Innovative Metonymy in the poems of Allama Iqbal Lahouri

Allama Iqbal Lahouri is one of the greatest Persian poets of the Indian subcontinent whose significance and position among the people of Iran and the Indian subcontinent is not overlooked. He has used Persian poetic language in expressing his libertarian and solidarity-seeking thoughts. Among the points that are noted in the poems of Iqbal, The use of new metonymies in his poetic language that have not been used before or used less frequently. Considering the importance of recognizing the features of the poetic language of Iqbal, in this researchthat adopts a descriptive-analytic approach, attempt was made to answer this important question that : “What innovations can be detected in Iqbal Lahuri’s poetic metonymies considering his enlightening goals?” Hence, based on traditional rhetoric, fresh uses of metonymy in Iqbal’s poems were identified. The result of this study revealed that while being a main means of poetic imagery, metonymy has been transformed in line with expressing Iqbal’s transcendental and humanitarian thoughts leading to invention of metonymies peculiar to Iqbal Metonymies that are deeply rooted in the rich Islamic culture and his deep acquaintance with the Persian culture and language and literature.
    Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1872-1938) is one of the greatest Persian poets of the last two hundred years in the Indian subcontinent (Amin, 2005:289). Iqbal who was a philosopher, reformist, barrister, Iranologist, Islamologist, researcher, author, politician, scholar and Persian language poet of Pakistan was known as “the Poet of the East”, "The Sage of the Ummah", and "Artist of Pakistan"(Baghaei, 2000:73). He is a pioneer Muslim reformist of the Indian subcontinent and among those who inspired formation of the independent state of Pakistan. Asrar-i-Khudi (Secrets of the Self) (1915), Rumuz-i-Bekhudi (Hints of Selflessness) (1918), Zabur-e-Ajam (Persian Psalms) (1927), Payam-e-Mashriq (The Message of the East) (1923), Javed Nama (Book of Javed) (1932), Musafir (Traveler) (1934), Pas Cheh Bayed Kard ai Aqwam-e-Sharq (What are we to do, O Nations of the East?) (1936) and Armughan-e-Hijaz (The Gift of Hijaz) (1938) are among his works in Persian. A remarkable point that made him a revolutionary figure different from other poets is his use of poetry to fulfill the mission of calling for freedom and awakening people for uprising against tyranny and Westernism. He used poetry as a weapon against corruption. He also sought to find a way for Muslims to solve their political, economic, and social problems. In his poems, like Nasir Khusraw, he brings up issues such as: self-awareness, the Qur'an, faith in the prophets and the imams, the belief in the Hereafter and in the resurrection, the perfect man, knowledge and wisdom (Firouz, 2006: 39). Some suggested that he was a prophet whose extent of mission was the hearts of all Muslims and its language was Persian and the message was inspired to his heart (Mohebbati, 2000: 170).
Persian language was not the mother tongue of Iqbal, and he “learned Persian language only through the study of the classical Persian poets' works; hence there are flaws in it" (Radfar, 2000: 2). Without claiming to be a linguist, he has been able to best express the highest mystical, philosophical, political, social, and human concepts in his poems and create a style that "while possessing the characteristics of Khorasani, Iraqi and sometimes Indian styles is unique in general” (ibid:4). In his poems, Iqbal tried to talk about great human and Islamic values using poetic techniques. An outstanding point that attracts attentions to Iqbal’s poems is the use of poetic images including metonymy which is sometimes accompanied by novelties and innovations. Clearly influenced by Iranian literature and culture, Allama Iqbal selected his language and style following, inspired by and modeling on the works of Persian great poets such as Rumi (Baghaei, 2011: 11). Iqbal’s literary language is mixed with rhetorical innovations, hence suggesting a specific style for him. To express his liberal thoughts which are based on Islamic principles using poetic language, he benefited from figures of speech. Among them, metonymy as an imaginative and illustrative element is significant and influential. Considering the significance of this issue, the present research which aims at finding out more about the features of Iqbal’s poems, attempts to answer the key question: “What innovations can be detected in Iqbal Lahuri’s poetic metonymies considering his enlightening goals?”
  In the present research information was gathered from library resources and documents, books, journals, and reliable internet sources. The methodology of the research was descriptive-analytical and Iqbal’s innovations in his Kuliyat (the poems) (2007) were identified and explained.
  Metonymy has been regarded as a concealed way of expressing ideas and a form of artistic speech (Shafiei Kadkani, 1991: 140). Metonymy is one of the four elements of speech that in terms of both definition, scope and bases and even as one of the basic pillars of speech has drawn attention of rhetorical researchers. The core of all these definitions of metonymy is avoiding clarity and attention to the actual or conventional meaning of the speech based on the connection between actual meaning and the intended meaning (the metaphorical meaning). Some researchers have studied metonymy from the linguistic viewpoint. They consider metonymy a type of highlighting in language or “deviation from the standard language” (Safavi, 2001: 34) and believe that metonymy is a type of Īhām (ambiguity) with the difference that it has found its way into and was highlighted in the poetic language through automatic speech (ibid, 2001: 127). This causes metonymy to fall in the category of visual deviations in speech (Vahidian Kamyar, 2007: 191). In his poems in Persian, Iqbal has applied metonymy not as a linguistic device or habit, rather he made use of metonymy first as a means of conveying meaning and then for imagery. Explanation, emphasis, takhyīl [to make one suppose and fancy], brevity, reasoning, bringing joy, convincing the audience, respect, and description are among Iqbal’s purposes of using metonymy. Metonymy in Iqbal’s poems is divided into three categories of “verb metonymy”, “adjective metonymy” and “noun metonymy”. Verb metonymy is the most widely used type of metonymy in Iqbal’s Diwan with most of the innovations being of this type.
  As it was said, metonymy is a kind of hidden expression of ideas and an artistic way of speech used to create poetic images and artistic ambiguity based on taste and revelation. In his Persian poetry, Iqbal has used metonymy not as a linguistic device and habit, but rather as a means of expressing his transcendental thoughts. Reviewing Diwan of Iqbal revealed 669 instances of metonymy. In terms of conveying meaning, of this number, 96 were noun metonymies, 113 were adjective metonymies and 460 were verb metonymies the last being ranked first among the types of metonymies used. Moreover, in terms of conveying meaning, clarity and ambiguity, the metonymies were found with the following frequencies: irony (4), symbols (10), implicit meaning (29) and Ima’e (hint) (626). The frequency of using metonymy as Ima’e indicates Iqbal’s attempt to express his ideas and thoughts as simply as possible. Also, of this number, Iqbal’s innovative metonymies were 92 which are not significant compared to common metonymies used in Iqbal’s poems (577). Nevertheless, innovation in metonymies of Iqbal’s poems are created sometimes by using ordinary, conventional metonymies and renovating them by adding new words to them, and sometimes by using Iqbal’s intellectual genius in a novel way. New metonymies many of which may appear ordinary and trivial today, apart from the illustrative and aesthetic aspect of poetry, in Iqbal’s and later times have led Iqbal’s poems to continually impress general and specified audiences.