Meaning
Air; wind, breeze (also, figuratively, desire or whim).
How Iqbal uses it
Hawa is the moving air of the world, the breeze that bears fragrance and the wind that drives the storm; in its other sense of caprice and lust (hawa-o-hawas) Iqbal warns against the self ruled by mere appetite rather than higher will.
See it in the verse
Hawa in Iqbal’s couplets
Zindagi insaan ki ik dam ke siva kuch bhi nahin
Dam hawa ki mauj hai ram ke siva kuch bhi nahin
Dam hawa ki mauj hai ram ke siva kuch bhi nahin
A human life is nothing more than a single breath — and that breath is a wave of air, nothing but a fleeting movement.
Humility · Awakening · Action
Zamistani hawa mein garche thi shamshir ki tezi
Na chhute mujh se london mein bhi aadab-e-sahar-khezi
Na chhute mujh se london mein bhi aadab-e-sahar-khezi
Though the winter wind cut like the edge of a sword, even in London I never let go of the discipline of rising at dawn.
Action · Courage · Self-Knowledge