Meaning
A worshipper of beauty; an aesthete devoted to the beautiful.
Literally: beauty-worshipper
How Iqbal uses it
The husn-parast adores beauty itself; Iqbal can treat this as either the lower idolatry of mere form or, redirected, the seeker's devotion to the Beauty behind all beauty.
See it in the verse
Husn-Parast in Iqbal’s couplets
Ishq bhi ho hijab mein husn bhi ho hijab mein
Ya to khud aashkar ho ya mujhe aashkar kar
Ya to khud aashkar ho ya mujhe aashkar kar
Love is veiled and beauty too is veiled; either reveal yourself, or make me one who can be revealed.
Love · Self-Knowledge · Restlessness
Miri mashshatgi ki kya zarurat husn-e-mani ko
Ki fitrat khud-ba-khud karti hai laale ki hina-bandi
Ki fitrat khud-ba-khud karti hai laale ki hina-bandi
What need has true beauty of meaning for my adorning hand? Nature, all on its own, paints the tulip red.
Self-Knowledge · Humility · Action