Who says there were no thrills and sensations in the world of literature? Take for instance Allama Iqbal's free translation of some articles of western political economists under the title Ilm-ul-Iqtisad (Iqbal's translation for Political Economy) and one could have the mainsprings of Iqbal's philosophy of Khudi (self) and his views on industrial and agricultural labour well embedded in his different Nazms.
Going through Dr. Siddiq Jawaid's book 'Ilmul Iqtisad Ka Tanqidi Mutalea the other day I have no hesitation to believe that Allama Iqbal seems to benefit from the thoughts of some western political economists that all he had to do in his latter life was to blend the concepts of sociology, economics and education with the Islamic thinking. It could be said that Allama Iqbal baptized his 'agreements with the western thinkers' with Islam's overall universal teachings. I see there is no harm in this confluence as this was, perhaps, done with a view to proving that Islam was for all times and climes, not meant to the inhabitants of Arabia Felixa alone.
The book comprises articles of different writers including that of Mumtaz Hasan. It was Mumtaz Hasan who made it possible for the world to see the reprint of the book - first published in 1904. It was Mushfiq Khwaja's first article on Ilm-ul-Iqtisad in 1957, first which was published in Anjuman Taraqqui-i-Urdu's quarterly URDU in July 1961, which aroused Mumtaz Hasan's interest to get it published from Iqbal Academy, Karachi in 1961.
Needless to say that some Iqbalean critics including Wilfred Cantwell Smith had traced Iqbal's romanticism with the Indian nationalism and his subsequent leanings towards Islam to his lack of the knowledge of economics. They had forgotten that Iqbal's preface to the book provides ample proof that Iqbal was not only a good student of economics during his graduation days but he had a book on the subject. Iqbal rightly regarded that a poor country like India could develop its economy by strictly adhering to the principles of proper production and distribution of its resources and for him the knowledge of economics was required for the eradication of poverty. One may not agree with Iqbal at this point but this is his considered view and there is no need to trifle with it. Iqbal had linked national education with economics of the country. He thought that education was one sure means of comprehending the priorities of national development and then rising to the occasion to do all that was in the best interest of the country.
Ilm-ul-Iqtisad will surely enjoy the honour of being the first book of one of the greatest poets of Urdu. No other poet of our language had thought of the importance of political economy in the development of resources by way of an intelligent use of the methods of production, distribution and exchange.
Economics was not Iqbal's subject in his B.A. degree examination but it was his favourite subject in extra-curricular studies. Some scholars have called this book, Ilm-ul-Iaqtisad as the first book of economics in Urdu. It is not correct. The first book in Urdu was the Urdu translation of Wayland's book Elements of Political Economy by Pandit Dharam Narain for the Society for the Promotion of Knowledge in India through the Medium of Vernacular Language in 1845. The second book on economics in Urdu was Nassau William Senior's book in 1865. It was published in Sir Syed's own printing press. This book was translated by Babu Ram Kali Chowdhry of Baliaya, Ghazipur and Rai Shankar Das of Amroha (Moradabad). Between these two books a monograph entitled Risala Ilm-i-Intizam-i-Madan by Muhammad Mansur Shah Khan and Muhammad Masud Shah Khan was also written. This was not an original book but a work of translation and compilation. It was published in Delhi in 1857 - the year of India's uprising against the East India Company. The fourth book was also Sir Syed's Scientific Society's project. Entitled Usul-i-Siyasat-i-Madan it was translated by Munshi Dharam Narain Dehalvi. He is the same Munshiji who had translated Walker's book Elements of Political Economy.
Iqbal's Ilm-ul-Iqtisad is also a work of translation but it contains many ideas of Iqbal embedded into it. So it could not be called pure translation. Iqbal's views on agriculture were simple. Land belonged to those who tilled it. It did not belong to absentee landlords. The theory emanated from his life that land belonged to Almighty God and it was from Almighty God that the entire society should own it instead of few individuals. As regards industrial workers Iqbal regards labor as the pivot of production and hence its primacy over other factors of production was to be the guiding principle.
It is really strange that Urdu critics have not given serious thought to Iqbal's views expressed so unambiguously in his first work, Ilm-ul-Iqtisad. He is of the opinion that unless the peasants and workers were given primacy in their respective fields of production, nothing could be achieved. Iqbal's views run counter to the views of Western political economists of those days and there is no proof that he was influenced by Marx during his college days. Iqbal has however translated some of the passages of Alfred Marshal in Ilm-ul-Iqtisad without acknowledging the fact that he was incorporating paragraph after paragraph from Marshal's book. This is a bit strange knowing that Iqbal knew what he was doing.
I believe that Dr. Siddiq Jawaid's Iqbal - Nai Tafheem and Ilm-ul-Iqtisad Ka Tanquidi Mutalea are quite important additions to Iqbaleana. Some of the poems of Bang-i-Dara, Javed Namah's fragment beginning with 'Arz Milk-i-Khuda Ast - Land is the Property of God) and Baal-i-Jibreel are based on his views expressed in Ilm-ul-Iqtisad. For example Baal-i-Jibreel's following lines
Palta Hai Beej Ko Mitti Ki Tareeki Mein Kon
Kon daryaon Ki Maujon se Uthata Hai Sahab......
It is not an issue that Iqbal has kept Walker, James Stuarat Mill and Marshall before him and translated or condensed their writings before showing his effort to Allama Shibli for the correction of language if it was deemed necessary, but it is a seminal book which made him susceptible to radical formulations of some eminent economists.
His views expressed in his article, Qaumi Zindagi, presented before the Aligarh students in 1911 make him an important a thinker worth paying attention to. He clearly said that only those who could stand upto the challenges of their times, could survive and Muslims were not, in any way, exempt from the operation of this rule. We should realize that it is only by catching up with the most developed nations of the world that we could survive.

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SYED JAMIL WASTI
It is a fact that Syed Jamil Wasti, a friend of Chaudhry Rahmat Ali, the writer of the pamphlet Now or Never, was a many-faceted writer. He came up for discussion in Zehne Jadeed meeting recently. Nusrat Jabeen, a student of Oriental College. Punjab University, had written a dissertation on him in fulfillment of her M.A. Degree in 1984 under the supervision of Syed Sajjad Baqar Rizvi. It is quite an important work on Prof. Wasti.
One really wonders how it could be possible for a man of learning to be so multifaceted as Professor Sahib was. As someone who enjoys the honour of having met him many a time it could be said that he was a simple, God-fearing person. He went to Cambridge in days when it was not easy to dream of going there without having a social status compatible with this dream. He went there on merit and shone like a star among his contemporaries.
Being a close friend of Chaudhary Rahmat Ali who had distributed his famous pamphlet Now or Never among the participants of the Round Table Conference in 1931 I do not want to go into the pamphlet itself. It was regarded as an impracticable bunch of proposals having Pakistan - with Kashmir - without giving any thought to the fact that Kashmir was a princely state and not a British province; Osmanistan was to have a Muslim ruler lording over almost 90 percent of the Hindu population and Bangistan had to include Assam and Bengal. Quite an unrealistic proposition! No wonder both the Quaid and Iqbal called it 'impracticable'.
Coming to Prof. Syed Jamil Wasti's literary career, it should be conceded that he was a prolific novelist, poet and translator. How easy it is to forget men of caliber like Syed Jamil Wasti but very difficult to produce persons of his stature. His collections of poetry Fikr-i-Jameel and Behki Batain, (which included sonnets as well) were innovative in many respects.
Syed Jamil Wasti wrote 9 books during his literary career: Fikr-i-Jameel, Behki Batain (poetry), Pingle Ka Jazeera, Chamman Lut Gaya, Khauf Ke Bhanwar, Faraib-o-Faarar, besides his two books in English, George Eliot as a Novelist, and 'My Remininiscences of Chaudhry Rahmat Ali and a book on Islamic learning, Islami Riwayat Ka Tahaffuz.
Born in Lahore in 1905, in a religious family he passed his M.A. at the age of 16. Quite an amazing fact. He got his M.A. (Cantab) degree from Cambridge University in 1939. He retired as a senior official of the Ministry of Education, and he enjoys the rare honour of having Hafeez Jullundhary's National Anthem approved by him on behalf of the Government of Pakistan.
I wish all those who are eager to have a sound grounding in Urdu and English to study Prof. Wasti's books in Urdu and English. It was a well-timed decision that Zehne Jadeed meeting discussed the salient features of this famous academician. This writer and Hasan Abid spoke on the achievements of Prof. Wasti. I wish more of such meetings for our neglected writers.