In a relatively short life of just fifty-two years, Syed Hashmi (1926–1978) made enduring contributions to Balochi literature across various genres, including fiction, poetry, lexicography, linguistics, aphorism writing, and letter writing. It is therefore difficult to single out what may be considered his greatest achievement. In the truest sense, he was an institution unto himself. As a poet, perhaps his greatest achievement was his decisive shift in the paradigm of the Balochi ghazal during the early 1950s.
This was a period marked by significant literary challenges. The Progressive Writers’ Movement had come to dominate the landscape of Balochi literature, particularly poetry. Poets such as Mir Gul Khan Naseer and Azad Jamaldini had established themselves as leading voices in Balochi poetry. They preferred the nazm as their primary mode of expression because its flexible form and structure made it more suitable for addressing contemporary social and political concerns than the comparatively restrictive conventions of the ghazal. Themes such as social injustice, poverty, hunger, and oppression became the most common subjects of Balochi nazm in the formative phase of the modern Balochi nazm.
Although Syed Hashmi did not entirely discard these themes, he expressed them through a distinctly original Balochi sensibility. His poetry was so deeply rooted in the native idiom and cultural expression that a reader never feels it to be foreign or borrowed. In other words, instead of relying on Persianised or Urduised modes of expression favoured by most of his contemporaries, Syed introduced a style that was authentically and unmistakably Balochi.
Syed Hashmi emerged as a poet in the early 1950s. The first anthology of his poetry, Angar o Trongal (Ember and Hail), was published in 1962. This collection not only articulated Syed’s poetic vision, particularly his understanding of the Balochi ghazal, but also introduced an almost entirely new mode of expression. Over time, it established itself with such force that it laid the foundation for a new school of Balochi ghazal. This school emphasised linguistic purity through the use of chaste Balochi vocabulary and clarity of thought free from excessive intricacy or ambiguity. Syed enriched his poetry with words that had nearly fallen into disuse and were absent from contemporary poetic discourse.
Syed’s complete poetic corpus consists of six collections, three of which were published during his lifetime and three posthumously. Unfortunately, these volumes had long been out of stock, something that can only be described as a misfortune for Balochi literature. Last month, however, on the occasion of Syed’s first birth centenary celebrations, Syed Hashmi Academy Gwadar rendered a valuable service to readers of Balochi literature by publishing all six collections in the form of a collected works edition under the title Sassa ay Kahkashan (The Constellation of Thoughts).
Linguistic Command and Imagery
Syed was an accomplished linguist and lexicographer. Balochi literature has hardly produced a poet with such profound command over vocabulary and linguistic nuance. The range and richness of his poetic diction surpass all of his contemporaries. Indeed, the lexicon employed in his poetry alone merits an extensive philological study. As mentioned above, Syed was a staunch advocate of using pure and authentic Balochi vocabulary in poetry. Although he possessed a deep understanding of Eastern poetics, particularly the traditions of Persian and Urdu ghazal, and echoes of Mir Taqi Mir and Mirza Ghalib can occasionally be heard in some of his verses, both his style and diction remain distinctly and unmistakably Balochi.
Syed enriched his poetry with chaste Balochi vocabulary that had nearly fallen into disuse
Love, longing, passion, and intensity of emotion are indispensable elements of the ghazal tradition, and Syed’s poetry engages these themes with remarkable depth. Yet his mode of expression is entirely distinct from that of his predecessors. His poetic voice, while imbued with lyricism and emotional refinement, is adorned with indigenous metaphors and similes. Similarly, alongside vivid imagery and layered metaphors, paradox, alliteration, and subtle wordplay are among the literary devices that Syed frequently employs in his poetry. These devices are not used merely for ornamentation; rather, they demonstrate his remarkable command over language and expression.
Moreover, one can observe through his ghazals how he transforms emotional states into vivid metaphors, often drawn from nature and celestial imagery. This reflects how deeply he was immersed in the tradition of the classical ghazal. However, his use of these traditional images is not simply borrowed imitation or repetition of earlier poets. Instead, Syed reinterprets and reshapes them through his own sensibility and cultural experience, giving them freshness and individuality. As a result, the imagery in his poetry feels natural, intimate, and indigenous rather than artificial or detached from lived emotion.
نہ زان انت ءُ گوش انت نادان انت کہ ماہ ءَ مھگرءَ گپتگ من ءَ جست کن کہ ھانل مھپرانی رندگ ءَ بوتگ
(The naïve claim, the moon lay veiled in shade. But ask of me, for I beheld that night My beloved stand, her flowing hair arrayed, Each stroke of her comb eclipsing silver light.)
من ریپاں کہ منی اُپارگانی دوت ءُ پاھار انت اگاں گُل گوں تلاھیں شک ءَ ملگوراں وتی رند ایت
(I’m beguiled—they are curls of smoke Rising from my sighs to the air, Each time my beloved dear Runs the golden comb through her hair)
واب ءَ ھانل ءَ گوشتگ سرشپ ءَ سید کایاں پہ کئے ءَ تو رھچارئے؟ دیر انت آستگ بام ءَ
(In the first watch of night, she’d grace my abode Syed, so in a dream spoke Hanul, the beloved dear, Whom do you still wait for so long? The night has yielded; the day is already here.)
Another significant aspect of Syed’s ghazal is the blending of earthly beauty and divine love. Hanul, who occupies a central place in his poetry, is often portrayed through attributes that evoke both the human and the divine. Syed describes the beloved with such depth and refinement that the distinction between earthly love and spiritual devotion becomes blurred. The following couplets from Hanulay Sada (An Ode to Hanul) best illustrate this aspect:
چہ ھانُلءِ ساڑایاں اشارتے بیان کُت پُر بُوتاں پری، ھُور چہ ھاوند ءَ گلگدار دیدگ گوش ئے ھاوند ءِ وتی نُور ءِ دو چمگ پچ ھردو جھاں روک بنت، بند کیلیں شپاں گار دیدوکاں گوش ئے نشتگ ھداوند ءِ وتی جند اسپیدگ ءُ سیاھگ شپ ءُ روچانی کمادار
(I merely hinted at Hanul’s splendor and grace Fairies burned, reduced at once to ash The houris turned to God with plaintive face
Her eyes—two springs of Divine light They open, and both world ascend in radiance They close, and all descends into dark night
It’s as though God resides within those eyes The black and the white—two sentinels They watch the day, and guard the night)
Political Undertones in the Ghazal
Politics undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the growth and development of modern Balochi poetry during the twentieth century. Though many poets sang of revolution and social transformation, they differed markedly in poetic sensibility, emotional intensity, and artistic deployment of similes, metaphors, symbols, and associative imagery. Major poets like Mir Gul Khan Naseer, Azad Jamaldini, Akbar Barakzai, Atta Shad, Basheer Bedar, and Mubarak Qazi were drawn toward the nazm as their preferred medium for political expression, transforming it into a fertile space for socio-political discourse. Syed, however, carved a distinct path. Within the traditional and inherently constrained canvas of the ghazal, he wove themes of politics, social transformation, resistance, and resilience with remarkable subtlety and artistic finesse, ushering the Balochi ghazal into an altogether new realm of thought and sensibility.
سک مریں راجانی ھمک دھل انت سک مریں پہ وتی زانت ءَ چہ بُن ءَ ول اش گوتکگ ات
(Unyielding are the nations, their harvest born to endure. They deemed the sapling rent asunder, yet life budded forth once more.)
اے بدیں ھار، اے بدجاوریں ھیروُپ گوزانت انگرءُ ترونگلاں سد بر چُشیں ٹاپار جتگ
(These raging floods and furious storms shall surely pass; Blazing hail has struck a hundred times, yet couldn’t erase me.)
بے سریں راج ءُ بے سریں سودا جھندم چہ بادگیرءَ کاپر شُت
(Woe to the nation for its reckless bargain— Forget the palace; we lost our thatched shade)
A Culmination of Vision
Syed’s final collection of poetry, Gesed Gowar (Citrine Rain), published in 2005, differs significantly from his earlier anthologies in both theme and expression. Structurally, the work consists of a long poem composed in the form of a ghazal, further divided into several titled sub-sections. In many ways, this collection may be regarded as the culmination of Syed’s poetic vision and his philosophical outlook as a poet and intellectual.
The opening section, titled Bongej (The Beginning), is centred on religious and spiritual themes. It begins with a Balochi translation of Surah al-Fatihah, rendered in a language that is both lucid and nuanced. This section is followed by references to and reflections upon sacred texts and traditions such as the Avesta, Mahabharata, Dhammapada, Torah, Bible, and the Holy Quran. Through this comparative engagement with different religious traditions, Syed presents a universal and humanistic vision of spirituality.
In the section titled Raj o Lachahkar (The Poets and the Nation), Syed pays rich tribute to legendary poets from various literary traditions, including Imru' al-Qais, Hassan ibn Thabit, Rudaki, Rumi, Hafiz, Saadi Shirazi, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Khushal Khan Khattak, and Mirza Ghalib. This section reflects Syed’s vast literary consciousness and his understanding of poetry as a civilisational force that shapes both language and national identity.
The sections Shahaar (The Expanse) and Baloch Raj o Rajdaptar (The Baloch Nation and History) demonstrate Syed’s command over history and geography. In these portions, he explores the historical evolution, cultural identity, and geographical landscape of the Baloch nation, blending poetic imagination with historical awareness.
Another important section, Falsefah (The Philosophy), articulates Syed’s reflections on life, truth, morality, and human behaviour. Here, the poet moves beyond romantic and lyrical concerns to engage directly with philosophical and existential questions. These passages reveal the intellectual depth underlying his poetry.
In the segment titled Wati Sada (An Ode to Self), Syed appears at times to verge on self-glorification, praising his own literary contributions and books. However, within the context of the work, this self-celebration seems less an act of vanity and more a reflection on a lifelong literary journey and creative struggle.
Overall, this collection stands as the essence of Syed’s poetic and intellectual career. It gathers within a single work his religious thought, literary consciousness, philosophical reflections, historical vision, and artistic self-awareness.
There is little doubt that the collected poetry of Syed constitutes one of the most significant literary contributions published in the twenty-first century. The Syed Hashmi Academy deserves considerable recognition for preserving and publishing a corpus of such enduring literary merit.
Note: All translations are by the reviewer