Persian · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos
Nau-Falak
नौ-फ़लक
said nau-fa-lak
also written: Nuh Falak
Meaning
The nine celestial spheres of classical Ptolemaic-Islamic cosmology.
Literally: nine skies
How Iqbal uses it
The nine spheres represent for Iqbal the bounded medieval cosmos which the limitless human ego is destined to pierce and transcend.
See it in the verse
Nau-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
Abhi tak aadmi sayd-e-zaboon-e-shahryari hai
Qayamat hai ki insaan nau-e-insaan ka shikari hai
Qayamat hai ki insaan nau-e-insaan ka shikari hai
Even now, the human being is the wretched prey of the rule of kings — it is a catastrophe that one human still hunts another.
Justice · Awakening
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