Nezami a pivot of cultural promotion: Minister

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili described Persian poet Nezami Ganjavi as a pivot unifying those who seek to promote culture.

Addressing a commemorating ceremony of the 12 century poet, Esmaeili said Nezami is one of the great dignitaries of Iran, adding, "We regard Nezami Ganjavi a poet who promotes unity among all Persian-speaking peoples, and he is a sign of convergence, not divergence”.

The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance plans to commemorate Nezami in a weeklong program, which began on Friday, on the eve of Nezami Day, March 12, with a commemorating ceremony held at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall attended by experts in the field of culture, art, and literature.

Addressing the ceremony, the acting deputy minister for artistic affairs, Mahmoud Shalouei, also delivered speech on the great poet.

Referring to the unveiling ceremony of the most exquisite manuscripts of Nezami’s ‘Khamseh’, Shalouei said the commemoration ceremony had a good start across the country.

Last Sunday, two oldest and most exquisite manuscripts of the poet’s works were unveiled in the library of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH) in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province.

The official added that some cities have hosted programs and conferences on the renowned poet’s works.

The Iranian National Commission for UNESCO has also launched the international prize to celebrate studies from across the world on the Persian poet. Iran held the first round attended by cultural figures.

During a ceremony held at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Thursday, 10 winners of the first International Nezami Ganjavi Awards were presented the UNESCO High Medal.

Nezami Ganjavi is considered the greatest romantic epic Persian poet, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. His heritage is also widely appreciated and shared by Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan.

He is mostly known for ‘Khamseh’, ‘Panj Ganj’ or ‘Five Treasures’, two copies of which are kept in Iran and were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register List in 2011.

‘Khamseh’ is a pentalogy of poems written in Masnavi verse form (rhymed couplets) and totals 30,000 couplets. These five poems include the didactic work Makhzan-ol-Asrar (The Treasury of Mysteries); the three traditional love stories of ‘Khosro and Shirin’, ‘Leili and Majnun’, and ‘Haft Peykar’; and the ‘Eskandar-Nameh’, which records the adventures of Alexander the Great.