Meaning
The madness of longing, the frenzied intensity of a desire that has overwhelmed reason.
Literally: the madness of longing
How Iqbal uses it
Junoon-e-shauq is longing grown so fierce it becomes madness, the eager passion that overturns all restraint. Iqbal honours this frenzy of desire as the high state of a self consumed by its quest, far above tepid wishing.
See it in the verse
Junoon-e-shauq in Iqbal’s couplets
Mana ki teri deed ke qabil nahin hoon main
Tu mera shauq dekh mera intizar dekh
Tu mera shauq dekh mera intizar dekh
Granted, I am not yet worthy of the sight of you — but look at my longing, look at how I wait.
Humility · Love · Aspiration
Ik junun hai ki ba-shaur bhi hai
Ik junun hai ki ba-shaur nahin
Ik junun hai ki ba-shaur nahin
There is one madness that carries clear awareness; there is another madness that carries none.
Restlessness · Self-Knowledge · Action
Kabhi jo aawara-e-junun the vo bastiyon mein phir aa basenge
Barahna-paai vahi rahegi magar naya khaarzaar hoga
Barahna-paai vahi rahegi magar naya khaarzaar hoga
Those who once wandered in the wilderness of passion will come back and settle in the towns; the bare feet will be the same, but the field of thorns will be new.
Adversity · Restlessness · Courage
Sama sakta nahin pahna-e-fitrat mein mera sauda
Ghalat tha ai junun shayad tera andaza-e-sahra
Ghalat tha ai junun shayad tera andaza-e-sahra
My passion cannot be contained even in the vastness of nature; O madness, perhaps your measure of the desert was wrong.
Restlessness · Aspiration · Selfhood