Persian · noun · Nature & the Garden
Shabaab-e-Chaman
शबाब-ए-चमन
said sha-baab-e-cha-MAN
Meaning
The youth or prime of the garden; the garden in its full flowering.
How Iqbal uses it
The shabaab-e-chaman, the garden at the peak of its blooming youth, is the image of life at its most abundant and fair; its inevitable fading into autumn deepens Iqbal's meditation on how swiftly even the fullest glory turns.
See it in the verse
Shabaab-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