Meaning
A book.
How Iqbal uses it
The book as vessel of knowledge and revelation; al-Kitaab is also an epithet of the Qur'an.
See it in the verse
Kitaab in Iqbal’s couplets
Tha zabt bahut mushkil is sail-e-maani ka
Kah Daale qalandar ne asrar-e-kitab aakhir
Kah Daale qalandar ne asrar-e-kitab aakhir
It was very hard to hold back this flood of meaning; at last the wandering sage spoke out the secrets of the book.
Courage · Self-Knowledge · Awakening
Tujhe kitab se mumkin nahin faragh ki tu
Kitab-khwan hai magar sahib-e-kitab nahin
Kitab-khwan hai magar sahib-e-kitab nahin
You cannot be free of the book, for you are a reader of books but not their master.
Self-Knowledge · Action · Selfhood