Shikwah and Jawab-e-Shikwah

ISRA Books are proud to publish their first book, “Shikwah” and “Jawab-e-Shikwah” by Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal, in a hand-bound paperback volume on high-quality paper containing both the original Urdu transliterated into the Roman alphabet and a modern English version suitable for reading aloud.  The scholarly translation is by Professor Muhammad Sharif Baqa, adapted and made rhythmic by Maggie Blenkinsop.

We at ISRA Books felt there was a strong need for a more accessible version of these important poems, both for those who have a knowledge of spoken Urdu without the ability to read Urdu script and for those who understand modern English without having studied the literary language.  Maggie Blenkinsop has helped produce a translation that is sufficiently rhythmical to be read aloud, as practised by the poet himself when the works were first written.  We are grateful to Professor Baqa for allowing us to make use of his text in this way and hope that the result will be a still wider audience for the works of the great poet.