1877 (Sialkot) – 1938 (Lahore) • Shair-e-Mashriq
"Widely known as 'Shair-e-Mashriq' (Poet of the East), Allama Muhammad Iqbal was a towering philosopher, scholar, and visionary who was knighted by the British Empire. Iqbal's poetry was not mere entertainment; it was a powerful clarion call intended to awaken the dormant, colonized youth of the East. Through dynamic and original philosophical concepts like 'Khudi' (self-hood, self-realization) and the metaphor of the 'Shaheen' (the soaring eagle), he challenged individuals to break free from intellectual slavery and realize their ultimate spiritual and political potential."