Meaning
The bird of dawn, the cock or morning bird whose cry announces daybreak and awakening.
Literally: bird of the morning
How Iqbal uses it
The dawn-bird is the herald of awakening, calling the sleeping garden and the slumbering community to rise. Iqbal uses it as a figure for the rousing voice that breaks the long night of decline and summons the soul to a new day.
See it in the verse
Murgh-e-Sahar in Iqbal’s couplets
Jawanon ko meri aah-e-sahar de
Phir in shaheen bachchon ko bal-o-par de
Phir in shaheen bachchon ko bal-o-par de
Give the young my dawn-time sigh of longing — and give these falcon-children their wings and their feathers once more.
Youth · The Falcon · Aspiration
Khudi mein doob ja ghafil, ye sirr-e-zindagani hai
Nikal kar halqa-e-shaam-o-sahar se javedan ho ja
Nikal kar halqa-e-shaam-o-sahar se javedan ho ja
Dive into your selfhood, O heedless one — this is the secret of life. Step out of the ring of evening and morning, and become everlasting.
Selfhood · Self-Knowledge · Awakening
Har shai musafir har cheez raahi
Kya chand tare kya murgh o maahi
Kya chand tare kya murgh o maahi
Every thing is a traveller, every object a wayfarer — whether the moon and stars, or the birds and the fish.
Restlessness · Action · Unity
Sai-e-paiham hai taraazu-e-kam-o-kaif-e-hayat
Teri mizan hai shumar-e-sahar-o-sham abhi
Teri mizan hai shumar-e-sahar-o-sham abhi
Ceaseless striving is the true scale for the measure and quality of a life; you, so far, still weigh life by the count of mornings and evenings.
Action · Aspiration · Restlessness
Tu huma ka hai shikari abhi ibtida hai teri
Nahin maslahat se khali ye jahan-e-murgh-o-mahi
Nahin maslahat se khali ye jahan-e-murgh-o-mahi
You are a hunter of the huma, your journey has only just begun; this world of birds and fish is not without its hidden purpose.
Aspiration · Youth · Hope
Zamistani hawa mein garche thi shamshir ki tezi
Na chhute mujh se london mein bhi aadab-e-sahar-khezi
Na chhute mujh se london mein bhi aadab-e-sahar-khezi
Though the winter wind cut like the edge of a sword, even in London I never let go of the discipline of rising at dawn.
Action · Courage · Self-Knowledge