S. R. Faruqi:

The verse is commonplace, but here too Mir has done something special. The meanings of dekho to aate hai;N hanuuz are as follows:

(1) Let's see whether even now she comes or not.

(2) Take a look-- is she coming now, or is she not coming now?

(3) Look-- even now she's not coming (that is, on this reading the utterance is sarcastic, as if someone would say itnii der ho ga))ii , ab bhii vuh bar-aamad ho rahe hai;N ! ).

FWP:

SETS == HANUZ
MOTIFS == DEAD LOVER SPEAKS
NAMES
TERMS

This is one of only a handful of ghazals to which SRF has paid tribute by selecting every single verse for inclusion in his commentary.

Perhaps the dying lover exaggerates when he says he's already died [ab jaa chuke ham], and he's really just hamming it up in the hope that someone will run and fetch her. But perhaps he actually means it, and he's already dead. In this case there are two piquant possibilities: One is the sarcastic one envisioned by SRF: it would be just like the beloved to (deliberately? indifferently?) come when it's too late and her lover is already dead. But the other is an actual serious inquiry: even though the lover is already dead, he can't stop wishing for the beloved to come to his bedside.

Note for grammar fans: In the first line, kab se aane [ ko ] kahte hai;N would literally be 'since when does she say 'to come''. The grammar of Urdu and English swing far apart here, so I've just gotten the point across without my usual clunky literalness.

Note for translation fans: How to convey the sarcastic (?) formality of tashriif laanaa ? The closest thing I could think of was 'deign to come'. It's not ideal, but at least it provides an appropriate contrast to the ordinary aanaa earlier in the line.