Introduced and Translated by Fazal Baloch
Translator’s Note
Deehi is a popular form of Balochi folk poetry, widely used in Eastern Balochistan, particularly in the region using the Sulaimani Balochi dialect. It has a distinctive and concise structure, traditionally consisting of three lines that follow a specific poetic pattern, most commonly the ABA rhyme scheme. Later, however, Deehi also began to be composed in two-line couplets, a form known as Modern Deehi. Traditional Deehi, in some instances, bears a resemblance to Japanese Haiku, particularly in its brevity, condensed expression, and use of natural imagery. Based on his extensive research on Deehi, Dr. Wahid Bakhsh Buzdar suggests that the couplet form of modern Deehi may have developed under the influence of the Punjabi forms of Māhiyā and Saraiki Bagro, both of which traditionally follow a couplet structure. Although Deehi has no restrictions on subject matter, its recurring themes include nature, homeland, love, longing, separation, pain, and grief. One of its distinguishing features is that, in many Deehi poems, the speaker is a woman who expresses her feelings in her own voice.
(1)
Helplessly alone, I sigh and cry.
Without you, O beloved, I’m the child
Whose mother died ere forty days went by.
(2)
O Azrael! May you wander in despair,
Happiness eludes your days forevermore.
You’ve torn from me my beloved dear.
(3)
From both eyes, I'll trace the trails of tears,
Forget the sorrows weighing upon me,
And bring my rivals joy and cheers.
(4)
O nightingale of the wilderness,
Who will listen to your song?
‘Tis a city crippled by deafness.
(5)
As my husband appeared there,
Ere his gold-hilted sword had gleamed—
And here you fell, consumed by fear.
(6)
O beloved, my heart is love-struck and sore.
He who’s never known love’s aching lore,
Is not a man, but a mindless ass, for sure.
(7)
If you turn away from me,
I’ll leave this false world behind,
No trace of me you’ll ever see.
(8)
My beloved speaks no word to me,
No hope of love between us anymore
Nor comes death to set me free
(9)
I'm leaving; you'll regret it one day,
Give me your ruby lips, a cure for my pain,
And let me kiss them before I go away.
(10)
Nay, ‘twas a day ere yesterday—
I saw my beloved—it’s been three days,
And now, it feels a year away.
(11)
Flocks of cranes soar high,
One drifts down,
Bearing my love’s words from the sky.
(12)
O lamp of the cities, burning bright,
You have witnessed our dreams
In all four quarters of the night.
These selected Deehis are taken from “Deehi ay Droshom” (The Facets of Deehi), compiled and edited by Wahid Buzdar, published by Balochi Academy, Quetta, in 2001.
Fazal Baloch is a Balochi writer and translator. He has translated many Balochi poems and short stories into English. His translations have been featured in Pakistani Literature published by Pakistan Academy of Letters and in the form of books and anthologies.
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