Arabic · noun · Selfhood & Will

Himmat

हिम्मत
said HIM-mat
also written: himmat, himmah, himmet
Meaning

Spiritual aspiration and resolve; the high ambition of the heart that propels the seeker.

Literally: high resolve, aspiring courage and ambition

Usage & notes

Himmat is the soaring reach of the soul, the high ambition that refuses small horizons. It is one of Iqbal's most beloved qualities: he urges the self to set its aim beyond the visible, to demand more of life and of itself, because a lofty will is what stretches a person to greatness. Low himmat, the contentment with crumbs, he treats as a kind of inner death.