Arabic · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos
Mehrab-e-Falak
मेहराब-ए-फ़लक
said meh-RAAB-e-fa-LAK
also written: mehrab e falak
Meaning
The arch of the sky; the vault of the heavens like a prayer-niche overhead.
Literally: Arabic/Persian: the niche/arch (mehrab) of the firmament (falak).
See it in the verse
Mehrab-e-Falak in Iqbal’s couplets
Khol aankh, zameen dekh, falak dekh, fiza dekh
Mashriq se ubharte hue suraj ko zara dekh
Mashriq se ubharte hue suraj ko zara dekh
Open your eyes — look at the earth, the sky, the open air; just look at the sun rising in the east.
Awakening · Hope
Khudi ka nasheman tere dil mein hai
Falak jis tarah aankh ke til mein hai
Falak jis tarah aankh ke til mein hai
The nest of your selfhood is inside your own heart — the way the whole sky lives inside the pupil of an eye.
Selfhood · Self-Knowledge
Napaid tere bahr-e-takhayyul ke kinare
Pahunchenge falak tak teri aahon ke sharare
Pahunchenge falak tak teri aahon ke sharare
The shores of your sea of imagination are nowhere to be found; the sparks of your longing will reach all the way to the sky.
Aspiration · Restlessness · Hope