Farhang.org

Amir Houshang Ebtehaj, also known by his pen name "H.E. Sayeh," was a prominent Iranian poet. He was born on February 25, 1928, in Rasht, on the coast of the Caspian Sea.

When he published his first poetry collection, Mr. Ebtehaj was only 19 years old. He became one of the most distinguished Iranian poets of the twentieth century, with his work and life spanning many of Iran's political, cultural, and literary upheavals. His myriad of books display a fusion of traditional and contemporary Persian poetry. Mr. Ebtehaj combined the classical Persian verse of master poets such as Rumi and Hafez with the type of Modernist political sensibilities found in the oeuvre of Nima Yushij. Under his pseudonym H. E. Sayeh, Mr. Ebtehaj composed a number of memorable poems and songs, including "Arghavan" (Violet), "To Ey Pari Kojaei" (Where Art Thou You Angel?), "Sepideh" (Dawn), and "Iran, Ey Saraye Omid" (Iran, O House of Hope).

The late poet's appreciation of ancient Iran transcended his poems – he was a leading Iranian musicologist and a world-renowned Hafiz scholar. Between 1971 and 1977, Mr. Ebtehaj was the director of the "Golha" music program on the National Iranian Radio Network. He also founded the "Golchin Hafte" music program.

One of Houshang Ebtehaj's most essential pieces of work was his commentary on Hafez's Ghazals which was published for the first time in 1993-94 under the title, "Hafez Be Say-eh Sayeh" (Hafez By Sayeh).

Mr. Ebtehaj lived alternately in Cologne, and Tehran. Selected poems of Ebtehaj/H.E. Sayeh have been translated into English by Chad Sweeney & Mojdeh Marashi in the collection "The Art of Stepping Through Time."

The influence of Mr. Ebtehaj on the modern poetry of Iran - and his place among Iran's masters - has been touted for years; his poetry serves as a reminder of his remarkable career.

Mr. Ebtehaj is survived by his four children, Asia, Kaveh, Keyvan, and Yalda.