Meaning
A lion or tiger; the emblem of royal courage and might. Also a couplet of verse.
Literally: a couplet; a verse
How Iqbal uses it
A sher is a single couplet, the indivisible unit of Urdu and Persian verse, complete in two lines. Iqbal is a master of the freestanding sher whose compressed force can hold an entire argument or a flash of vision. He uses the form to lodge ideas in memory as much as to please the ear.
Related words
PERSIAN
Babar
A lion (also used for the tiger); the great maned predator.
ARABIC
Asad
A lion; a symbol of valour, and the zodiacal sign Leo.
ARABIC
Ghazal
A sung form of the Urdu-Persian love lyric, each couplet a self-contained thought.
ARABIC
Shaa'iri
The art and practice of composing poetry.
ARABIC
Lafz
A word, the utterance; the outward vessel of meaning in poetry.