Arabic · noun · The Heart & the Body
Nafas / Dam
नफ़स / दम
said na-FAS / dam
also written: dam
Meaning
Breath (nafas / dam).
How Iqbal uses it
Life measured as a single, fragile breath. “The life of man is nothing but a single breath; and that breath is nothing but a wave of passing air.” So do not stake your one breath on the approval of others — that is no life at all.
See it in the verse
Nafas / Dam in Iqbal’s couplets
Zindagi insaan ki ik dam ke siva kuch bhi nahin
Dam hawa ki mauj hai ram ke siva kuch bhi nahin
Dam hawa ki mauj hai ram ke siva kuch bhi nahin
A human life is nothing more than a single breath — and that breath is a wave of air, nothing but a fleeting movement.
Humility · Awakening · Action
Jina wo kya jo ho nafas-e-ghair par madar
Shohrat ki zindagi ka bharosa bhi chhod de
Shohrat ki zindagi ka bharosa bhi chhod de
What kind of living is it that hangs on another's breath? Give up even your reliance on a life of fame.
Selfhood · Freedom · Self-Knowledge