The Firefly Prayer: What Iqbal’s “Lab Pe Ati Hai Dua” Teaches Us About Light in Darkness

 

The Firefly Prayer: What Iqbal’s “Lab Pe Ati Hai Dua” Teaches Us About Light in Darkness

A Prayer That Outlives Generations

لب پہ آتی ہے دعا بن کے تمنا میری
زندگی شمع کی صورت ہو خدایا میری

(On my lips arises a prayer as a deep longing,
O God, may my life be like a candle’s glowing.)

When Allama Iqbal penned these lines for children, he wasn’t just writing a prayer. He was sketching a vision of life: a life not meant for self-indulgence but for service, illumination, and quiet resilience. His imagery of the candle still speaks across cultures, religions, and times.

But what if we reimagine this candle through the life of a firefly?

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The Firefly’s Gentle Lesson

A firefly is small. Fragile. Easily overlooked. Yet it carries its own glow. Unlike the sun that demands attention or the moon that commands poetry, the firefly’s light is humble and fleeting — but it matters most in the darkest of nights.

That’s Iqbal’s prayer in motion. A reminder that significance isn’t in size or power, but in how faithfully you let your inner light shine.

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Mandela: A Firefly in a Cell

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. By every worldly measure, he should have been crushed. Instead, he became like a firefly in the deepest night — carrying hope not just for himself but for millions who longed for freedom.

When he finally stepped into daylight, his glow didn’t flicker out in bitterness. It spread, igniting the transformation of an entire nation.

Iqbal’s vision of a candle-life is right there: burning to light the way for others, even when the wax is your own suffering.

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Steve Jobs: A Firefly in Technology

Then there’s Steve Jobs. He wasn’t the tallest tree in the forest; he was the firefly darting between branches, carrying sparks of innovation.

He had failures — being ousted from Apple, health struggles — but he carried his light back into the world, reshaping how billions of us connect, create, and dream.

His story is proof that a firefly doesn’t need to outshine the sun. It just needs to glow authentically, and the world finds its way.

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The Firefly Within Us

The beauty of Iqbal’s prayer is that it doesn’t belong only to children in South Asia. It belongs to anyone, anywhere, who longs to live a life of purpose.

We all have a firefly within us — a quiet light of kindness, resilience, creativity, or courage. And though we may feel small against the vastness of the world’s darkness, our glow can still guide someone else’s path.

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Closing: A Universal Prayer

Iqbal ended his verse with hope for a life of truth and light. The firefly whispers the same lesson: your size doesn’t matter, your glow does.

So perhaps the prayer for all of us, wherever we are, is this:
May our lives be like fireflies — small yet luminous, fleeting yet unforgettable, humble yet powerful enough to break the night.