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The Ardent Pilgrim: An Introduction to the Life and Work of Mohammed Iqbal. By IQBAL SINGH. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997. xiv, 183 pp. $18.95 (cloth).
This engaging volume is a revision of the author's biography of the noted poet and thinker, Mohammed Iqbal, originally published in 1951. The author, Iqbal Gurpratap Singh, was a noted journalist who passed away on February 5, 2000, at the age of 89. He had been well known for his column, "So it's reported," a weekly analysis of British reporting on India, which used to appear on the back page of the India Weekly.
Divided into twelve chapters, the book touches on a range of subjects, including the early influences on the poet; his education and training in both India and abroad; his return to his homeland and the increasing emphasis in his poetry on Islamic motifs; his desertion of many of the classical themes in Persian and Urdu poetry and his advocacy of the development of khudi, or ego; his reaction against the ideals of the West; the occasional dissonance between his philosophy as expressed in his writings and his deeds; his thought as expressed in his major works; some insights into his life; a summary; and finally a chapter entitled "Matters of No Importance?" which explores Iqbal's personal life, including his marital relationships and his estrangement...