Abdulghafour Arezou
Abdulghafour Arezou () (born February 17, 1962, in Herat, Afghanistan)  is an Afghan writer, poet, Bīdelšinās, former ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Tajikistan and former university professor. By 2014 he had written more than 40 books about Persian poetry and literature, culture, and politics and was called one of the most prominent writers of modern Afghanistan by the former president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani. For his contribution to culture and language, he was awarded the medal of Ghazi Mir Bacha Khan kohdamani and the Abolghasem Ferdowsi's artistic cultural emblem.

Biography

Life and education 
Abdulghafour Arezou was born on 17 February 1962 in Herat, Afghanistan in an educated family. His father, Akhtar Mohamad, was a government official and his mother, Zainab, was a housewife. He finished primary school at Seyf ibn Yaqub Heravi High school. His brothers, Dr. Abdulrasul and Abdullah Arezou, and his nephew Dr. Parviz Arezu are also poets. He is married to Roudabeh Tamanna, the daughter of Afghan poet Abdul Karim Tamanna, and the couple have three children named Ramin, Ghazal, and Benyamin.

He obtained his Ph.D. in the Persian language and literature from the Tarbiat Modares University in 2007. He completed his second Master's degree in political science in 2016 from Tajik State Pedagogical University.

Political activism and governmental works 
Abdulghafour Arezou formed a close relationship with the anti-Taliban commander Ismail Khan and became his personal advisor. Following the United States invasion of Afghanistan, Arezou became the chief of staff of Ismail Khan's Herat province government and accompanied him to Switzerland to raise funds for rebuilding Afghanistan. He resigned from his post after seven months due to political disagreement and subsequently was appointed chargé d'affaires of the Afghanistan Embassy in Tehran, Iran. After that he was an advisor to the Afghanistan Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2007 and 2010. From 2010 to 2016 he was the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Tajikistan, and under his ambassadorship the new building of the Afghanistan embassy in Tajikistan was inaugurated by then Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai and Tajikistan president Emomali Rahmon. Lastly, from 2016 until the Fall of Kabul he was the Director General of the diplomatic archive of the Afghanistan foreign ministry. Due to the threat of persecution by the Taliban, he and his family escaped to Iran, where he joined the Center of Khorasan Studies of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

Bibliography  
Sources

Politics and history

 چگونگی هویت ملی افغانستان (The analysis of Afghanistan's national identity), Erfan publication, Tehran, , 2003
 سیاست خارجی افغانستان در استانه ی قرن بیست و یک (Afghanistan's foreign policy on the eve of the 21st century), Afghanistan Ministry of foreign affairs, Kabul 2009
 افغانستان و جامعه ی جهانی (Afghanistan and the international community), Shabir Publication, Kabul, 2010
 روشنفکر کیست (who is an intellectual?), Zahab Publication, Kabul, 2011
 چگونگی دکترین سیاست خارجی و سیاست های راهبردی (Foreign policy doctrine and strategic politics), Saeed Publication, Kabul, 2015
 تداوم سیاست خارجی و چالش های مرحله ی گذار (The stability of foreign politics and the difficulties of the transitional period), Afghanistan Embassy in Tajikistan, Dushanbe, 2016
 بحران آب و دیپلوماسی خاموش (Water crisis and the silent diplomacy (hydro geopolitics)), Afghanistan Embassy in Tajikistan, Dushanbe, ISBN 978-600-6026-76-3, 2016 
 نو اندیشی و دیپلوماس مدرن افغانستان (The new line of thinking of modern Afghanistan diplomacy), Parand Publication, Kabul, 2018
 نقش عبدالهادی داوی در دو بزنگاه تاریخی : جنیش مشروطیت و دموکراسی شاهی (The role of Abdul Hadi Dawi in two historical moments: the movement of constitutionalism and the king democracy), Azem Publication, Kabul, , 2019
 روشنفکر و چگونگی روشنفکری (Intellectual and intellectualism), Azem Publication, Kabul, ISBN 978-9936-31-128-2, 2019
 روابط دیپلوماتیک افغانستان و ترکیه (The diplomatic relations of Afghanistan and Turkey), Amiri Publication, Kabul, ISBN 978-9936-804-59-0, 2021
 درون کاوی جامعه شناسیک دوره ابدالیان (A study of Afghanistan's society during the Abdalian period), The center of strategic studies of Afghanistan ministry of foreign affairs, Kabul, ISBN 978-9936-604-45-2, 2021
 دریچه‌ای چند به قلمرو تیموریان هرات (A study of Timourids' reign of Herat), The Grand Cultural Center of Ustad Abul Wahed Bahreh, Herat, ISBN 978-9936-1-0543-0, 2022

Mysticism

 شعر و شهود عارفانه (Mysticism poetry), Maiwand Publications, Kabul, 2010 
 گوهر گمشده ی همگرایی (The lost gem of Convergence), Mosleh Publication, Germany, 2017

Bedil studies

 گزیده رباعیات بیدل دهلوی (A selection of Bidel poetry), Taraneh Publishers, Mashhad, 1997
 بوطیقای بیدل (Poetics of Bedil), Taraneh Publishers, Mashhad, 1999
 خوشه هایی از جهان بینی بیدال (a token of Bedil's world vision), Taraneh Publishers, Mashhad, 2002
 در خانه ی افتاب ... (In the house of the sun …), Soore Mehr Publication, Tehran, ISBN 978-964-506-511-7, 2008
 مقایسه انسان کامل از دیدگاه بیدل و حافظ (A comparison of perfect human from Bidel's and Hafiz's viewpoint), Soore Mehr Publication, Tehran, ISBN 978-964-506-510-0, 2009
 تر صدایی بیدل (The wave of Bedil's poem), Maiwand Publications, Kabul, 2010
 یک بیت، یک کتاب (one verse, one book), Ahrari Publication, Herat, ISBN 978-9936-1-0544-7, 2022

Literature and literary criticism

 نقد خلیلی (A Criticism of Khalily's poem), Taraneh Publishers, Mashhad, ISBN 964-90896-1-6, 1997
 سیاه سپید اندرون:سیری در آثار مئلانا حاج محمد اسماعیل سیاه (A study of Molawna haj Mohammad Esmaiel Siyah), Taraneh Publishers, Mashhad, ISBN 964-90896-9-1, 2002
 درنگی در ادبیات فرنگ (a glance into the literature of the West), Maiwand Publications, Kabul, 2009
 هیچ گنجی نیست از فرهنگ به (No treasure is greater than culture), The Afghanistan Publication, Kabul, 2008
 شادزی... (در قلمرو رودکی) (Live Happy: a study of Rudaki), Maiwand Publications, Kabul, ISBN 978-99947-913-6-1, 2010
 عاشقان را خدای صبر دهاد (دریچه ای به قلمرو فرخی) (God gives all lovers patience: a study of Farokhi), The Afghanistan Publication, Kabul, 2010
 عشق ست خلاصه ی وجودم (در قلمرو لیلی و مجنون) (Love is the essence of my existence: a Study of Layla and Majnun), The Afghanistan Publication, Kabul, 2010
 اگر فرهاد شد شیرین بماناد (دریچه ای بر قلمرو خسرو و شیرین نظامی) (A study of Khosro and Shirin),  Maiwand Publications, Kabul, 2010
 ز گیتی بر آهیخت شعر بنفش (در قلمرو ورقه و گلشاه عیّوقی) (A study of Vorghe and Golshah), The Afghanistan Publication, Kabul, 2010
 بازگشت ادبی (A literary return), Maiwand Publications, Kabul, 2012
 صد صفر و یک الف (zero 100 and 1 a), Mosleh Publication, Germany, 2017
 چگونگی حماسه سرایی در ادبیات معاصر افغانستان (The how of Epic writing in modern Afghanistan literature), Azem Publication, Kabul, ISBN 978-9936-31-096-4, 2019

Quran studies

 نیم نگاهی به تفسیر مفاتیح الغیب (A glance into Mafāṭīḥ al-ghayb), Maiwand Publications, Kabul, 2010

Anthologies of others' poetry

 دیوان محمد امین عندلیب (The Diwan of Mohammad Amin Andalib Tarzi), Maiwand Publications, Kabul, 2010
 بدرود (اشعار عبدالرسول آرزو) (Goodbye, a collection of late Dr.Abdulrasul Arezou's poetry), Parand Pubblications, Kabul, 2019

Poems

 چهار شاعر چهار برادر (4 poets, 4 brothers), Gole aftab publication, Mashhad, ISBN 961-5599-04-0, 1999
 جاری تر از همیشه (Flowing more than ever), Erfan publication, Tehran, ISBN 978-9604-4312-5, 2010
 چشم در چشم آینه (Eye to eye to mirror), Shabir Publication, Kabul, 2010
 سرود مسلسل (The Song of machine guns), Zahab Publication, Kabul, 2011
 حماسه ی ساتی برزن (The legend of Sati Barzan), Ahrari Publication, Herat, 2011
 لبخند خدا (The Smile of god), Mega print, Dushanbe, 2014
 باغچه بی حرس (The unpruned garden), Parand Pubblications, Kabul, 2020

References 

1962 births
Living people
20th-century Afghan poets
21st-century Afghan poets
20th-century Afghan writers
21st-century Afghan writers
Academic staff of Ferdowsi University of Mashad
Ambassadors of Afghanistan
Ambassadors to Tajikistan
People from Herat
Persian-language poets
Tarbiat Modares University alumni