Re: who would be the urdu poet of the century?
We are talking about his APPROACH in HIS POETRY?
Yes we were, if you read post # 49 i was talking about his poetry and contradiction within. Now if you bring forward the argument that his approach was changed later on. I am saying that there was a clear contradiciton in his approach during that period (later part of his life). We can not attache time line to every poem or verse. To do that one has to do PhD in Iqbaliaat.
Specific to Iqbal, you can not look at his poetry in isolation. Like i said earlier, he had many more dimenssions to his personality. so it would be most appropriate to look at them collectively as Iqbal himself said :
*"I have never considered myself a poet. Therefore, I am not a rival of anyone, and I do not consider anybody my rival. I have no interest in poetic artistry. But, yes, I have a special goal in mind for whose expression I use the medium of poetry considering the condition and the customs of this country."
*(translated from the original in Urdu; Maktoobat, Volume I, page195)
Once we read the admission, i think we are entitled to look closely at the mission he had in mind.
Ps. You are most welcome participate in debate and discussion. I realize my earlier statement was un-called for, hence i apologize 