What Nations are made of ?

I remember a very famous poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson titled "A Nation's Strength" which i would like to quote here,

What makes a nation's pillars high
And it's foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?

It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock;
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,
Not on abiding rock.

Is it the sword? Ask the red dust
Of empires passed away;
The blood has turned their stones to rust,
Their glory to decay.

And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown
Has seemed to nations sweet;
But God has struck its luster down
In ashes at his feet.

Not gold but only men can make
A people great and strong;
Men who for truth and honor's sake
Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly...
They build a nation's pillars deep
And lift them to the sky.

Imagine such beautiful ideas and thoughts for a moment and you will yourself feel the strength that this poem puts into you just by reading it once. Really these are the men of honour. I wish that we had such men here in Pakistan. Ever since i joined the Call Centre Industry and had interactions with all these foreigners from so many countries working here in Pakistan, i got some very interesting remarks about us Pakistanis. They were all of the view that Pakistanis are very helpful, very kind and courteous, but on the same time very forgetful, very unpunctual, never fulfilling their promises. These attributes really tended to decrease our credibility in their minds. Sipke, who is a Dutch national and has been here for such a long time, loved being in Pakistan when he first came here. However now, after he got a chance to visit Mumbai, he is of the opinion that Indians are far better as far as human attributes are concerned. I agree with him from all my heart. We Pakistanis say Insha Allah after every promise we make but never fulfill those promises, due to which these foreigners started getting this idea that whenever a Pakistani will say Insha Allah it means that forget that promise or that commitment. This is all so sad. Why can't we cultivate the Ideas that Iqbal has been given to us in his revolutionary work. Look at this piece,

آواز غيب

آتي ہے دم صبح صدا عرش بريں سے
کھويا گيا کس طرح ترا جوہر ادراک!
کس طرح ہوا کند ترا نشتر تحقيق
ہوتے نہيں کيوں تجھ سے ستاروں کے جگر چاک
تو ظاہر و باطن کي خلافت کا سزاوار
کيا شعلہ بھي ہوتا ہے غلام خس و خاشاک
مہر و مہ و انجم نہيں محکوم ترے کيوں
کيوں تري نگاہوں سے لرزتے نہيں افلاک
اب تک ہے رواں گرچہ لہو تيري رگوں ميں
نے گرمي افکار، نہ انديشہ بے باک
روشن تو وہ ہوتي ہے، جہاں بيں نہيں ہوتي
جس آنکھ کے پردوں ميں نہيں ہے نگہ پاک
باقي نہ رہي تيري وہ آئينہ ضميري
اے کشتہء سلطاني و ملائي و پيري!

I wish that we can all base our lives on this philosophy. I wish we can change the perspective that the west has for us. Ameen.

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