Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili said that it is necessary to have dynamism in Persian language and purify it from foreign words.
The minister added that the ministry, in cooperation with the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, has begun its efforts to preserve the Persian language, farhang.gov.ir reported.
Esmaeili made the remarks during a ceremony held at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on the occasion of National Ferdowsi Day and Persian Language Commemoration Day, May 15.
“The glorious cypress of Islamic-Iranian culture and civilization is adorned with lush branches, all of which have grown from a single root, the Persian language. Ferdowsi is one of the main branches of this massive tree whose efforts are not hidden to anyone and he can be considered as the treasurer of the Persian language,” he explained.
Ferdowsi’s magnum opus ‘Shahnameh’ is not only the heritage of Iranian culture, but it is also an unmatched masterpiece in the world of literature.
Undoubtedly, the Persian language plays an important role in the cultural unity of Iran, he said. It embodies nearly 1,200 years of cultural reservoirs which can be used to develop human culture, the minister added.
Head of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and a number of Iranian and foreign literary figures attended the ceremony.
Ferdowsi spent thirty years writing the ‘Shahnameh’. It is twice as long as Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ combined. The book about the Persian kings, written entirely in Persian, played a key role in the revival of this language and made a significant contribution to the development of Persian literature.
Source: Iran Daily