Persian · adjective · The Heart & the Body

Naumeed

नाउमीद

also written: Na-umeed, Naa-umeed

Meaning

Despairing and hopeless; the lover bereft of all hope of the beloved.

Literally: without hope

How Iqbal uses it

The lover sunk in despair of ever winning the beloved; yet Iqbal warns against naumeedi as a failing of the spirit, urging hope even from the gates of refusal.

See it in the verse

Naumeed in Iqbal’s couplets

Apne mann mein doob kar pa ja suragh-e-zindagi
Tu agar mera nahin banta na ban, apna to ban

Dive into your own self and find the trace of life. If you will not be mine, then do not — but at least become your own.

Selfhood · Self-Knowledge

Amal se zindagi banti hai jannat bhi jahannum bhi
Ye khaki apni fitrat mein na noori hai na naari hai

By our deeds we make life a heaven or a hell. This creature of dust is, by nature, neither angel of light nor demon of fire.

Action · Courage

Na samjhoge to mit jaoge ai Hindostan walon
Tumhari dastan tak bhi na hogi dastanon mein

If you will not understand, you will be erased, O people of Hindustan — not even your story will remain among the stories.

Awakening · Courage

Dhoondne wala sitaron ki guzargahon ka
Apne afkaar ki duniya mein safar kar na saka

He who charts the very pathways of the stars could not journey through the world of his own thoughts.

Self-Knowledge · Selfhood

Nahin hai naumeed Iqbal apni kisht-e-veeran se
Zara nam ho to ye mitti badi zarkhez hai saqi

Iqbal is not without hope, even from his barren field — let there be a little moisture, cupbearer, and this soil is wonderfully fertile.

Hope · Aspiration

Ho agar khudnigar-o-khudgar-o-khudgir khudi
Ye bhi mumkin hai ki tu maut se bhi mar na sake

If your selfhood becomes self-seeing, self-making and self-possessed, it is even possible that not even death can make you die.

Selfhood · Self-Knowledge

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