable it makes the

people. It is something mystic and should not be corrupted by linguistic analysis.

literature is made of language so lies within the preview of linguistic study.

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

subjectivity. Saussure and Jakobson developed course of stylistics in twentieth century.

N. Krishnaswamy writes in this context (2004):

In Rome it was developed by Cicero and Quintilian, and during the

manifesto of stylistic studies. Comparatively, stylistics is a new area of study. It appears in

Linguistic Stylistics, based on linguistics, streams off into

Ancient Greece used to recognize language in terms of practical Functions, known as

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

Rhetoric Poetics Dialectics

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

foreign language teaching literature.

Stylistics is an interdisciplinary approach which seeks to integrate language and literary

with each other are obvious.

the way the language has been structured.

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

and phonological features.

1.3 Significance of Study

1.4 Research Methodology

Poems, Plays, and Prose (1996) respectively.

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

According toWikipedia (modified on 15 March 2010), "Stylistics is a branch of linguistics,

choice, dialogue, accent, length and register."

language and artistic function. According to Gabriela Miššikova (2003):

Stylistics is a field of study where the method of selecting and

We may --- regard stylistics as a subdepartment of linguistics and

to do research in stylistics".( Paul Simpson 2006, p.2)

It is taught and researched in university departments of language,

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

According to official record (http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Thesis), Doctor Sir Mohammad Iqbal was

was awarded the title of Shams al-’Ulama’ means, 'Sun of Scholars'.

Philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge (V.G.Kiernan: xi). He qualified as a barrister at

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

yespakistan.com & Kiernan: 2003).

Muslim State in India. He said (allamaiqbal.com. Retrieved 2010-11-09):

Language in India www.languageinindia.com

beautiful lines (yespakistan.com, allamaiqbal.com):

The departed melody may return or not!

truthful Muslim. (Nadwwi, 2002)

3.1 General explanation of Iqbal’s Shikwah (The Complaint)

Diagram "B" NAZAM

3.2 Linguistic Stylistic features

3.2.1 Lexical Compounds (LC)

1371 1234 137 90% 10%

Compounds Meaning Stanza Line Type*

Those who accustomed to praising

3 Maarka Aaraaon [mrk-arao] thronged as warriors 6 1 Atb.C

4 Sar-Bakaf [sr-bkʌf] Head in hand 7 4 PACC

5 Wafa-dar [vfa-d̪ar] Faithful 13 5,6 PAODC

5 Sokhta Saman [soxt̪ a sama] Burnt-out 23 8 Cop.C*

°This word is not the part of compound *copulative compound