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Muhammad Iqbal

Sir Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. His poetry is considered to be among the greatest of the 20th century, and his vision of a cultural and political ideal for the Muslims of British-ruled India is widely regarded as having animated the impulse for the Pakistan Movement. He is commonly referred to by the honourific ''Allama'' (, ) and widely considered one of the most important and influential Muslim thinkers and Western religious philosophers of the 20th century.

Born and raised in Sialkot, Punjab, Iqbal completed his BA and MA at the Government College in Lahore. He taught Arabic at the Oriental College in Lahore from 1899 until 1903, during which time he wrote prolifically. Notable among his Urdu poems from this period are "''Parinde ki Faryad''" (translated as "A Bird's Prayer"), an early contemplation on animal rights, and "''Tarana-e-Hindi''" (translated as "Anthem of India"), a patriotic poem—both composed for children. In 1905, he departed from India to pursue further education in Europe, first in England and later in Germany. In England, he earned a second BA at Trinity College, Cambridge, and subsequently qualified as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. In Germany, he obtained a PhD in philosophy at the University of Munich, with his thesis focusing on "The Development of Metaphysics in Persia" in 1908. Upon his return to Lahore in 1908, Iqbal established a law practice but primarily focused on producing scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy, and religion. He is most renowned for his poetic compositions, including "''Asrar-e-Khudi,''" for which he was honored with a British knighthood upon its publication, "''Rumuz-e-Bekhudi''," and "''Bang-e-Dara''." His literary works in the Persian language garnered him recognition in Iran, where he is commonly known as ''Eghbal-e Lahouri'' (), meaning "Iqbal of Lahore."

An ardent proponent of the political and spiritual revival of the Muslim world, particularly of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, the series of lectures Iqbal delivered to this effect were published as ''The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam'' in 1930. He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Council in 1927 and held several positions in the All-India Muslim League. In his Allahabad Address, delivered at the League's annual assembly in 1930, he formulated a political framework for the Muslim-majority regions spanning northwestern India, spurring the League's pursuit of the two-nation theory.

In August 1947, nine years after Iqbal's death, the partition of India gave way to the establishment of Pakistan, a newly independent Islamic state in which Iqbal was honoured as the national poet. He is also known in Pakistani society as '''' () and as (). The anniversary of his birth (''Yom-e Weladat-e Muḥammad Iqbal''), 9 November, is observed as a public holiday in Pakistan. Provided by Wikipedia