Iqbal Day: Twitter Pays Homage to Poet of the East

Allama Muhammad Iqbal was born on 9th November 1877. Later in life, he went on to become a pioneer of Urdu and Persian poetry. He needs no introduction, such is the stature of the man who gave birth to the idea of Pakistan as an independent state for the very first time.

Iqbal Day used to be a public holiday in Pakistan – to commemorate the efforts of the great philosopher – until 2015 when the former Minister of Interior revoked the national holiday.

Holiday or not, Pakistan celebrates Iqbal day with national fervour every year. While some of us may be complaining about the holiday, the true followers are paying respect to the Poet of the East in whatever way they can on the 140th birth anniversary of Iqbal.

The microblogging platform Twitter is flooded with the messages of respect and reverence for Iqbal as his name trends on the social media site.

The official Twitter handle of the government of Pakistan tweets:

Remembering #Iqbal,A great
Thinker, Philosopher, Politician, Writer and National Poet of #Pakistan.#9thNov #QOTD #AllamaIqbal #PoetoftheEast #IqbalDay pic.twitter.com/5PwEAeGst6

— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) November 9, 2017

Pakistanis love the Spiritual Father of Pakistan for his efforts to inspire the Pakistan Movement.

https://twitter.com/Balochmaria65/status/928503717078454272

Iqbal’s words had the power to move the whole Muslim Ummah.

https://twitter.com/Hazeefaofficial/status/928482463151722496

The West remembers Iqbal for his ideological beliefs and magical poetry.

https://twitter.com/yaqoobm/status/928344487730057222

https://twitter.com/ZaraAli13882664/status/928295137750511616

The national cricketers are also tweeting about Iqbal Day.

Ur worlds & actions reflect ur Personality, A man with the vision of Pakistan , Great Poet & Scholar Allama Iqbal #RIP , #IQBALDAY Pakistan Zindabad pic.twitter.com/LqE7t2vLNB

— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) November 9, 2017

Woke up to the most wonderful recitation of lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tammana meri by Eshal – let's take a moment to remember the great Allama Iqbal #iqbalday

— Wahab Riaz (@WahabViki) November 9, 2017

The beauty of Iqbal’s poetry is that it never gets old nor irrelevant.

So relevant.#IqbalDay pic.twitter.com/DFC7LPmxTZ

— hoziers hoe🌈 (@la9at) November 9, 2017

Iqbal lives in our hearts.

https://twitter.com/LeMeSherry/status/928503180014620673

We all need another Iqbal to inspire us all and wake us from our deep slumber.

The dimness of the stars is evidence of the bright morning. The sun has risen over the horizon; the time of deep slumber has passed.#IqbalDay pic.twitter.com/Q4ki233Nsh

— Iqra Qureshi (@iqra5kanwal) November 8, 2017

Do share your views about this historic day in the comments section below.