Meaning
A lovely two-coloured rose, red on one side and yellow on the other, prized for its beauty.
Literally: the graceful rose
How Iqbal uses it
The gul-e-rana is the especially beautiful, particoloured rose, an emblem of exquisite, almost paradoxical loveliness. It belongs to the garden's heart as the flower the bulbul most ardently sings to and seeks.
See it in the verse
Gul-e-Rana in Iqbal’s couplets
Khuda agar dil-e-fitrat-shanaas de tujh ko
Sukoot-e-laala-o-gul se kalaam paida kar
Sukoot-e-laala-o-gul se kalaam paida kar
If God gives you a heart that can read Nature, then draw speech out of the silence of the tulip and the rose.
Self-Knowledge · Aspiration · Awakening
Shakh-e-gul par chahak wa-lekin
Kar apni khudi mein aashiyana
Kar apni khudi mein aashiyana
Sing, by all means, on the rose-branch — but build your nest within your own selfhood.
Selfhood · Self-Knowledge
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
Related words
PERSIAN
Gulaab
The rose, the central flower of the garden and the object of the nightingale's love.
PERSIAN
Bulbul
The nightingale, the songbird that pours out its longing for the rose in the classical garden lyric.
PERSIAN
Sunbul
The hyacinth, a fragrant flower whose dark, curling tresses are likened to the beloved's hair.