Stray Reflections
A Private Note-Book of Allama Iqbal
Compiled and Edited by Dr. Javed Iqbal
Pages: 161 | Price: 795

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According to this notebook Iqbal started writing it on April 27, 1910. It appears that he continued to write it for several months and then stopped for some unknown reason. Iqbal himself gave the title Stray Reflections to this notebook. It contains odd jottings based on his impressions of the books he was reading at that time, his thoughts and feelings about the environment in which he lived, and reminiscences of his student days. Iqbal may have stopped writing the notebook, but most of these jotting as well as additional notes which he went on scribing during the subsequent years (and which are incorporated in this volume) did appear from time to time in different English journals, news-papers, etc. of the subcontinent until 1932. He died in 1938.

Commenting on the notebook, Dr. Javed Iqbal in his ‘Afterword’ writes:

“Although we may disagree with some of his ideas, this notebook enables us to glimpse the liveliness, richness, and fertility of Iqbal’s mind. We see the many-sidedness of his interests and meet his views on a wide variety of subjects such as art, philosophy, literature, science, politics and religion. He also refers to the psychological effects of imperialism on a subjugated people.”