saadah-o-purkaar-tar ;Gaafil-o-hushyaar-tar
maa;Nge hai shamshaad se shaanah-e sunbul hanuuz
1) simple, and more skilful/clever; heedless, and more aware/alert
2) she asks from the box-tree, the comb of the hyacinth, now/still
purkaar : 'Skilful, efficient, full of workmanship, well-executed'. (Platts p.234)
tar : 'An affix, the termination of the comparative degree in Persian (and in Sanskrit)'. (Platts p.315)
hushyaar : 'Intelligent, prudent; acquainted; well-informed; sensible; knowing; --mindful, cautious, alert, watchful, vigilant, on (one's) guard; awake; conscious; in (one's) senses'. (Platts p.1230)
shamshaad : 'The box-tree, Buzus sempervirens; — any tall and upright tree; (met.) the graceful figure of a mistress'. (Platts p.733)
sunbul : 'A plant of sweet odour, spikenard (to which the Persians compare the locks of a mistress); — the hyacinth; maiden-hair'. (Platts p.680)
hanuuz : 'Yet, still, further, just now, at present, hitherto, to this very time, until now'. (Platts p.1515)
That is, she is seemingly naive and innocent, but is devastatingly tricky; she appears heedless, but is so aware that she is thinking how to trick the box-tree and make off with the comb of the hyacinth. The 'comb of the box-tree' and the 'curls of the hyacinth' are both recognized metaphors. The poet has supposed the 'comb of the box-tree' to be the property of the hyacinth. The refrain hanuuz is useless and unnecessary.
From the wood of the box-tree combs are made; thus the 'comb of the box-tree' is mentioned. The hyacinth has a similitude with curls. My beloved is seemingly simple and heedless, but in fact she's aware and clever. She is saying to the box-tree, 'You have the comb that arranges the curls of the hyacinth; give it to me'. Her purpose is that in this way the curls of the hyacinth would not be able to be adorned, and by doing her hair with that comb the beloved would show her superiority over the hyacinth. If this is not skilfulness, then what else is it?
For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.
This verse of course resembles the irresistible {4,4}, which plays even more elaborately with the same qualities.
The present verse also plays on the difference between the real world and the ghazal world. In the real world, the beloved's request is naive, heedless, simple, even simple-minded, because the real world is not a place in which one can communicate with trees or expect them to hand over cosmetic items. But of course in the ghazal world the beloved's powers are fully equal to the occasion, so that-- as Gyan Chand explains-- her request is clever and intelligent. It also shows her ruthless obsession with her own beauty and superiority. She is never off duty.
Asi:
How simple my beloved is, and how skilful and aware! For she is requesting from the box-tree the comb of the hyacinth, although she knows that the box-tree has no way to obtain the comb of the hyacinth. In this the skilfulness is that at no time is she heedless of her adornment; and the simplicity is that she has sought from the box-tree something that would be useless to her.
== Asi, p. 127