[1][2][3][4] His poetry is considered to be among the greatest of the 20th century,[5][6][7][8] and his vision of a cultural and political ideal for the Muslims of British-ruled India[9] is widely regarded as having animated the impulse for the Pakistan Movement.

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.

[32][34][35] The same year he enrolled at Government College University, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, English literature and Arabic in 1897, and won the Khan Bahadurddin F.S.

[41] Iqbal was influenced by the teachings of Sir Thomas Arnold, his philosophy teacher at Government College Lahore, to pursue higher education in the West.

Iqbal's thoughts in his work primarily focus on the spiritual direction and development of human society, centered around experiences from his travels and stays in Western Europe and the Middle East.

[65][66] His tomb is located in Hazuri Bagh, the enclosed garden between the entrance of the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort, and official guards are provided by the Government of Pakistan.

[69] In November 1926, with the encouragement of friends and supporters, Iqbal contested the election for a seat in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from the Muslim district of Lahore, and defeated his opponent by a margin of 3,177 votes.

[71] While Iqbal espoused the idea of Muslim-majority provinces in 1930, Jinnah would continue to hold talks with the Congress through the decade and only officially embraced the goal of Pakistan in 1940.

[73][74] Iqbal's six English lectures were published in Lahore in 1930, and then by the Oxford University Press in 1934 in the book The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.

In his travels to Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, he promoted ideas of greater Islamic political co-operation and unity, calling for the shedding of nationalist differences.

He reiterated the ideas of his 1932 address, and, during the third Round Table Conference, he opposed the Congress and proposals for transfer of power without considerable autonomy for Muslim provinces.

[53] In his Rumuz-i-Bekhudi رموزِ بیخودی (Hints of Selflessness), Iqbal seeks to prove the Islamic way of life is the best code of conduct for a nation's viability.

Published in 1917, this group of poems has as its main themes the ideal community,[53] Islamic ethical and social principles, and the relationship between the individual and society.

[53] Iqbal's 1924 publication, the Payam-e-Mashriq پیامِ مشرق (The Message of the East), is closely connected to the West-östlicher Diwan by the German poet Goethe.

Goethe bemoans the West having become too materialistic in outlook, and expects the East will provide a message of hope to resuscitate spiritual values.

Iqbal styles his work as a reminder to the West of the importance of morality, religion, and civilization by underlining the need for cultivating feeling, ardor, and dynamism.

[50] The Zabur-e-Ajam زبورِ عجم (Persian Psalms), published in 1927, includes the poems "Gulshan-e-Raz-e-Jadeed" ("Garden of New Secrets") and "Bandagi Nama" ("Book of Slavery").

Here, as in other books, Iqbal insists on remembering the past, doing well in the present and preparing for the future, while emphasising love, enthusiasm and energy to fulfill the ideal life.

In a passage reliving a historical period, Iqbal condemns the Muslims who were instrumental in the defeat and death of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal and Tipu Sultan of Mysore by betraying them for the benefit of the British colonists, and thus delivering their country to the shackles of slavery.

[83] Pas Chih Bayed Kard Ay Aqwam-e-Sharq پس چہ باید کرد اے اقوامِ شرق includes the poem "Musafir" مسافر ("The Traveller").

[50] The second set of poems date from 1905 to 1908, when Iqbal studied in Europe, and dwell upon the nature of European society, which he emphasised had lost spiritual and religious values.

Iqbal urges the entire Muslim community, addressed as the Ummah, to define personal, social and political existence by the values and teachings of Islam.

[88] Zarb-i-Kalim ضربِ کلیم (or The Rod of Moses) is another philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal in Urdu, it was published in 1936, two years before his death.

Some verses of that ghazal are:[53] At last, the silent tongue of Hijaz has announced to the ardent ear the tiding That the covenant which had been given to the desert-[dwellers] is going to be renewed vigorously: The lion who had emerged from the desert and had toppled the Roman Empire is As I am told by the angels, about to get up again (from his slumbers.)

For a house built on a fragile bark of wood is not longlasting[53]Iqbal wrote two books, The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (1908) and The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930), and many letters in the English language.

[53]Iqbal also wrote some poems in Punjabi, such as "Piyaara Jedi" and "Baba Bakri Wala", which he penned in 1929 on the occasion of his son Javed's birthday.

[108] Shariati, who has been described as a core ideologue for the Iranian Revolution, described Iqbal as a figure who brought a message of "rejuvenation", "awakening" and "power" to the Muslim world.

[115] Soviet biographer N. P. Anikoy wrote: [Iqbal is] great for his passionate condemnation of weak will and passiveness, his angry protest against inequality, discrimination and oppression in all forms, i.e., economic, social, political, national, racial, religious, etc., his preaching of optimism, an active attitude towards life and man's high purpose in the world, in a word, he is great for his assertion of the noble ideals and principles of humanism, democracy, peace and friendship among peoples.

[115] Critics of Abbot's viewpoint note that Iqbal was raised and educated in the European way of life, and spent enough time there to grasp the general concepts of Western civilization.

[118][119] The Government of Madhya Pradesh in India awards the Iqbal Samman, named in honour of the poet, every year at the Bharat Bhavan to Indian writers for their contributions to Urdu literature and poetry.