Category: Houshang Ebtehaj

Amir Hooshang Ebtehaj (born February 25, 1928, in Rasht) also known as H. A. Sayeh is an Iranian poet and researcher. He published his first work, “The First Songs,” in 1946. His other works include the composition of Sepideh (Iran, O House of Hope). He also has a history of working in radio on the Golha program and founding the Golchin Hafteh music program.

In 1967, Sayeh performed poetry reading at Hafez’s Tomb during the Shiraz Arts Festival. Bastani Parizi, in his famous travelogue (From Pariz to Paris), describes the استقبال (reception) of the participants and their excitement after hearing Sayeh’s poems, writing that he had never believed that people could get so excited from hearing a new poem.

From 1971 to 1977, Ebtehaj was the head of the Golha program on Iranian radio (after Davood Pirnia’s resignation) and the founder of the Golchin Hafteh music program. A number of his ghazals, tasnifs, and Nimaei poems have been performed by Iranian musicians such as Mohammadreza Shajarian, Alireza Eftekhari, Shahram Nazeri, Hossein Ghavami, and Mohammad Esfahani. The memorable tasnif To Ei Pari Kojai (Where Are You, O Fairy?) and the tasnif Sepideh (Iran, O House of Hope) are among Sayeh’s poems.

After the Jaleh Square incident (September 8, 1978), Sayeh, along with Mohammadreza Lotfi, Mohammadreza Shajarian, and Hossein Alizadeh, resigned from the radio in protest.