Arabic · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos
Falak / Aasman
फ़लक / आसमान
said fa-LAK / aas-MAAN
also written: aasman, asman, gardun, aflak
Meaning
The sky, the heavens, the firmament (aflak = the celestial spheres).
How Iqbal uses it
A frontier, never a ceiling. The dust-born human makes the heavens themselves tremble; the nest of Khudi is in your own heart, “as the sky lives in the pupil of an eye.” The sky is there to be surpassed, not worshipped.
See it in the verse
Falak / Aasman in Iqbal’s couplets
Khudi ka nasheman tere dil mein hai
Falak jis tarah aankh ke til mein hai
Falak jis tarah aankh ke til mein hai
The nest of your selfhood is inside your own heart — the way the whole sky lives inside the pupil of an eye.
Selfhood · Self-Knowledge
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
Agar kaj-rau hain anjum aasman tera hai ya mera
Mujhe fikr-e-jahan kyun ho jahan tera hai ya mera
Mujhe fikr-e-jahan kyun ho jahan tera hai ya mera
If the stars run crooked, is the sky yours or mine? Why should I fret over the world, when the world is yours and not my charge.
Selfhood · Freedom · Courage
Ai himala ai fasil-e-kishwar-e-hindustan
Chumta hai teri peshani ko jhuk kar aasman
Chumta hai teri peshani ko jhuk kar aasman
O Himalaya, O rampart of the land of India, the sky bends down to kiss your brow.
Humility · Self-Knowledge