bah rahn-e sharm hai baa va.sf-e sho;xii ihtimaam us kaa
nagii;N me;N juu;N sharaar-e sang naa-paidaa hai naam us kaa
1) with a pledge/pawn to shame/modesty, with the quality of mischievousness, is her management
2) in her signet-ring, like the spark of a stone, her name is non-appearing
rahn : 'Pledging, pawning; a thing deposited as a pledge, a pledge, a pawn'. (Platts p.610)
va.sf : 'Describing; declaring; praising; — description, expression of qualities; praise, encomium; attribute; epithet; quality, property'. (Platts p.1195)
sho;xii : 'Playfulness, fun, mischief; pertness, sauciness; coquetry, wantonness; forwardness, boldness, insolence, &c.'. (Platts p.736)
ihtimaam : 'Solicitude, care, anxiety, diligence; inspection, supervision, management, superintendence, charge'. (Platts p.109)
nagiin : 'A precious stone; --a precious stone set in a ring; --a ring, (esp.) a signet-ring; --what fits or sits well'. (Platts p.1152)
naa-paidaa : 'Unborn, that has never existed, non-existent; extinct; not to be found, lost, missing; not evident, invisible; vanished'. (Platts p.1111)
That is, although her nature is a little bit apparent, still her true situation is within the veil (is a pledge to shame). The second line is illustrative. A signet-ring is for public manifestation, in a signet-ring the name is apparent. But her name (that is, the truth of her identity) remains hidden from manifestation and visibility the way a spark remains hidden in a stone.
== Zamin, p. 94
By us is meant the True [divine] Beloved. Although his name is very famous [his text has shuhrat rather than sho;xii], nevertheless all his works are done with shame and modesty. The way in the stone of a finger-ring a spark is hidden, in the same way in the external world the name and identity of the beloved is hidden. This guarding against coming before people is a proof of his shame and modesty!
SETS == MUSHAIRAH
SHAME/HONOR: {3,5}
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
Since this is a classic mushairah verse, the first line leaves us uncertain what the beloved is up to. All we can tell is that she has made some kind of arrangement, for which she has two motives. One motive is sharm , 'shame' or 'modesty'; on this complex double-edged concept, see see {3,5}. The other motive is sho;xii , 'mischievousness' (see the definition above), one of her fundamental traits. To discover what she has actually done, we must contain our impatience until we're finally allowed to hear the second line.
The second line then tells us about her signet-ring. But not until the last possible moment-- in proper mushairah-verse style-- do we finally learn what's truly remarkable about her signet-ring: on it, paradoxically, her name does not appear. A signet-ring is meant to be carved out of a precious stone, so that it's an adornment; and it's also meant to be inscribed with the owner's name, so that it can be used to authenticate letters and papers on the owner's behalf. (For more on seals and signet-rings, see {61,5}.)
A signet-ring on which the owner's name does not appear is thus a kind of halfway-house between publicity and privacy. And it also perfectly illustrates the owner's mixture of 'shame' and 'mischievousness'.
But there's yet another dimension to the verse. For it's not simply that her name is not there on the stone. Rather, her name is 'non-appearing' (or 'not evident', or 'invisible'), it is 'in' [me;N] the signet-ring-- and we are given the spectacularly enjoyable analogy of the way a spark is latent, non-apparent, but very much present 'in' a stone (on this convention of the ghazal world, see {20,6}). So the beloved's mysterious power, lurking within the stone of her signet-ring, is on ample (non-) display.
Her blank signet-ring also can't help but evoke her ringless finger in {50,2}.
Asi:
Her management, her sympathy, despite fame [his text has shuhrat rather than sho;xii], are now in the veil of shame/modesty; and in this way in the signet-ring her name is non-appearing and hidden, the way fire is always hidden in stone.
== Asi, pp. 73-74