Meaning
The open courtyard or expanse of the garden, the level ground where the flowers grow.
Literally: courtyard of the garden
How Iqbal uses it
The sahn-e-chaman is the stage on which the whole drama of the garden unfolds, the shared ground of the flower-community. Iqbal uses the spread of the garden-court as a figure for the collective life of a people, where every bloom has its place.
See it in the verse
Sahn-e-Chaman in Iqbal’s couplets
Hazaron saal nargis apni be-noori pe roti hai
Badi mushkil se hota hai chaman mein deedavar paida
Badi mushkil se hota hai chaman mein deedavar paida
For thousands of years the narcissus weeps over its own sightlessness — only with great difficulty is a truly seeing one born in the garden.
Self-Knowledge · Aspiration
Qanaat na kar aalam-e-rang-o-bu par
Chaman aur bhi, aashiyan aur bhi hain
Chaman aur bhi, aashiyan aur bhi hain
Do not be content with this world of colour and scent — there are other gardens, and other nests, too.
Aspiration · Restlessness
Zameer-e-laala mein roshan charagh-e-aarzu kar de
Chaman ke zarre zarre ko shaheed-e-justuju kar de
Chaman ke zarre zarre ko shaheed-e-justuju kar de
Light the lamp of longing in the heart of the tulip — and make every grain of the garden a martyr to the search.
Aspiration · Hope · Restlessness
Related words
PERSIAN
Baagh
A garden or orchard, a cultivated place of trees, flowers, and shade.
PERSIAN
Gulistaan
A rose-garden, a flower-garden, a place full of blooming roses.
PERSIAN
Bahaar
Spring, the season of bloom and renewal when the garden returns to life.
PERSIAN
Gulchin
The flower-gatherer who plucks the blooms of the garden.