The Glory of Iqbal

philosopher and law.
An extract from the book... ""The Mosque of Cordoba In 1932, Iqbal visited Spain and also went to see the Mosque of Cordoba. It was not an ordinary sightseeing trip by a tourist interested in ancient monuments but a pilgrimage to an outstanding symbol of faith by a faithful Believer and a warm-hearted poet. It was a pilgrimage of love and loyalty by a celebrated Muslim to pay homage to the spiritual legacy of Abdul Rahman el-Dakhil and his companions. Iqbal was greatly moved by the magnificence and solemnity of the Mosque and the deep emotional responses its awe-inspiring sight evoked in him found expression in the immortal poem called Masjid-i-Qartaba (The Mosque of Cordoba). Iqbal saw it as a cultural landmark of Islam and in its architecture and engravings he saw a moving portrait of the Believer's moral excellence and aesthetic refinement as well his high-mindedness, sincerity, piety and devotion. The Mosque reminded Iqbal of its builders and their keen appreciation of artistic beauty, and of the noble ideas and appreciation, call and message, they upheld in life and propagated in the world. Its tall, stately minarets revived the memory of the spellbinding Azan that once used to rise from them and which people heard every day at the beginning and the end of the stresses of life. The Azan is a symbol of the unity and solidarity of the Muslim Millet. The call it gives and the message it conveys may, indeed, be described as the National Anthem of Muslims and it is unique to their community. At one time the soul of the universe trembled and the foundations of the citadels of falsehood shook at the sound of it. It was the Islamic Azan that announced the dawn of a new morning and dispelled the gloom that had enveloped the world in the 6th Century A.D. Iqbal recalls the Divine message and the celestial guidance the Azans used to carry to the four corners of the world and the depth and intensity of their significance.