In the days leading up to 3rd March 1924, the poet Maulana Shibli lamented over the fate of the Khilafah, in one of his most famous political poems:
حکومت پر زوال آیا تو پھر نام و نشاں کب تک
چراغِ کشتہِ محفل سے اٹھے گا دھواں کب تک
قبائے سلطنت کے گر فلک نے کر دیئے ٹکڑے
فضائے آسمانی میں اڑیں گی دھجیاں کب تک
مراکش جا چکا ، فارس گیا، اب دیکھنا یہ ہے
کہ جیتا ہے یہ ترکی کا مریضِ سخت جاں کب تک
یہ سیلابِ بلا بلقان سے جو بڑھتا آتا ہے
اْسے روکے گا مظلوموں کی آہوں کا دھواں کب تک
When a government is in decline, how long will its fame and influence last?
How long does the smoke from a guttering candle last?
If the mantle of the sultanate has been tattered by fate,
How long can this public outrage last?
Morocco has gone and Persia too, now we shall see
How long Turkey, this "Sick Man" will last
The flood of misfortune sweeping in from the Balkans
Has been stemmed by the cries of the oppressed,
But how long can they last?
[Source: Shibli Numani, "Kulliyat-e-Shibli", p.53]
Little did Shibli know that the Ummah's cries will last until the mantle of leadership is put back in place with all its former glory.
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