Persian · noun · Love & Longing
Lab-e-laal
लब-ए-लाल
said LAB-e-LAAL
also written: Lab-e-laali, Lab-e-lal
Meaning
The beloved's ruby-red lips.
Literally: Lips of ruby / lips red as the ruby.
How Iqbal uses it
Lab-e-laal are the beloved's ruby-red lips — the classic image of a mouth as precious and red as the gemstone, source of the life-giving smile and word. The redness suggests both the wine the lover thirsts for and the blood the cruel beloved spills. The image fuses sweetness and danger: lips that promise the kiss of life and deal the wound of longing in the same breath.
See it in the verse
Lab-e-laal in Iqbal’s couplets
Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
My longing rises to my lips as a prayer: O God, may my life be like a candle's flame.
Hope · Aspiration
Be-khatar kud pada aatish-e-Nimrood mein ishq
Aql hai mahv-e-tamasha-e-lab-e-baam abhi
Aql hai mahv-e-tamasha-e-lab-e-baam abhi
Love leapt fearlessly into the fire — while reason still stood on the rooftop's edge, lost in watching the spectacle.
Courage · Love · Action
Aankh jo kuchh dekhti hai lab pe aa sakta nahin
Mahv-e-hairat hoon ki duniya kya se kya ho jaegi
Mahv-e-hairat hoon ki duniya kya se kya ho jaegi
What the eye sees cannot be brought to the lips; I am lost in wonder at what this world is about to become.
Awakening · Aspiration