Mulla Fazil Rind: the Makran poet whose clouds travelled from Kandahar to Malabar

In 19th-century Makran, in the village of Mand in the Kech valley, lived a poet whom many historians of Balochi literature regard as the greatest poet of their language. Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi, who wrote a history of Balochi language and literature in Urdu, calls Mulla Fazil “Shalchakar”, that is, the king of poets. He describes his verse as unmatched in the whole history of the Balochi language. The mulla knew Arabic and Persian, but wrote his poetry only in Balochi.

Life and times

According to Hameedullah Baloch’s “Balochi Labzank-e-Tarikh”, Mulla Fazil was born in the 19th century in Mand in Kech. His father’s name was Chaush and the family belonged to the Rind tribe of the Baloch. The same book says he studied religious subjects as well as Arabic and Persian and was a master of both languages, but wrote poetry only in Balochi.

Very little is known about the events of his life. Most of what has been written concerns his grave. Hashmi writes that he was the first person of that era to visit Mulla Fazil’s grave in Mand, in 1954. The stones of the grave were scattered. Hashmi cleaned the gravestone with his own hands, set it up again and preserved photographs of the grave.

According to Hashmi, the gravestone says Mulla Fazil died in 1270 Hijri, which corresponds to 1853-54. Hashmi also writes that the inscription, made by his brother Mulla Qasim, gives the cause of death as “judari”, the Arabic word for smallpox. From this he concludes that Mulla Fazil was no more than 40 or 45 years old. Hashmi rejected the account that he died of migraine. Hameedullah Baloch gives the year of death as roughly 1862. Both dates are given here.

Mulla Fazil’s brother, Mulla Qasim, was also a poet. Hashmi tells a story: the two brothers were sitting at a gathering when a beautiful face appeared at a nearby window. Mulla Qasim wanted to draw his brother’s attention to it but could not say so openly in company. He therefore spoke one line of verse. Mulla Fazil answered by adding a line, and the exchange became a complete couplet that no one else at the gathering understood. Hashmi relates this with the words “it is said”.

Style

For Hashmi, Mulla Fazil’s greatest strength is his language. He writes that, compared with his contemporaries, Mulla Fazil used the fewest Persian and Arabic words. He composed poems in pure Balochi whose like is hard to find in the history of Balochi poetry. He also used rare Balochi words whose meanings many readers today do not know. Hashmi himself admits that these verses cannot be translated in full and that they need explanation even in Balochi.

Hameedullah Baloch likens Mulla Fazil’s verses to precious pearls. He was above all a poet of love, and Hameedullah Baloch shows in one place that even in separation he did not give up hope.

One of Mulla Fazil’s best-known poems is the one Hashmi translated into Urdu prose. In our words, the summary is as follows. The poet sets out to hunt in a fragrant valley. His love of hunting wild asses and mountain goats takes him into high mountains and green ravines. Then clouds rise. They start from Kandahar, and the winds of Delhi and Kabul carry them in turn on their shoulders. Like an army, they advance towards Malabar. Moving along the sea, they come to Sibi and Dhadar and reach the gardens of Thatta. They pour down freely on every valley and plateau. After the rain there is greenery everywhere, the hearts of the shepherds leap with joy, and flashing lightning reminds the poet of a dear friend from whom he is parted. Thus a poem about a hunt becomes a map of the weather of an entire region.

Selected verse

The verses below are given with their printed Balochi text from Hameedullah Baloch’s book. The Urdu translation is the newspaper’s own and provisional. It will be checked by a Balochi speaker before publication.

Hameedullah Baloch writes that Mulla Fazil likens the gait of his beloved to clouds:

هر وهدے داب کنت نودی شلگندیم گونگیں گرکی تلاستون وپیا پیس ترونگل

بیا هت منی شاہی شیر تپاکیں براهندگاںمن گمانی رنجتگیں اولاک نه باں

قول انت که نوکیں ڈگارے رنگ کناںگوں وتا مهرنگ ءِ گماں هم تنگ کناں

Explanation of the verses

“Har wahdey daab kant nodi shal…” Whenever she walks with grace, it is as if clouds gather. I see the thundering rain clouds, pillar-like streaks and falling drops. (The translation of this passage is especially uncertain.)

According to Hameedullah Baloch, even when the beloved broke his heart and separation came, Mulla Fazil did not give up hope. He said:

“Bia hat mani shahi sher tapakin brahandagan…” Come, my royal, lion-hearted companions. I am not one who gives in, plagued by suspicion.

“Qaul ant ke nokin dagare rang kanan…” It is a promise that I will colour a new land, and that I will also make my beloved’s suspicion cramped alongside me.

Influence and legacy

According to Hameedullah Baloch, a collection of Mulla Fazil’s verse, titled “Shap Chiragh”, was compiled by Bashir Ahmed Baloch and published by the Balochi Academy, Quetta. Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi also wrote a separate book on him. Hashmi brought Mulla Fazil’s grave out of obscurity and placed his verse at the centre of the history of Balochi literature. For the Urdu reader, it may be easiest to understand that historians of Balochi literature place Mulla Fazil where we place the first rank of classical poets: a poet who used his language in its full range.

To readers: A special request to readers in Makran. If you remember any verse of Mulla Fazil, please write to us with the Balochi text and its meaning. Selected verses will be published with your name on next Friday’s page.

Next Friday: Mast Tawakkali, the Sufi poet of the Kohlu mountains, whose love made him a dervish.