Throughout the poems Complain and Answer by Muhammad Iqbal, the theme of gardens come up on many different occasions. In seminar, we learnt that a garden is a place of rest and reflection. Interestingly enough, in these poems, Iqbal tends to associate the garden with perhaps the decay of the Islamic faith. In this way, Iqbal writes, “Shame it is, the garden’s blossoms should themselves the traitor play” (Iqbal, 30) perhaps representing the people of the Islamic faith have betrayed themselves by in a way being too faithful to their religion. Iqbal goes on to write that “the garden’s Lyre is broken, and the roses’ bloom time sped” (Iqbal, 30). These are all images of decomposition and deterioration that go side by side with the previous quote. With this in mind, I find it really interesting how Iqbal uses the imagery of flowers, which is a sacred symbol in the Islamic faith, to represent something that is not at all sacred.
For my creative response, I chose to photograph a flower that I thought was particularly beautiful. Although the poem uses flowers as a way to represent decay, I chose a fresh, colorful flower to symbolize the truer meaning of a garden not in terms of this piece but in general to the Islamic piece. Throughout this seminar, we have discovered many pieces that highlight a rose, or for that fact, nature. A garden is a “reminder of paradise” (Wikipedia, “Islamic Garden”). For example, some of the most famous Islamic Gardens include the Taj Mahal. An Islamic Garden is purely a place for contemplation not walking like an English Garden. The flower in my photo represents the imagery in my head of an Islamic Garden.
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