Attia Faizi

Getting to know of Attia Faizi’s intellectual worth, Mohammad Iqbal (1877-1938), the major Urdu poet and founder of modern nazm, went to meet her in Cambridge. He was naturally drawn towards this graceful and intelligent lady. They discussed issues and grew intimate over a period of time. This led Iqbal’s biographers to draw their own conclusion about their relationship. One cannot, however, say for sure if Iqbal was only infatuated by her, or was actually in love with her. One may better suggest that the beauty of their bonding lay in its mysterious nature, or its indefinability, to be precise.

Certain pages from her diary may be an indicator of the nature of their relationship. She wrote at one place that one day she called on Iqbal with friends and teachers to take him along for a picnic. Reaching there, she found him in a state of deep meditation. It seemed as if he had been in that state for a long time. They tried to shake him up but without success. Finding no other way, Attia decided to send them all out of the room and make her own effort and bring him back to a normal state. She drew physically close to him and shook him so vigorously that he came back to his senses. One may just speculate if this was their bosom friendship, or romantic intimacy with each other, that made it happen.

Reference: Iqbal’s letters.

Getting to know of Attia Faizi’s intellectual worth, Mohammad Iqbal (1877-1938), the major Urdu poet and founder of modern nazm, went to meet her in Cambridge. He was naturally drawn towards this graceful and intelligent lady. They discussed issues and grew intimate over a period of time. This led Iqbal’s biographers to draw their own conclusion about their relationship. One cannot, however, say for sure if Iqbal was only infatuated by her, or was actually in love with her. One may better suggest that the beauty of their bonding lay in its mysterious nature, or its indefinability, to be precise.

Certain pages from her diary may be an indicator of the nature of their relationship. She wrote at one place that one day she called on Iqbal with friends and teachers to take him along for a picnic. Reaching there, she found him in a state of deep meditation. It seemed as if he had been in that state for a long time. They tried to shake him up but without success. Finding no other way, Attia decided to send them all out of the room and make her own effort and bring him back to a normal state. She drew physically close to him and shook him so vigorously that he came back to his senses. One may just speculate if this was their bosom friendship, or romantic intimacy with each other, that made it happen.

Reference: Iqbal’s letters.