Meaning
Light; radiance, especially divine or celestial light.
Literally: Arabic nur: light.
How Iqbal uses it
Nur is the celestial and divine light that Iqbal sets against the darkness (zulmat) of ignorance and decline.
See it in the verse
Nur in Iqbal’s couplets
Guzar ja aql se aage ki ye noor
Charagh-e-raah hai, manzil nahin hai
Charagh-e-raah hai, manzil nahin hai
Move on past the intellect — for this light is a lamp for the road, not the destination itself.
Self-Knowledge · Aspiration · Love
Dil-e-bina bhi kar khuda se talab
Aankh ka nuur dil ka nuur nahin
Aankh ka nuur dil ka nuur nahin
Ask also for a seeing heart; the light of the eye is not the light of the heart.
Self-Knowledge · Awakening
Qalb o nazar ki zindagi dasht mein subh ka samaan
Chashma-e-aftab se nuur ki naddiyan ravaan
Chashma-e-aftab se nuur ki naddiyan ravaan
The life of the heart and the eye is like daybreak in the desert; from the spring of the sun, rivers of light flow out.
Awakening · Hope · Self-Knowledge