The decision was approved at a meeting held on Thursday in Paris.
He added, “I am proud that the dossier which was prepared a long time ago on the occasion of the 1,050th birth anniversary of Sheikh Hassan Kharaqani, and the 800th anniversary of the meeting between Shams and Rumi to be included in the UNESCO list of honors for 2022 and 2023 finally bore fruit.”
It was a smart move to include a historical event (the meeting of Shams and Rumi) instead of birth and death, Ayoubi noted.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh emphasized that all Iranians are expected to play a role in properly commemorating luminaries of our great country.
According to the spokesman, honoring the luminaries of this country requires a proper effort by the great nation of Iran, especially cultural authorities.
Sheikh Abolhassan Kharaqani is one of the great mystics and Sufis of Iran. Khawhjeh Abdullah Ansari was a disciple and pupil of this great man, while Kharaqani considered Bayazid Bastami to be his master.
Persian poet, jurist, theologian and Sufi mystic, Jalaleddin Mohammad Balkhi, better known as Maulavi, Maulana, or Rumi is one of the most famous Iranian poets.
Rumi was born to native Persian-speaking parents on the shores of the then Persian Empire on September 30, 1207 CE, in the city of Balkh, which is now part of Afghanistan, and finally settled in the town of Konya, in what is now Turkey.
Rumi’s influence extends beyond national borders and ethnic divisions. Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian and Southeast Asian Muslims have been heavily influenced by the Persian poet’s spiritual heritage over the past centuries.
Rumi made one or two journeys to Syria, during one of which he met his mentor Shams.
However, he was more deeply influenced by Shams during their second meeting in Konya, Turkey, in 1244 CE.
Source: Iran Daily