Nationalism: A Comparative Study...

Abstract— For the love of country, radical territorial nationalism often demands the sacrifice of universal human harmony, breeding bigotry and discord between nations. Across both the Eastern and Western worlds, profound thinkers have rejected this narrow worldview in favor of global humanitarianism. This comparative study explores the structural intersection of Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Percy Bysshe Shelley—two towering literary revolutionaries who utilized their verse to challenge the status quo, reject artificial boundaries, and champion the collective uplift of humanity. While both reached the maturity of universal brotherhood, their methodologies diverged: Iqbal anchored his emancipatory philosophy firmly within the spiritual framework of his religion, whereas Shelley relied on secular idealism and empirical humanism.

Introduction

A true poet does not merely provide aesthetic joy; they act as a vessel for a transforming message to the world. In their respective eras, Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Percy Bysshe Shelley fought tirelessly not just for their immediate societies, but for the moral alignment of all human beings. Their goals bypassed parochial communities to seek the absolute betterment of the global collective.

یہاں مرض کا سبب ہے غلامی و تقلید

وہاں مرض کا سبب ہے نظام جمہوری

نہ مشرق اس سے بری ہے نہ مغرب اس سے بری

جہاں میں عام ہے قلب و نظر کی رنجوری

Both figures recognized that territorial nationalism functions as a primary driver of modern bigotry. By elevating land over ethics, societies foster a competitive rivalry that systematically devalues human life across borders. Iqbal and Shelley challenged this status quo, striving to awaken the slumbering souls of their populations through an appeal to universal love. As Iqbal observed, the shifting of seasons in global power dynamics hints at the collapse of obsolete oppressive systems:

دلوں میں ولولہِ انقلاب ہے پیدا

قریب آ گئی شاید جہانِ پیر کی موت

Biographical Horizons: Two Worlds, One Mission

Despite a gap of nearly 88 years between their births, an unbreakable philosophical thread unites these two literary figures. Both witnessed a breakdown of human values within their specific historical realities and sought an answer through higher literature.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)

Born into privilege as the son of an MP in Sussex, Shelley's early life coincided with the heavy political repression following the French Revolution. While contemporary Romantic poets retreated into passive mythology and quiet idealism, Shelley retained a fierce, uncompromising appetite for systemic change. Throughout his short 30 years of life, Shelley fiercely traced human suffering directly back to institutional slavery and external authoritarian control.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938)

Born in Sialkot into a deeply spiritual household, Iqbal pursued higher learning under the guidance of Maulana Syed Mir Hassan before moving to Lahore and eventually Europe. He observed a colonized Indian subcontinent suffering from deep cultural depression and socio-political fragmentation. He warned his people that continuous psychological submission and complacency would attract destruction from the heavens:

وطن کی فکر کر ناداں مصیبت آنے والی ہے

تیری بربادیوں کے مشورے ہیں آسمانوں میں

To reverse this decay, Iqbal introduced the concept of the 'Shaheen' (The Eagle)—a symbol of relentless high ambition, pure spiritual focus, and an independent life untainted by low material attachments:

پرندوں کی دنیا کا درویش ہوں میں

کہ شاہیں بناتا نہیں آشیانہ

When human beings become complacent under servitude, their mindset alters entirely, accepting structural humiliation as normal. Iqbal analyzed this psychological deterioration with great precision:

خواجگی میں کوئی مشکل نہیں رہتی باقی

پختہ ہو جاتے ہیں جب خوئے غلامی میں غلام

The Evolving Rejection of Territorial Nationalism

Iqbal's political evolution progressed from a localized phase to absolute universal human solidarity. Initially, his early poetry reflected standard patriotic sentiments:

سارے جہاں سے اچھا ہندوستاں ہمارا

However, his intellectual journey led him to embrace a borderless pan-Islamic humanism, recognizing that true faith cannot be tied to a piece of geographic dirt:

چین و عرب ہمارا ہندوستاں ہمارا

مسلم ہیں ہم وطن ہے سارا جہاں ہمارا

He realized that the physical divisions of man-made boundaries are illusions, pointing out that identity cannot be restricted to an accident of birth or location:

کہاں کا آنا کہاں کا جانا قریب ہے امتیازِ اقبال

نمود ہر شے میں ہے ہماری کہیں ہمارا وطن نہیں ہے

Iqbal notes that in his earlier days, he had written lines like 'خاکِ وطن کا مجھ کو ہر اک ذرہ دیوتا ہے' (Every particle of my homeland's dust is a deity to me). But upon deep maturity, he recognized nationalism as a destructive modern idol designed to break global human brotherhood. In his famous poem 'Wataniyyat', he strongly warns against this modern shroud:

تہذیب کے آزر نے ترشوائے صنم اور

مسلم نے بھی تعمیر کیا اپنا حرم اور

ان تازہ خداؤں میں بڑا سب سے وطن ہے

جو پیرہن اس کا ہے وہ مذہب کا کفن ہے

Western political structures intentionally fragment global human community to maintain dominance, whereas the spiritual mission of human brotherhood demands the absolute unity of mankind:

اس دور میں اقوام کی صحبت بھی ہوئی عام

پوشیدہ نگاہوں سے رہی وحدتِ آدم

تفریقِ ملت حکمتِ افرنگ کا مقصود

اسلام کا مقصود فقط ملتِ آدم

Poetry as a Catalyst for Global Revolution

Both Shelley and Iqbal rejected the reductive role of the poet as a mere entertainer, choosing instead to step into the mantle of the prophetic herald. As Shelley beautifully articulated in Ode to the West Wind:

"Drive my dead thoughts over the Universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth; And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth... The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"

Shelley famously questioned institutional imbalances in The Revolt of Islam, crying: 'Can man be free if woman be a slave?' Iqbal mirrored this intense urgency in his own verses, calling on individual souls to shake off deep generational apathy, realize their inner potential (Khudi), and wake up:

بتا کیا تیری زندگی کا ہے راز

ہزاروں برس سے ہے تو خاک باز

اسی خاک میں دب گئی تیری آگ

سحر کی اذاں ہو گئی اب تو جاگ

زمیں میں ہے گو خاکیوں کی برات

نہیں اس اندھیرے میں آبِ حیات

زمانے میں جھوٹا ہے اس کا نگیں

جو اپنی خودی کو پرکھتا نہیں

True poetic art is not a passive luxury; it is a burning fire meant to refine the soul and light up the community. Iqbal accepted this heavy burden gracefully:

اقبال کے نفس سے ہے لالے کی آگ تیز

ایسے غزل سرا کو چمن سے نکال دو

The true revolutionary poet does not write for cheap applause, but because they carry the intimate hidden secrets of human destiny:

میری نوائے پریشاں کو شاعری نہ سمجھ

کہ میں ہوں محرمِ رازِ درونِ خانہ

This continuous creative and spiritual struggle requires total inner freedom. True spiritual elevation cannot exist in conditions of mental or physical bondage:

میسر آتی ہے فرصت فقط غلاموں کو

نہیں ہے بندہِ حر کے لیے جہاں میں فراغ

Conclusion: The Convergence and Divergence of Vision

While Allama Iqbal and Percy Bysshe Shelley converge on their total rejection of territorial nationalism, their philosophical anchors differ fundamentally. Ultimately, the internal diseases plaguing the East and West required different treatments: while Iqbal identified blind imitation and structural subjugation as the crisis of the East, he diagnosed unbridled secular democracy as the crisis of the West. Together, their combined poetic legacies offer an enduring roadmap toward global human harmony, showing that real life is colored by those who sacrifice their energy for the common good:

گر کبھی فرصت میسر ہو تو پوچھ اللہ سے

قصہِ آدم کو رنگیں کر گیا کس کا لہو

References & Citations

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Gupta, A., & Pir, R. A. (2016). "Percy Bysshe Shelley as a Revolutionary Poet." International Journal of Current Research, 8(2), 26988-26993.

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Shelley, P. B. (2002). Selected Poetry and Prose of Shelley (Intro. by Bruce Woodcock). Wordsworth Editions Limited.

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Afreen, A. (2015). "Iqbal’s Islamic Political Ideas." Al-Adwa, 41(29), 37-60.