Abolqassem Aref Ghazvini  Abolqassem Aref Qazvini was born in
Qazvin in 1882, the son of Molla Hadi Vakil. From age thirteen
he studied Persian vocal music with Haji Sadeq Kharrazi. After
singing at religious ceremonies led by his father for a few
years, he went to Tehran, where he was invited to perform at the
court of Mozafareddin-Shah. During the Persian Constitutional
Revolution of 1906, he joined the revolutionist party and
composed many political anti-dictatorship songs, becoming the
first Persian songwriter to do so.  In the early years of World
War I, Aref immigrated to Istanbul and continued his activities
there. He wrote both the music and the lyrics for all of his
songs, many of which (e.g., Az Khun-e Javanan-e Vatan, Hengam-e
Mey-o   Fasl-e Gol Shod, and Az Kafam Raha) were arranged for
orchestra by other Persian composers, including Rouhollah
Khaleghi. His songs have been in the standard repertoire of such
great Persian singers as Qamarolmolouk Vaziri and Qolamhossein
Banan.   Impoverished in the