"Khudii"....The Iqbalian concept of Self ..II

(.....In continuation of earlier post.....)

"Khudii is the concept of 'Self', as described by Dr. Allama Mohd Iqbal, and immortalised in his now famous lines of sheer magic..

Dr. Allama Iqbal takes the concept a step further again, in his famous lines on the life of the eagle ( shaheen), that most majestic of birds, that lives its entire life in the high altitudes of the earth's atmosphere:-

Nahiin Tera NashemaN , Qasr-e-Shahenshahii Ki Gumbadd Parr,

Tu Shaheen Hai, Basera kar, Pahadon Kii Chattanon Par.

"It's not among the Domes of the Empire's Palaces that your abode lies,For you are the Eagle, So make then your abode,Among the high peaks of the lofty mountains."
.......Dr. Allama Mohammed Iqbal

Now, here are some sientific facts about the eagle ......

The eagle has the longest life-span of its' species..

It can live up to 70 years.
But to reach this age, the eagle must make a hard decision in its' 40's....

It's long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey which serves as food ..

Its' long and sharp beak becomes bent...

It's old-aged and heavy wings, due to their thick feathers, become stuck to it's chest and make it difficult to fly ....

Then, the eagle is left with only two options: To either accept the vagaries of fate, and old age, and slowly starve to death , or else, to go through a long drawn out and painful process of change, which lasts 150 days.

The process requires that the eagle fly to a mountain top and sit on its' nest ...

There the eagle knocks its' beak against a rock until it plucks it out .
After plucking it out, the eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back,
and then it will pluck out it's talons....

When its' new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking its' old-aged feathers ..

And finally, after five months, the eagle takes it's famous 'flight of rebirth' and lives , ...for 30 more years!!!

( Many thanks to Qais Mujeeb for his profound mail , which is the source of these

amazing facts and pics....)