Treasures lie open for my rivals while here I suffer separation from my beloved's tresses; over there are the curls of her hair, while here I cannot even find a snake's hole.

This couplet hinges on a witty pun between 'bal' (the intoxicating twists and curls of the beloved's hair) and 'bil' (a snake's burrow). In Urdu poetry, the beloved's long, dark tresses are traditionally imagined as serpents guarding the treasure of her beauty. The poet laments that while his rivals luxuriate in wealth and proximity to those coiled locks, he is so utterly destitute in separation that he cannot even find a humble serpent's hole to hide his sorrow.