Meaning
The imprint or image of beauty; the design of loveliness.
Literally: the image of beauty
How Iqbal uses it
The naqsh-e-jamaal is beauty considered as a wrought image; it lets Iqbal connect the beloved's face to the whole picture-world traced by the Divine Artist.
See it in the verse
Naqsh-e-Jamaal in Iqbal’s couplets
Hai magar is naqsh mein rang-e-sabaat-e-dawam
Jis ko kiya ho kisi mard-e-Khuda ne tamam
Jis ko kiya ho kisi mard-e-Khuda ne tamam
Only that work bears the colour of lasting permanence which a man of God has brought to completion.
Aspiration · Selfhood · Action
Aa ghairiyat ke parde ik baar phir utha den
Bichdon ko phir mila den naqsh-e-dui mita den
Bichdon ko phir mila den naqsh-e-dui mita den
Come, let us lift the veils of estrangement once more; reunite the separated, and erase the mark of duality.
Unity · Love · Hope
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
Sultani-e-jamhur ka aata hai zamana
Jo naqsh-e-kuhan tum ko nazar aae miTa do
Jo naqsh-e-kuhan tum ko nazar aae miTa do
The age of the people's rule is arriving; whatever old patterns you still see, wipe them away.
Freedom · Awakening · Justice