Meaning
Fire.
How Iqbal uses it
Faith can transfigure it. With Abraham's certainty, “fire can produce the manner of a rose-garden” — and love leaps fearless into Nimrod's flames while reason only watches. Fire tests the self and, for the believer, turns gentle.
See it in the verse
Aatish in Iqbal’s couplets
Aaj bhi ho jo Baraheem ka iman paida
Aag kar sakti hai andaz-e-gulistan paida
Aag kar sakti hai andaz-e-gulistan paida
Even today, if the faith of Abraham were born again, the fire itself could be made to bloom like a garden.
Courage · Adversity · Hope
Be-khatar kud pada aatish-e-Nimrood mein ishq
Aql hai mahv-e-tamasha-e-lab-e-baam abhi
Aql hai mahv-e-tamasha-e-lab-e-baam abhi
Love leapt fearlessly into the fire — while reason still stood on the rooftop's edge, lost in watching the spectacle.
Courage · Love · Action