Persian · phrase · Being & Non-Being
Naqsh-e-Bar-Aab
नक़्श-ए-बर-आब
said naqsh-e-bar-aab
also written: naqsh e bar aab, naqsh-e-bar-aab, naqsh-bar-aab
Meaning
A design upon water; a figure for what is utterly transient and bound to vanish.
Literally: naqsh (mark, design) + bar (upon) + aab (water)
See it in the verse
Naqsh-e-Bar-Aab in Iqbal’s couplets
Yunan-o-Misr-o-Roma sab mit gaye jahan se
Ab tak magar hai baqi naam-o-nishan hamara
Ab tak magar hai baqi naam-o-nishan hamara
Greece, Egypt and Rome have all been erased from the world — yet our name and our mark still remain.
Hope · Unity
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, naqsh-gar-e-haadsat
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, asl-e-hayat-o-mamat
Silsila-e-roz-o-shab, asl-e-hayat-o-mamat
The chain of day and night is the sculptor of all events; the chain of day and night is the root of life and of death.
Action · Self-Knowledge
Ai aab-e-rud-e-Ganga wo din hai yaad tujh ko
Utra tere kinare jab karwan hamara
Utra tere kinare jab karwan hamara
O waters of the river Ganga, do you remember those days — when our caravan first halted upon your banks?
Unity · Love
Baagh-e-bahisht se mujhe hukm-e-safar diya tha kyun
Kaar-e-jahan daraaz hai ab mera intezaar kar
Kaar-e-jahan daraaz hai ab mera intezaar kar
Why was I given the command to depart the garden of paradise? The work of the world is long now — so wait for me.
Action · Aspiration · Restlessness
Gulzar-e-hast-o-bud na begana-war dekh
Hai dekhne ki cheez ise bar bar dekh
Hai dekhne ki cheez ise bar bar dekh
Do not look at the garden of existence like a stranger — it is a thing worth seeing; look at it again and again.
Awakening · Hope · Self-Knowledge
Baatil se dabne wale ai aasman nahin ham
Sau baar kar chuka hai tu imtihan hamara
Sau baar kar chuka hai tu imtihan hamara
We are not the kind to be crushed by falsehood, O sky; a hundred times already you have tested us.
Courage · Adversity