Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa

[1][2] The central idea of the poem Shikwa is that God is not fulfilling his promise to protect followers of the Prophet from loss and a decline in fortune.

In Jawab-e Shikwa God answers directly that he has not broken his promise; instead it is the Muslims, his followers, who have turned away from the Path.

[3] The reason why Shikwa raised controversies is that the main theme of the poem was the 'Complaint to God' for Muslim's downfall, ill-treatment and troubles they were facing.

[4] When the first of these poems, Shikwa, was published it created confusion among Muslim Scholars who thought that Iqbal was being ungrateful for the blessings of God.

[5] The second poem, Jawab-e-Shikwa, was not announced with the publication of the first, but when it was published four years later Iqbal was praised for his contribution to Urdu poetry and Islamic literature.

Iqbal recited Shikwa for the first time in April 1909, at a poetry gathering organized by Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam in Lahore.

[6] In 1913 Iqbal recited its sequel Javab-e-Shikwa at a political rally held outside Mochi Gate, Lahore[6] to raise money for the Turkish struggle against a Bulgarian uprising, a prefiguring of the Khilafat Movement.

thī farishtoñ ko bhī hairat ki ye āvāz hai kyā arsh vāloñ pe bhī khultā nahīñ ye raaz hai kyā tā-sar-e-arsh bhī insāñ kī tag-o-tāz hai kyā aa ga.ī ḳhaak kī chuTkī ko bhī parvāz hai kyā ġhāfil ādāb se sukkān-e-zamīñ kaise haiñ shoḳh o gustāḳh ye pastī ke makīñ kaise haiñ

kaun hai tārik-e-ā.īn-e-rasūl-e-muḳhtār maslahat vaqt kī hai kis ke amal kā me.aar kis kī āñkhoñ meñ samāyā hai shi.ār-e-aġhyār ho ga.ī kis kī nigah tarz-e-salaf se be-zār qalb meñ soz nahīñ ruuh meñ ehsās nahīñ kuchh bhī paiġhām-e-mohammad kā tumheñ paas nahīñ

tum ho aapas meñ ġhazabnāk vo aapas meñ rahīm tum ḳhatā-kār o ḳhatā-bīñ vo ḳhatā-posh o karīm chāhte sab haiñ ki hoñ auj-e-surayyā pe muqīm pahle vaisā koī paidā to kare qalb-e-salīm taḳht-e-faġhfūr bhī un kā thā sarīr-e-ka.e bhī yuuñ hī bāteñ haiñ ki tum meñ vo hamiyat hai bhī

Shikwa was sung by Natasha Baig, while Fareed Ayaz, Abu Muhammad Qawwal & Brothers sang Jawab-e-Shikwa .