Meaning
Face, countenance, form, or appearance.
Literally: face, form, appearance
How Iqbal uses it
Surat is the face or outward form — the beloved's visible appearance, the look the lover carries in memory and longs to see again. It pairs with seerat (inner character) as outer to inner; the ghazal usually adores the surat, the radiant surface. In a contemplative key the surat is the form through which an inner meaning shines, beauty of face as a window onto, or sometimes a veil over, the beauty within.
See it in the verse
Surat in Iqbal’s couplets
Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
Zindagi shama ki surat ho khudaya meri
My longing rises to my lips as a prayer: O God, may my life be like a candle's flame.
Hope · Aspiration
Zindagi ho meri parwane ki surat ya-rab
Ilm ki shama se ho mujh ko mohabbat ya-rab
Ilm ki shama se ho mujh ko mohabbat ya-rab
Let my life be like the moth's, O Lord; let me love the lamp of knowledge.
Love · Aspiration · Youth
Yaqeen afrad ka sarmaya-e-tameer-e-millat hai
Yahi quvvat hai jo surat-gar-e-taqdeer-e-millat hai
Yahi quvvat hai jo surat-gar-e-taqdeer-e-millat hai
The conviction of individuals is the capital that builds a community — this is the very force that sculpts a people's destiny.
Unity · Selfhood · Leadership
Related words
PERSIAN
Chehra
The face; the countenance.
ARABIC
Maani
Meaning, inner significance — as opposed to outer form.
PERSIAN
Rukh
The face or cheek; also, direction or aspect.
PERSIAN
Paikar
Form, figure, or bodily frame.
ARABIC
Husn
Beauty, comeliness; the radiant loveliness of the beloved.
ARABIC
Seerat
Character, disposition, or biography of conduct.