Hason Raja seems to be a man of contradictions to the extent that he appears to be two different individuals at times. There are many conflicting accounts of his early years as a zamindar. To some of his subjects he had a reputation of a cruel, greedy landlord and a decadent womanizer who was more interested in his hobbies of horse racing and the breeding of birds than the welfare of the people living on his land. To others, he was a generous and beneficent landlord who was compassionate to human beings and animals.
Self-indulgent and impulsive, Hason Raja was a compulsive spender. He was a spendthrift and would love to spend on luxurious items. He had a life-long passion for birds and horses; he raised Doyel and Kora birds for hunting as well. He had over 100 Kora birds, having one servant to take care of each bird. He would give a person two dhutis, a shawl and at least 100 rupees for each kora bird he or she brought to him. He also had a large stable where he kept his horses as well as elephants. He travelled all over East Bengal to join races that he often won. His favorite two horses were Chandmukhi and Jangbahadur. Hason Raja also loved boats and owned a very large houseboat. He spent much time plying up and down the Surma river on that boat, especially during the rainy season.
Although he was hedonistic, he wasn't as selfish and rapacious as some people thought him to be. He was known to have given away large amounts of money and even horses, elephants and property to landless subjects.
He had many women whom he considered his wives and was known to travel with at least four of them during his business trips. None is certain about how many of these women were married to him in accordance with the laws of the time, but he seems to have considered any woman he was romantically involved with as his wife. Copiously he spent on these women by giving them houses, land, servants and large sums of money. Besides, having wives and children all over Sylhet, he also kept close to him a group of young women, sixteen in number, who acted as constant companions and servants. Of them, Dilaram, Arabjan, Mishrijan, Yaman and Sonarjan were the prominent ones.
When Hason Raja passed the age of fifty, he gradually started losing interest in material possessions and became imaginative and a philosopher. The futility and uncertainty of life, the transience of material possessions and the inherent emptiness of physical pleasure made him pessimistic and meditative. He stopped wearing his fancy clothes and was seen wearing a plain dhuti folded in half and worn as a lungi along with another piece of cloth around his neck. Instead of his fancy leather shoes, he wore kharam, a kind of wooden shoe worn mostly by sadhus and fakirs.
The academic Edward Yazijian says: "When I researched the life of Hason Raja by reading available materials and interviewing various people, a profile of an extremely complex person emerged."
As Hason Raja was born into a Muslim family, it was obvious that his songs would be influenced by Islam. But he was also inspired by the devotional philosophy of Vaisnavism. It would not be unreasonable to presume that Radharomon Datta, his dear friend, known in Sylhet as a Vaisnava and songwriter, had some influence on him. Besides, with references to Allah as a beloved friend, Hason Raja's songs talk about Radha Krishna as well as Sri Chaitanaya. Like the songs of other mesmeric mystics, Sufi/Vaisnava synthesis is also found in Hason Raja's songs. A common theme in Hason Raja's songs is what Sufis call fana, or destruction of the individual ego. This state is often identified with complete annihilation of the self. To the devotional-minded, it means becoming one with the object of one's affection.
There is no reckoning about how many songs he has written. He only published one book of songs titled Hasan Udas containing a total of 210 songs. The first edition of Hasan Udas was printed when Hason Raja was still alive in 1914.
Although Hason Raja's first biographer Prabhat Kumar Sharma claimed that Hason Raja was totally illiterate, many others disagreed. Since it was a tradition in Raja's family to begin studies in Arabic and Bangla, it might hold true that Hason Raja most likely learned the basics of both the languages. Whatever it might be, it is widely known that Hason Raja didn't pursue his education for very long. Because of his limited writing skills, Hason Raja composed his songs orally and had one of his employees write them down.
The passion and imagination of Hason Raja's songs center round self-realization. Who am I? This everlasting and perpetual question was the source of his introspection that eventually led him to be a 'lover', 'mad' and a follower of Baulism. Therefore, many of the songs of Hason Raja are reminiscent of the philosophy of controversial Irani Sufi teacher and writer Mansur Hallaj's 'Anal Huq' or 'I am the creative truth', and they also reflect the monotheism of Vaisnavism or 'I am the Bramha'. Hallaj, who was executed in Bagdad as a heretic after seven years of imprisonment for his statement, believed that love of Allah was the highest realization, but he did not accept that it would be possible to dilute the self entirely even being in oneness with Allah. He compared the state with wine and water; the two liquids become one when mixed, but wine remains wine and water is still water. This state of simultaneous oneness and dual existence is there in Vaisnavism as well.
Prabhat Kumar Sharma classifies the songs of Hason Raja into three categories: Prema or divine love, Vairagya or renunciation and Ucchanubhuti or realization of the Supreme. The songs dealing with Prema are the most prominent ones. Hason Raja refers to his beloved without any regard for sectarian prejudices. In some songs, he calls out to Allah or Khoda, sometimes to Kanai (Krishna), or just Bandhe (friend). He addresses his beloved as a male as well as a female. Hason Raja is also clear about his attitude toward other forms of Sadhana besides devotion. In some of his songs he echoes the sentiments of many Vaisnava Bhaktas by saying that he is not interested in either heaven or hell if he cannot be with his beloved. Moreover, his songs reflect impending and inevitable death weighing heavily on his mind. In several of his songs, Hason Raja advocated the need for a Guru, but unlike other mystic bards, including Sufis and Vaisnavs, he did not name any particular person as his Guru.
At the first session of the Indian Philosophical Congress as its president, Rabindranath Tagore spoke about the philosophical thought of Hason Raja. Tagore noted: "It is a village poet of East Bengal who in his songs preaches the philosophical doctrine that the universe has its reality in its relation to the person. This poet sings of the eternal person within him coming out and appearing before his eyes just as the Vedic Rishi speaks of the person, who in him dwells also in the heart of the Sun. The significant fact about these philosophical poems is that they are of rude construction, written in a popular dialect and disclaimed by the academic literature; they are sung to the people."
Eminent folklore expert Shamsuzzaman Khan, in his introduction to the book, Hason Raja Shomogro, says: "Like other mystic poets and saints of Sylhet, Hason Raja also internalized Sufi and Vaisnav thoughts. Baulism is inextricably linked with Sufism and Vaisnavism. That is why the Baul existence in Hason Raja cannot be denied. In his songs, what we see is the mix of Islamic ideas, beliefs and prejudices of Hindu religion and mythology, Sufism, Vaisnavism and Baulism,"
Abul Ahsan Chowdhury, an authority on folklore, in an article says: "In his songs, Hason Raja calls himself a "Baul' or a 'madman'. In all the mystic songs, there is the reverberation of a similar tune. Whatever is the way, the destination is the same. The same is the consciousness. The 'unknown bird' in Lalon is Hason's 'Mayna bird'."
Evaluating the songs of Hason Raja, US folklore researcher Edward Yazijian says: "When I first read his songs, I was struck by their directness and passion. The songs are mostly written in the regional Sylheti dialect, and although they are considered by many to be unpolished from a literary point of view, they burn with an intensity that I have rarely seen elsewhere. Like many other mystics of South Asia, especially in greater Bengal, Hason Raja is not easily pigeonholed into any one religious heritage but belongs to a more syncretic tradition that takes inspiration from many different sources. His songs are influenced by Padavali Kirton, Sufi poetry and even Buddhism, and he draws on various images and sources to express his deep longing for spiritual union."
This writer has translated into English fifty selected Hason Raja songs in his upcoming book. Three of the songs are appended below:

1) Ami amar porichoy koriyechi

I have got my identity
You're everything; I have got rid of my ego.

I am just nothing; sans you nothing I am
Without you there is nothing; I have realized it.

Taking the name "I", you come to this world to enjoy
So much fun and frolic you resort to; I just observe.

You're within, you're also outside; you're in everybody's heart
Who can understand your tricks, Lord?

This is what Hason Raja has to say:
You're everything; you're the mother of all strength;
You and I are alike; we are inseparable.

2) Ami mul nagor re

I am the original paramour
I have come to this transient world to have fun.

I am Radha; I am Krishna; I am Shiva; I am Durga
I become the uncatchable moon; I am Lord Hari.

To fool around, I have come to this material world
Not knowing who can catch me, who I am.

I am the origin; I am the center; I am present everywhere
Sans me there is nothing in the world.

Keep dancing, Hason Raja; who are you scared of?
Get rid of your ego, dissolve into only one.

3) Ore amar pagla maji

O my mad steersman
Pick up your oars and set off.

Round the corner is the nor'easter
Thunder rumbles in the north-west quarter
I am having troubles with the crazy boatman
In opposite direction, he rows to anchor.

Broken is Hason Raja's boat
No money or helmsman to steer him through
Drowned I am in the middle of the river
Who can I speak to about it? Who is there to listen to it?

Haroonuzzaman, a novelist and translator, teaches English at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB).