Meaning
A river; also, by extension, the sea.
How Iqbal uses it
The daria, the great flowing river that loses itself in the sea, is among Iqbal's central images of the self's journey: the drop that fears the river, the river that yearns for the ocean, and the paradox of the drop that becomes the sea while remaining itself.
See it in the verse
Daria in Iqbal’s couplets
Banaya ishq ne dariya-e-na-paida-karan mujh ko
Ye meri khud-nigah-dari mera sahil na ban jae
Ye meri khud-nigah-dari mera sahil na ban jae
Love has made me a river with no visible shore; I fear my own self-guarding may become the bank that hems me in.
Love · Restlessness · Freedom
Nigah paida kar ai ghafil tajalli ain-e-fitrat hai
Ki apni mauj se begana rah sakta nahin dariya
Ki apni mauj se begana rah sakta nahin dariya
Cultivate vision, O heedless one, for radiance is the very nature of things; a river cannot stay a stranger to its own wave.
Awakening · Self-Knowledge · Selfhood
Safina-e-barg-e-gul bana lega qafila mor-e-na-tawan ka
Hazar maujon ki ho kashakash magar ye dariya se par hoga
Hazar maujon ki ho kashakash magar ye dariya se par hoga
The caravan of feeble ants will make a boat of a rose petal; though a thousand waves clash against it, this boat will cross the river.
Hope · Courage · Unity