Urdu Dictionary

Arabic · noun · Love & Longing

Ishq-e-majazi

इश्क़-ए-मजाज़ी

said ISHQ-e-ma-jaa-ZEE

also written: eshq-e-majaazi, Ishq-e-majaazi

Meaning

Metaphorical love — love of a human beloved, held to be a bridge toward love of the Divine.

Literally: metaphorical love (love of a human beloved)

How Iqbal uses it

Ishq-e-majazi is metaphorical love — the love of a human beloved, a beautiful face, an earthly form. The tradition does not despise it: it is the famous bridge (majaz) to the real, the school in which the untrained heart first learns to burn, yearn, and surrender. Loved rightly, the human beloved is a sign that points beyond itself; the danger is only in stopping at the bridge, mistaking the reflected beauty for the source.

See it in the verse

Ishq-e-majazi in Iqbal’s couplets

Sitaron se aage jahan 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

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

Tere ishq ki intiha chahta hun
Meri sadgi dekh kya chahta hun

I long for the very limit of Your love — look at my simplicity, see what I dare to ask.

Love · Aspiration · Restlessness

Ishq dam-e-Jibreel ishq dam-e-Mustafa
Ishq Khuda ka Rasool ishq Khuda ka kalaam

Love is the breath of Gabriel, love the breath of the Prophet; love is the messenger of God, love is the Word of God.

Love · Aspiration

Mard-e-Khuda ka amal ishq se sahib-e-firogh
Ishq hai asl-e-hayat maut hai is par haraam

The deeds of the man of God shine with love; love is the essence of life, and death is forbidden to touch it.

Love · Aspiration · Action

Tere ishq ki inteha chahta hoon
Meri sadgi dekh, kya chahta hoon

I long for the very furthest reach of your love — look at my simplicity, look at what I dare to ask for.

Love · Aspiration

Related words

Ishq-e-Haqiqi

True or divine love, love directed toward God as the only real beloved.

Ishq

Love — passionate, all-consuming love, whether for the divine or the human.

Sanam

Beloved, sweetheart; literally an idol, the beloved worshipped like one.

But

Idol; a figure of the beloved so beautiful as to be worshipped, and a symbol of beauty in the ghazal.

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