Selected and translated from Balochi by Fazal Baloch
THE ECLIPSE
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.
THE HEALING CARESS
With the very hands that rend my wounds,
She tends and heals them ever so gently.
My heart’s blood she cradles within her palms,
And eases two burdens at once from me.
EMANCIPATION
And grief ground me to kohl beneath its weight,
Till a fleeting glance from deer-eyed beauty came.
Were it not her partridge-walk, her measured gait,
Moonlit nights would rain on me fire and flame.
DREAM-ILLUSION
In the first watch of night, she’d grace my abode
Sayad, 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.
SCARLET REMEMBRANCE
I know not by whose grace I yet draw breath.
Twice has my cup almost brimmed over, I recall.
Can memory ever betray you? From my blood-red tears
Once you dyed your bridal shawl.
CURLS OF ILLUSION
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.
Sayad Zahoor Shah Hashumi (1926-78) is known as the pioneer of modern Balochi literature. He was simultaneously a poet, fiction writer, critic, linguist and a lexicographer par excellence. Though he left undeniable marks on various genres of Balochi literature, poetry remained his mainstay. With his enormous imagination and profound insight he laid the foundation of a new school of Balochi poetry especially Balochi ghazal which mainly emphasises on the purity of language and simplicity of poetic thoughts. This school of poetry subsequently attracted a wide range of poets to its fold. He also authored the first ever Balochi novel ‘Nazuk’ and compiled the first comprehensive Balochi-to-Balochi dictionary containing over twenty thousand words and hundreds of pictorial illustrations.
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.
.
PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL
Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles
Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International
Borderless 