Spatial Study of Iqbal’s Urdu Poetry اقبال کی مکانیت: تجزیہ کلامِ اردو

It is almost half a century ago, when spatial turn took place in humanities in western theory. Exploring the spatiality and mapping out the landscapes of literature and literary production has been on the go since. But spatiality and mapping could not attract the attention of Urdu research and literary analysis. Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan, who remains always in literary, political and everyday discussions, has never been, to the best of my knowledge, studied spatially. This article uses the methods of geocriticism and maps out the space and places in Urdu poetry of Iqbal. By analyzing the quantitative data of places referenced in Iqbal’s poetry, this study aims to delineate his mental geography. The historical contexts of these places within the Urdu literary world are examined to understand their evolution. This study demonstrates how Iqbal utilized places to evoke the past, comprehend the present, and situate the Islamic public.