Meaning
Thoughts; ideas; reflections — the plural of fikr. The whole cast of a mind's thinking, not a single thought.
Literally: plural of fikr (thought, concern)
How Iqbal uses it
Iqbal prized afkaar that build the self and rouse a people over verse that merely pleases; for him poetry was the vessel of thought, and thought a form of action.
See it in the verse
Afkaar in Iqbal’s couplets
Dhoondne wala sitaron ki guzargahon ka
Apne afkaar ki duniya mein safar kar na saka
Apne afkaar ki duniya mein safar kar na saka
He who charts the very pathways of the stars could not journey through the world of his own thoughts.
Self-Knowledge · Selfhood
Jahan-e-taza ki afkar-e-taza se hai numood
Ki sang-o-khisht se hote nahin jahan paida
Ki sang-o-khisht se hote nahin jahan paida
A new world comes into being from new thoughts — for worlds are not built out of stone and brick.
Action · Aspiration · Awakening
Related words
ARABIC
Fikr
Thought, reflection; also worry or concern.
ARABIC
Khayalaat
Thoughts; imaginings; notions — the plural of khayal. The passing contents of the imagining mind.
ARABIC
Nazariyaat
Theories; ideologies; points of view — the plural of nazariya. A settled framework of belief, as against a passing thought.