Persian · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos
Deroz
देरोज़
said de-ROZ
also written: diroz, dey-roz
Meaning
Yesterday, the past day.
Literally: Persian: the day gone by.
How Iqbal uses it
Deroz is yesterday, the vanished past; Iqbal honours the lessons of history while warning the self not to dwell in deroz but to seize today and create tomorrow.
See it in the verse
Deroz in Iqbal’s couplets
Isi roz-o-shab mein ulajh kar na rah ja
Ki tere zaman-o-makan aur bhi hain
Ki tere zaman-o-makan aur bhi hain
Do not stay tangled in only these days and nights — there are other times and other places that are yours.
Aspiration · Hope · Restlessness
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, naqsh-gar-e-haadsat
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, asl-e-hayat-o-mamat
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, asl-e-hayat-o-mamat
The chain of day and night is the sculptor of all events; the chain of day and night is the root of life and of death.
Action · Self-Knowledge