Sanskrit · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos
Chaand
चाँद
said CHAAND
also written: chand, mah, qamar, moon
Meaning
The moon.
Literally: From Sanskrit chandra: the moon.
How Iqbal uses it
Chaand is the moon in the Hindavi register — the bright disc of the night, emblem of the beloved's face, of beauty that waxes and wanes, and of a light that the world watches and longs for. It marks the months and the festivals and the lover's calendar. Iqbal uses the moon for radiant, longed-for beauty and for the cyclical, while reserving the self-made spark and the sun's own fire for his images of the kindled self.
See it in the verse
Chaand in Iqbal’s couplets
Uruj-e-adam-e-khaki se anjum sahme jaate hain
Ki ye toota hua tara mah-e-kamil na ban jaaye
Ki ye toota hua tara mah-e-kamil na ban jaaye
The stars take fright at the rise of the human being of dust — afraid that this broken star may yet become a full moon.
Aspiration · Hope · Selfhood
Har shai musafir har cheez raahi
Kya chand tare kya murgh o maahi
Kya chand tare kya murgh o maahi
Every thing is a traveller, every object a wayfarer — whether the moon and stars, or the birds and the fish.
Restlessness · Action · Unity
Mah o sitara se aage maqam hai jis ka
Wo musht-e-khak abhi aawargan-e-rah mein hai
Wo musht-e-khak abhi aawargan-e-rah mein hai
The handful of dust whose true station lies beyond moon and stars is still wandering, lost, on the road.
Aspiration · Selfhood · Awakening