Armaghan E Hijaz

Armaghan E Hijaz was a philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal, the great poet-philosopher of Islam. This work, published a few months after the poet’s death, is a fairly small volume containing verses in both Persian and Urdu. It is incomplete, although this is not readily apparent to the reader; for Iqbal left some gaps in the book which he intended to fill when he made the pilgrimage to Mecca. The title means “Gift from the Hijaz.” He had long wished to undertake the journey to the Arabian Peninsula to perform the Hajj and to visit the tomb of Muhammad, but was prevented from doing so by continuous illness during the last years of his life. Iqbal began composing the Armughan as a gift to take to the Hijaz, intending to publish it on his return to India as a “Gift from the Hijaz” to his countrymen. In this, his last work, we find the poet more withdrawn and introspective than previously. The poems are shorter and more personal. The impression left is that the author is taking a last look at the world around him before leaving it behind.