Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili said that poems written by renowned contemporary Iranian poet Shahriar narrate human challenges and concerns which exist regardless of time and place.
The minister sent the message to the ceremony held in Iran’s northwestern city of Tabriz to mark the National Day of Persian Poetry and Literature.
The day which coincided with the death anniversary of Shahriar was celebrated in Tabriz on September 17.
The celebration was held in a monument known as Maqbarat-o-Sho’ara, where a number of celebrated Iranian poets from the 10th century CE to the present, including Shahriar, have been laid to rest.
Several national and local officials as well as a crowd of people from all walks of life attended the ceremony.
Ali-Asghar Sherdoost, an Iranian poet and the former ambassador to Tajikistan, who proposed the naming of the day, was among the attendants.
Head of Academy of Persian Language and Literature Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel delivered a speech, praising Shahriar’s work and Tabriz City, where Shahriar was born and spent most of his life.
Haddad-Adel named the poets buried in the monument as Asadi Tousi, Qatran Tabrizi, Mujiroddin Bilqani, Khaqani Shervani, Zahir Faryabi, Zulfaqar Shervani, Homam Tabrizi, Maghrebi Tabrizi, Mani Shirazi, Lesani Shirazi, Shakibi Tabrizi and Shahriar.
Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, known by his penname Shahriar, was a notable Iranian poet who wrote in both the Azerbaijani and Persian languages.
His most important work, ‘Heydar Babaya Salam,’ is considered to be a contemporary pinnacle in Azarbaijani literature, which gained great popularity in the world and has been translated into more than 30 languages.
Source: Iran Daily