Meaning
Spirit, soul; the animating principle distinct from the body.
Literally: spirit; soul
How Iqbal uses it
The spirit — the divine breath that animates the human being, declared in the Quran to be "of the command of my Lord" (min amr Rabbi), belonging to the world of amr rather than of matter. Iqbal builds on this to locate the freedom and creative essence of the self in the spirit's origin in the divine command, distinguishing the immortal, willing rooh from the lower, appetite-driven nafs.