Meaning
Of the colour of the tulip; brilliant scarlet.
Literally: tulip-coloured
How Iqbal uses it
When the heart's wound is called lala-gun, the bleeding scar becomes the scarlet tulip of the desert.
See it in the verse
Lala-gun in Iqbal’s couplets
Khuda agar dil-e-fitrat-shanaas de tujh ko
Sukoot-e-laala-o-gul se kalaam paida kar
Sukoot-e-laala-o-gul se kalaam paida kar
If God gives you a heart that can read Nature, then draw speech out of the silence of the tulip and the rose.
Self-Knowledge · Aspiration · Awakening
Main shakh-e-taak hun meri ghazal hai mera samar
Mire samar se mai-e-laala-faam paida kar
Mire samar se mai-e-laala-faam paida kar
I am the vine-branch; my ghazal is my fruit — from my fruit, press out the rose-red wine.
Aspiration · Action · Youth
Jis se jigar-e-laala mein thandak ho wo shabnam
Daryaon ke dil jis se dahel jaayein wo toofan
Daryaon ke dil jis se dahel jaayein wo toofan
To the tulip's heart he is the dew that cools it; to mighty rivers he is the storm that makes their hearts tremble.
Courage · Justice · Selfhood
Jis se jigar-e-lala mein thandak ho wo shabnam
Dariyaon ke dil jis se dahal jayen wo toofan
Dariyaon ke dil jis se dahal jayen wo toofan
To be the dew that cools the heart of the tulip — and the storm that makes the hearts of rivers tremble.
Courage · Leadership · Love
Zameer-e-laala mein roshan charagh-e-aarzu kar de
Chaman ke zarre zarre ko shaheed-e-justuju kar de
Chaman ke zarre zarre ko shaheed-e-justuju kar de
Light the lamp of longing in the heart of the tulip — and make every grain of the garden a martyr to the search.
Aspiration · Hope · Restlessness
Digar-gun hai jahan taron ki gardish tez hai saqi
Dil-e-har-zarra mein ghaugha-e-rusta-khez hai saqi
Dil-e-har-zarra mein ghaugha-e-rusta-khez hai saqi
The world is changing, the wheeling of the stars is swift; in the heart of every atom there is the tumult of a rising.
Awakening · Hope · Restlessness