Meaning
The cup of the primordial covenant; the draught the souls drank on the day God asked 'Am I not your Lord?'
Literally: cup of Alast
How Iqbal uses it
The poet traces all earthly drunkenness back to the jaam-e-alast, the first cup that fixed the soul's love before time began.
See it in the verse
Jaam-e-Alast in Iqbal’s couplets
Utha na sheeshagaran-e-farang ke ehsaan
Sifaal-e-Hind se meena o jaam paida kar
Sifaal-e-Hind se meena o jaam paida kar
Do not accept the favours of the West's glassmakers — from the humble clay of India, fashion your own goblet and cup.
Selfhood · Freedom · Action
Utha na sheesha-garaan-e-firang ke ehsaan
Safaal-e-Hind se mina-o-jaam paida kar
Safaal-e-Hind se mina-o-jaam paida kar
Do not be indebted to the glassmakers of the foreign land — fashion your goblet and cup from the clay of your own soil.
Selfhood · Freedom · Action