Persian · noun · Spirit & the Divine

Aseer-e-qafas

असीर-ए-क़फ़स

said a-seer-e-qa-FAS

Meaning

A prisoner of the cage; a bird shut up and pining for freedom.

Literally: captive of the cage

How Iqbal uses it

The caged bird longing for its garden, an image of the soul confined in the body or the free spirit hemmed in by the world; it dreams always of release.

See it in the verse

Aseer-e-qafas in Iqbal’s couplets

Nahin is khuli faza mein koi gosha-e-faraghat
Ye jahan ajab jahan hai na qafas na aashiyana

In this open expanse there is no corner of idle rest; this is a strange world, neither a cage nor a nest.

Action · Freedom · Restlessness

Related words

ARABIC

Qafas

The cage in which the captured bird is confined, cut off from its garden and sky.

ARABIC

Asir

A captive or prisoner, especially one taken in war.

PERSIAN

Qafas-e-tan

The cage of the body; the physical frame seen as a prison for the soul.

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