Meaning
A musical instrument; harmony or apparatus.
Literally: musical instrument; harmony; an arrangement
How Iqbal uses it
Saaz is a musical instrument and, by extension, harmony or tuning. Iqbal plays on its senses to speak of the instrument that yields a rousing strain and of the inner attunement that lets a self sound its true note. He prizes the saaz whose music wakes rather than lulls.
See it in the verse
Saz in Iqbal’s couplets
Tu bacha bacha ke na rakh ise tera aaina hai wo aaina
Ki shikasta ho to azeez-tar hai nigah-e-aaina-saaz mein
Ki shikasta ho to azeez-tar hai nigah-e-aaina-saaz mein
Do not hoard and shield your heart — it is the kind of mirror that, once broken, grows dearer in the eyes of the Mirror-maker.
Love · Courage · Adversity
Zamane ke andaz badle gaye
Naya raag hai saaz badle gaye
Naya raag hai saaz badle gaye
The ways of the age have changed; the tune is new, the instruments have changed.
Awakening · Action · Restlessness
Wajud-e-zan se hai tasveer-e-kaenat mein rang
Isi ke saaz se hai zindagi ka soz-e-darun
Isi ke saaz se hai zindagi ka soz-e-darun
It is the presence of woman that gives colour to the portrait of the universe — from her instrument comes the inner fire of life itself.
Love · Unity · Humility
Tu bacha bacha ke na rakh ise tera aaina hai wo aaina
ke shikasta ho to aziz-tar hai nigah-e-aaina-saaz mein
ke shikasta ho to aziz-tar hai nigah-e-aaina-saaz mein
Do not keep your mirror anxiously protected — yours is the kind of mirror that, even when shattered, is dearer in the eyes of its maker.
Courage · Selfhood · Adversity
Khudi ke saaz mein hai umr-e-javidan ka suragh
Khudi ke soz se roshan hain ummaton ke charagh
Khudi ke soz se roshan hain ummaton ke charagh
Within the music of selfhood lies the trace of an everlasting life — and it is by the burning of selfhood that the lamps of whole peoples are lit.
Selfhood · Leadership · Hope
Isi kashmakash mein guzrin meri zindagi ki raaten
Kabhi soz-o-saz-e-rumi kabhi pech-o-tab-e-razi
Kabhi soz-o-saz-e-rumi kabhi pech-o-tab-e-razi
The nights of my life passed in this very struggle: now the fire and harmony of Rumi, now the restless reasoning of Razi.
Love · Self-Knowledge · Restlessness