Meaning
A guide; the one who leads the traveller along the road.
Literally: way-bearer
How Iqbal uses it
The rahbar is needed on the spiritual road, yet the poet warns that a false rahbar is more dangerous than the desert itself.
See it in the verse
Rahbar in Iqbal’s couplets
Isi roz-o-shab mein ulajh kar na rah ja
Ki tere zaman-o-makan aur bhi hain
Ki tere zaman-o-makan aur bhi hain
Do not stay tangled in only these days and nights — there are other times and other places that are yours.
Aspiration · Hope · Restlessness
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
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
Faqir-e-rah ko bakhshe gae asrar-e-sultani
Baha meri nava ki daulat-e-parvez hai saqi
Baha meri nava ki daulat-e-parvez hai saqi
To the wayfaring beggar were granted the secrets of kingship; the price of my song is the whole treasure of Parvez.
Self-Knowledge · Humility · Selfhood
Mah o sitara se aage maqam hai jis ka
Wo musht-e-khak abhi aawargan-e-rah mein hai
Wo musht-e-khak abhi aawargan-e-rah mein hai
The handful of dust whose true station lies beyond moon and stars is still wandering, lost, on the road.
Aspiration · Selfhood · Awakening