Word Meaning
हिना-बस्ता
hina-basta
Meaning
Dyed, stained, or adorned with henna.
Detailed Meaning
In Persian and Urdu poetics, 'hina-basta' describes an extremity that has been adorned or bound with henna paste, taking on a deep crimson stain. In this couplet, it qualifies the beloved's fingertip ('sar-e-angusht'), whose intense redness causes the lover to perceive every blossoming bud as a droplet of spilled blood. The compound merges the sensory beauty of the beloved's adornment with the traditional trope of slaughter and sacrifice.
Etymology
Arabic 'ḥinnāʾ' (henna) combined with the Persian past participle 'basta' (bound, fastened, applied, from 'bastan').
Usage
Commonly invoked in classical ghazal to praise the beloved's dyed hands, playfully linking the crimson pigment of henna to the lover's shed blood.
Examples
The sight of a henna-dyed finger
Hands bound with henna glowing red