Arabic · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos
Sahar
सहर
said sa-HAR
also written: sehar, sahr, dawn
Meaning
Dawn, the last watch of the night just before daybreak.
Literally: Arabic sahar: the pre-dawn hour.
How Iqbal uses it
The sahar is the dawn — the breaking of light after the long night, classically the hour of the morning breeze, the nightingale's song, and the lover's sigh, and in Sufi usage the time of nearness and prayer before sunrise. It is hope after darkness. Iqbal makes the dawn one of his master-images: the promised morning after a night of bondage and sleep, the awakening of nations and souls; he calls the believer to the 'aah-e-sahar,' the dawn-sigh, that ripens into a new day.
See it in the verse
Sahar in Iqbal’s couplets
Jawanon ko meri aah-e-sahar de
Phir in shaheen bachchon ko bal-o-par de
Phir in shaheen bachchon ko bal-o-par de
Give the young my dawn-time sigh of longing — and give these falcon-children their wings and their feathers once more.
Youth · The Falcon · Aspiration
Khudi mein doob ja ghafil, ye sirr-e-zindagani hai
Nikal kar halqa-e-shaam-o-sahar se javedan ho ja
Nikal kar halqa-e-shaam-o-sahar se javedan ho ja
Dive into your selfhood, O heedless one — this is the secret of life. Step out of the ring of evening and morning, and become everlasting.
Selfhood · Self-Knowledge · Awakening
Sai-e-paiham hai taraazu-e-kam-o-kaif-e-hayat
Teri mizan hai shumar-e-sahar-o-sham abhi
Teri mizan hai shumar-e-sahar-o-sham abhi
Ceaseless striving is the true scale for the measure and quality of a life; you, so far, still weigh life by the count of mornings and evenings.
Action · Aspiration · Restlessness
Zamistani hawa mein garche thi shamshir ki tezi
Na chhute mujh se london mein bhi aadab-e-sahar-khezi
Na chhute mujh se london mein bhi aadab-e-sahar-khezi
Though the winter wind cut like the edge of a sword, even in London I never let go of the discipline of rising at dawn.
Action · Courage · Self-Knowledge
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