Sanskrit · noun · Time, Fate & the Cosmos
Taara
तारा
said TAA-raa
also written: tara, taara, sitara, star
Meaning
A star.
Literally: star
How Iqbal uses it
Tara is the star in the Hindavi register — the single bright point in the night, emblem of guidance, of distant beauty, and of fortune, kin to the Persian sitara. It is the light the traveller steers by and the dreamer reaches for. Iqbal's imagery makes the star a frontier rather than a fixed fate: the awakened self is bidden to look past the stars to further worlds, turning the tara from a ceiling into a threshold.
See it in the verse
Taara in Iqbal’s couplets
Afrad ke hathon mein hai aqwam ki taqdeer
Har fard hai millat ke muqaddar ka sitara
Har fard hai millat ke muqaddar ka sitara
The destiny of nations rests in the hands of individuals — every single person is a star in the fortune of the whole.
Action · Leadership · Selfhood
Uruj-e-adam-e-khaki se anjum sahme jaate hain
Ki ye toota hua tara mah-e-kamil na ban jaaye
Ki ye toota hua tara mah-e-kamil na ban jaaye
The stars take fright at the rise of the human being of dust — afraid that this broken star may yet become a full moon.
Aspiration · Hope · Selfhood
Mah o sitara se aage maqam hai jis ka
Wo musht-e-khak abhi aawargan-e-rah mein hai
Wo musht-e-khak abhi aawargan-e-rah mein hai
The handful of dust whose true station lies beyond moon and stars is still wandering, lost, on the road.
Aspiration · Selfhood · Awakening
Sitara kya meri taqdir ki khabar dega
Wo khud farakhi-e-aflak mein hai khwar o zubun
Wo khud farakhi-e-aflak mein hai khwar o zubun
What can a star tell me of my destiny? It is itself helpless and lowly in the vast reach of the skies.
Selfhood · Freedom · Courage