Meaning
Silver-breasted; of a fair, gleaming bosom and complexion.
Literally: silver-bosomed
How Iqbal uses it
A variant in the silver-body family; the gleaming fair bosom of the beloved measured against the brightness of silver.
See it in the verse
Siimbar in Iqbal’s couplets
Khudi ko na de seem-o-zar ke ewaz
Nahin shola dete sharar ke ewaz
Nahin shola dete sharar ke ewaz
Do not trade away your selfhood for silver and gold — no one hands over a blazing flame in exchange for a mere spark.
Selfhood · Freedom · Courage
Gulzar-e-hast-o-bud na begana-war dekh
Hai dekhne ki cheez ise bar bar dekh
Hai dekhne ki cheez ise bar bar dekh
Do not look at the garden of existence like a stranger — it is a thing worth seeing; look at it again and again.
Awakening · Hope · Self-Knowledge
Baatil se dabne wale ai aasman nahin ham
Sau baar kar chuka hai tu imtihan hamara
Sau baar kar chuka hai tu imtihan hamara
We are not the kind to be crushed by falsehood, O sky; a hundred times already you have tested us.
Courage · Adversity