Biography
Abolqassem Aref Qazvini was a celebrated lyricist and musician born in 1882 in Qazvīn. Often called Iran’s “national poet,” Qazvini is famous for composing political songs and verses of defiance in support of the Iranian Constitutional movement of 1906. The founder of Iran’s tradition of protest poetry, he wrote in traditional styles—ghazals, ballads, and matnawi forms, which feature rhyming couplets. In poems such as “ناله مرغ اسیر ” (the imprisoned bird's moaning), he bid people to fight for freedom from dictatorship and foreign influence. Qazvini was exiled to Hamadan by the monarchy, where he lived in poverty and seclusion. The poet continued to compose pro-revolutionary songs until his death in 1934. His complete works were later published in Berlin and Tehran, and his influence is still felt: in 2010, many unpublished poems were released in Memories of Aref Qazvini, and the musician-poet’s work remains a beloved soundtrack of resistance.