The Shikwa and the Jawab i Shikwa, of which a new translation is offered in the following pages, are among the most popular of Iqbal's poems; they are deservedly celebrated, for they were among the first to bring their author fame as an advocate of Islamic reform and rebirth. The central theme of both poems is the decay of Islam from its former greatness, and the measures to be adapted if it was to reestablish its authority and regain its vitality.