Pakistan PM 'stands corrected' for wrongly attributing poem to Allama Iqbal

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday shared an inspirational poem to motivate youth of country but he wrongly attributed it to national poet of country, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, providing ammunition for trolls on Twitter.

In a first tweet, the premier wrote, “This poem by Iqbal reflects how I try to lead my life. I urge our youth to understand and absorb the poem of the great Iqbal and I guarantee them that it will release their great God-given potential that we all possess as His greatest creation Ashraf ul Mukhluqat”.

However, he was quick to realise his mistake as he again took to Twitter, clarifying that the lines were not actually from a poem of Iqbal.

“I stand corrected - this is not Allama Iqbal's poem but the message conveyed is what I have stood by and tried to follow and if our youth absorbs this message it will release their great God- given potential that all of us possess as His greatest creation Ashraf ul Mukhluqat,” the prime minister tweeted.

I stand corrected - this is not Allama Iqbal's poem but the message conveyed is what I have stood by and tried to follow and if our youth absorbs this message it will release their great God- given potential that all of us possess as His greatest creation Ashraf ul Mukhluqat. https://t.co/SvDVrakc5d

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 6, 2020

Last year, Khan had also made an identical mistake when he wrongly attributing a famous quote of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore to Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran.