इलाज-ए-दर्द में भी दर्द की लज़्ज़त पे मरता हूँ
जो थे छालों में काँटे नोक-ए-सोज़न से निकाले हैं
— Allama Iqbal
Meaning
Even in the cure for pain, I die for the sweetness of pain; those thorns that were in the bark, I pulled out with the tip of a needle.
Explanation
This profound couplet explores the intoxicating nature of pain. The poet suggests that even when healing (the 'cure of pain'), the lover finds a perverse pleasure in the pain itself. He compares the pain to thorns stuck in the peels, which he pulls out with the delicate tip of a needle. This signifies that the agony, though painful, holds a compelling, addictive beauty that is harder to resist than relief.
