S. R. Faruqi:

'Hindu' certainly means 'Hindu'-- that is, 'a resident of Hindustan' and 'a believer in the Hindu religion'. It also means 'thief' and 'beloved'. The theme of the verse is certainly witty/humorous, because of the aspect that 'Hindu' means 'thief', so that to invite the taking of a valuable property like the heart to the dominion or the court of 'Hindu boys' becomes more witty/humorous.

The meaning of 'Hindu' as 'thief' and 'beloved' is an interesting case of the acquisition of meaning, and a good example of the colorfulness of the Persian language. The beloved is called an 'idol'; Hindus are idol-worshipers; the beloved steals away the heart or commits highway robbery on the mind and the senses. Thus the down on the cheek, the black beauty-spot, and the curls began to be called 'Hindu'.

Then, probably by way of a back-transmission of reflected imagery, that person began to be called 'Hindu' who was adorned with down on the cheeks, beauty-spot, curls, etc. Along with the Hindu's tawny complexion, when the idea of 'black' [kaalaa], meaning 'thief', appeared, then 'Hindu' meaning 'thief' became established. In short, it's a maze of reciprocities.

There's a famous verse of Zauq's on this, and it's possible that it might have been borrowed from Mir:

;xa:t ba;Rhaa sabzah ba;Rhaa kaakul ba;Rhe gesuu bha;Re
;husn kii sarkaar me;N jitne ba;Rhe hinduu ba;Rhe

[the down on the cheeks advanced, the tawniness advanced, the tresses advanced, the curls advanced
in the dominion of beauty however many advanced, the Hindus advanced]

FWP:

SETS == HUMOR
MOTIFS == [BELOVED IS A BOY]
NAMES == HINDU; HINDUSTAN
TERMS == METER

This ghazal is the second of a set of two about which SRF makes special claims for an over-all 'musical' effect; see {1589,1} for his discussion.

Note for meter fans: In the second line, note the irregular foot of ba-hut ba ( - = - ) instead of the normal ( = - - ). This pattern is uncommon but permissible.