Arabic · noun · Character & Virtue

Sahaarat

शराफ़त
said sha-RAA-fat
also written: sharafat, sharaafat, sharafah
Meaning

Nobility of character, gentlemanly decency, honourable conduct.

Literally: From the root sh-r-f: to be noble, high; nobility of birth and bearing.

Usage & notes

Sharafat is nobility of character — the gentle dignity of one whose conduct is honourable and refined. Iqbal locates true nobility not in birth or rank but in the worth of the self: the noble person is marked by honesty, self-respect, and decency toward others. He sets this inward nobility against the hollow honour of the highborn who lack character, insisting that real sharafat is earned by what one is.