Meaning
The display or flashing-forth of beauty; the radiant self-showing of loveliness.
Literally: the manifestation of beauty
How Iqbal uses it
The jalwa is beauty's dazzling self-display; recalling the flash on Mount Sinai, Iqbal makes the jalwa-e-husn the Divine Beauty's revelation that both draws and overwhelms the seeker.
See it in the verse
Jalwa-e-Husn 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
Related words
ARABIC
Jalwa
A radiant appearance, manifestation, or display of beauty or splendour.
ARABIC
Husn
Beauty, comeliness, especially the beauty of the beloved.
ARABIC
Tajalli
Divine self-manifestation; a radiant disclosure or theophany.
ARABIC
Toor
Mount Sinai, where Moses received revelation and beheld the divine theophany.