COMPREHENSION NO. 17 - ENGLISH FOR CLASS 9

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given at the end.

     Iqbal is not only the greatest poet of our age, but also one of the greatest poets of all times. There are not many poets who wrote as many great poems as he did. He did not write poetry for poetry's sake. He was in fact much more than a mere poet. He was a learned man. He was a great scholar and philosopher. He was a political leader of great importance. But more than anything he was a Muslim who had a great love for Allah and the Rasoolullah (SAW). He wrote poetry to express the great and ever lasting truths of philosophy, history and Islam. He wrote poetry to awaken the Muslims of the whole world from the deep sleep and asked them to unite.
QUESTIONS
1. Why is Iqbal considered to be one of the greatest poets of all times?

2. Did he write poetry for poetry's sake?

3. How can you say that Iqbal was much more than a mere poet?

4. What kind of Muslim was Iqbal?

5. With what aim did he write poetry?

6. What was Iqbal's call to the Muslims of the whole world?

ANSWERS

1. Iqbal is considered to be one the the greatest poets of all times because there are not many poets who wrote as many great poems as he did.
2. No, he did not write poetry for poetry's sake.
3. Iqbal was much more than a mere poet as he was a learned man, a great scholar and philosopher, and a political leader of great importance.
4. Iqbal was a Muslim who had a great love for Allah and the Rasoolullah (SAW).
5. He wrote poetry to awaken the Muslims of the whole world from the deep sleep of ignorance.
6. Iqbal's call to the Muslims of the whole world was to 'be united'.

Notes Prepared By: Prof. Shahbaz Asghar