Meaning
One slain by love, the heart half-killed and writhing in the agony of passion.
Literally: the love-slaughtered one
How Iqbal uses it
Bismil-e-ishq is the lover pictured as a sacrificial victim of love, fluttering in sweet agony. It marks love's wound as a consecration, the self gladly offered up, which Iqbal reads as the supreme passion of a living heart.
See it in the verse
Bismil-e-ishq in Iqbal’s couplets
Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain
Beyond the stars there are worlds yet — there are still more trials of love to come.
Aspiration · Love · Restlessness
Dayar-e-ishq mein apna maqam paida kar
Naya zamana, naye subh-o-sham paida kar
Naya zamana, naye subh-o-sham paida kar
In the realm of love, create your own standing — bring a new age into being, new mornings and new evenings of your own.
Aspiration · Action · Love
Tere ishq ki inteha chahta hoon
Meri sadgi dekh, kya chahta hoon
Meri sadgi dekh, kya chahta hoon
I long for the very furthest reach of your love — look at my simplicity, look at what I dare to ask for.
Love · Aspiration
Khudi ho ilm se mohkam to ghairat-e-Jibril
Agar ho ishq se mohkam to soor-e-Israfil
Agar ho ishq se mohkam to soor-e-Israfil
A selfhood made firm by knowledge can rival the angel of revelation; a selfhood made firm by love can rival the trumpet that wakes the world.
Selfhood · Love · Action
Aql-o-dil-o-nigah ka murshid-e-awwaleen hai ishq
Ishq na ho to shar-o-deen butkada-e-tasavvurat
Ishq na ho to shar-o-deen butkada-e-tasavvurat
Love is the first teacher of intellect, heart and sight. Without love, even law and faith become only a temple of empty ideas.
Love · Self-Knowledge
Nigah-e-ishq dil-e-zinda ki talash mein hai
Shikar-e-murda sazawar-e-shahbaz nahin
Shikar-e-murda sazawar-e-shahbaz nahin
The gaze of love is searching for a living heart — dead quarry is not worthy of the royal falcon.
Love · The Falcon · Awakening