Meaning
Love — passionate, all-consuming love, whether for the divine or the human.
How Iqbal uses it
The supreme faculty, ranked above intellect (aql). Ishq is what makes a self risk, leap, endure and create: it jumps fearless into Nimrod's fire while reason stands watching from the parapet, and it carries you past the stars only to reveal further trials. He calls it the “first teacher” of heart, mind and vision.
See it in the verse
Ishq in Iqbal’s couplets
Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain
Beyond the stars there are worlds yet — there are still more trials of love to come.
Aspiration · Love · Restlessness
Dayar-e-ishq mein apna maqam paida kar
Naya zamana, naye subh-o-sham paida kar
Naya zamana, naye subh-o-sham paida kar
In the realm of love, create your own standing — bring a new age into being, new mornings and new evenings of your own.
Aspiration · Action · Love
Be-khatar kud pada aatish-e-Nimrood mein ishq
Aql hai mahv-e-tamasha-e-lab-e-baam abhi
Aql hai mahv-e-tamasha-e-lab-e-baam abhi
Love leapt fearlessly into the fire — while reason still stood on the rooftop's edge, lost in watching the spectacle.
Courage · Love · Action
Aql-o-dil-o-nigah ka murshid-e-awwaleen hai ishq
Ishq na ho to shar-o-deen butkada-e-tasavvurat
Ishq na ho to shar-o-deen butkada-e-tasavvurat
Love is the first teacher of intellect, heart and sight. Without love, even law and faith become only a temple of empty ideas.
Love · Self-Knowledge
Jab ishq sikhata hai aadab-e-khud-aagahi
Khulte hain ghulamon par asrar-e-shahanshahi
Khulte hain ghulamon par asrar-e-shahanshahi
When love teaches the discipline of self-awareness, the secrets of sovereignty open up even to slaves.
Freedom · Self-Knowledge · Awakening