The Secrets of the Self
book by Mohammed Iqbal
Asrar-i-Khudi (Persian: اسرار خودی, The Secrets of the Self; published in Persian, 1915) was the first philosophical poetry book of Allama Iqbal. This book deals mainly with the individual, while his second book Rumuz-i-Bekhudi رموزِ بیخودی discusses the interaction between the individual and society.
Introduction
Published in 1915, Asrar-i-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) was the first poetry book of Iqbal. Considered by many to be Iqbal's best book of poetry, it is concerned with the philosophy of religion. In a letter to the poet Ghulam Qadir Girami (d.1345/1927), Iqbal wrote, "The ideas behind the verses had never been expressed before either in the East or in the West." R.A. Nicholson, who translated the Asrar as The Secrets of the Self, says it caught the attention of young Muslims as soon as it was printed. Iqbal wrote this in Persian because he felt the language was well-suited for the expression of these ideas. Asrar-i-Khudi provoked strong controversy on publication; Schimmel describes it as having acted as a shock to many of Iqbal's own friends and admirers, who were unsettled by its rejection of the traditional Sufi doctrine of self-annihilation.
Overview
In the year 1915, Iqbal published his first collection of poetry, the Asrar-e-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) in Persian. The poems emphasise the spirit and self from a religious, spiritual perspective. Many critics have called this Iqbal's finest poetic work.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Secrets of the Self” is book by Mohammed Iqbal. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Secrets, Self and book, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “book by Mohammed Iqbal” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7763197. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1915, 1345 and 1927.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Secrets of the Self” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.