Statements at the Meeting with Poets on the Night of the Birth of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (peace be upon him)

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

For me, this session was a very desirable and sweet gathering, like all the sessions of mid-Ramadan over the years; a session of intimacy, a session of literature, a session of purity, witnessing advancements. When I compare the poetry of today's youth with the poetry of ten or fifteen years ago, a feeling of joy and gratitude arises from observing this progress. Thanks be to God, our youth have improved greatly, they have advanced significantly, the number of poets has increased, the quality of poetry is good, and the poetic movement in the country is, thanks be to God, progressing. Of course, our aspirations exceed this; we have shortcomings in poetic matters, and there are many things I wish to say to such a wise and discerning gathering of artistic individuals; there is much to express, but there is neither time nor opportunity; I do not know if you have been listening for two hours or more; [that] we also become a burden on the assembly is not very advisable, but there is much to say: The words I have left unsaid are in my heart Like an unwritten ghazal.

I find it necessary to honor the memory of our dear friend and esteemed poet, the late Mr. Hamid Sabzevari, who was a constant companion of our gathering over the years; we have always benefited from his presence in almost all sessions. When we remember the late Hamid Sabzevari, it is not merely a remembrance of a friendship or a poet, [but rather] it conveys teachings to us, concepts are transferred to our minds from the recollection of Hamid and the essence of his poetic life. As long as these dear ones are alive, this essence cannot be fully grasped - now, if anyone wishes for it to be summarized sooner, the way is this - and while they are here, people do not take the opportunity to summarize properly; when they leave, one reflects and looks back. Regarding the late Hamid, firstly, his poetic talent was very good; he was truly a poet; he was a poet by nature, not pretentious. Secondly, he had mastery over various forms of poetry, he had command over a wide range of vocabulary, meaning he had a vast lexicon at his disposal, he had diversity in his poetry, he was contemporary, and importantly, he was contemporary; that is, from the time I got to know Mr. Hamid. I became acquainted with him from the early days of the revolution - from the very first months of the revolution - and we established literary and poetic exchanges with him amidst the strange and peculiar challenges of those days; he was a window through which a breath of freedom reached us, and I valued it. From that time until the end of his life, this man was always contemporary; that is, his poetry was poetry of the day.

In my opinion, the unique feature of the late Hamid Sabzevari is his anthems; both in terms of quantity and quality and content. Today, we have this void; we still need anthems; anthems are a necessity. Of course, at the end of my speech, I wanted to mention something I have noted regarding anthems; it is good that now that we have mentioned anthems, I will say what I have noted here. In my view, anthems are a very impactful form of poetry, they have a greater effect than many types of poetry, perhaps we could say more than all types of poetry; that is, their spread and speed of impact are greater. Imagine if we have a suitable anthem that fits the current situation, which the youth can sing in camps, for example, a group of young people going hiking singing together; in gatherings, they sing; imagine a group of young people singing that anthem during the February 22nd rally. These are very important things, they are repetitions of knowledge and the expansion of knowledge that we need to spread. Anthems do this work and have a quick impact. They create culture; one of the characteristics of an anthem is that it creates culture in society and does not recognize levels; that is, it quickly reaches everyone from the highest levels of knowledge and science to the general public, which we saw in the anthems of the late Hamid.

May God have mercy on the martyr Majid Haddad Adel - brother of our own Dr. Haddad Adel - who told me this in the early 60s; he said when in 59, Sanandaj was liberated from the anti-revolutionaries - the anti-revolutionaries were in control; our forces were only confined and limited in the barracks - the people were happy and came out into the streets; before Sanandaj was liberated, the streets were confined, there was a threat, the sound of gunfire was constantly coming from there, and after the anti-revolutionaries were expelled, Sanandaj became an ordinary city. Well, Sanandaj is a beautiful and desirable city; those who have seen it know; it is a lovely and beautiful city. He said that I saw one of these juice stands set up a juice-making stall on the street; these young people came and stood waiting for their turn to get juice from him. As he was putting carrots into the juicer and pressing the lever, he was singing: "This is the cry of freedom that rises from the East"; this was newly said by Hamid; perhaps it was, say, a month or two or maybe even less since this poem was composed; now in Sanandaj, someone is making juice, and no one has told him to sing, according to Mr. Feyz, he was not a supporter of the system (laughter); no one told him to sing this poem; no, he was just naturally [singing]. You see, this is what an anthem is; that is, an anthem penetrates like fresh air, like spring air; there is no need for those who promote it to be forced, to write prefaces, to compose poetry; no, the anthem itself, when well arranged, [has an effect]. We have less of this today; today it seems that we need this, and the late Hamid Sabzevari (may God be pleased with him) was the best in this regard. Now, I do not exactly remember, but I think the statistics given to me indicated that he composed about four hundred or more anthems; these are very valuable. These should not be overlooked.

Now that I mentioned the poem that Mr. Sayyar and Mr. Irfanpour jointly composed - and I said I heard it - [this was that] it seems to me that this poem was the one that foreign anti-revolutionary networks became sensitive to and attacked, meaning they immediately understood the importance of this work - it seems to me they reported to me that Fox News and similar outlets started attacking it - and the good melody that was put to it and the good content of the poem had angered them, meaning it had upset them; [but] we ourselves are unaware of it; that is, we do not promote it; we do not promote good anthems. In my opinion, reciting anthems is very good, putting good melodies to them is very good, and now I have recommendations, of course, regarding wording and composition and such things that I will mention later. May God have mercy on our dear Hamid; God willing, we hope he is among those who receive divine mercy, and what has been mentioned here, which is part of his services, may be a treasure for his afterlife.

My dear ones! A poet is a national treasure; among the most precious and cherished assets of any country is a poet; of course, all artists are treasures, but a poet has certain characteristics, and poetry has a quality among various forms of art, and these characteristics elevate the value of the poet in society; it is a treasure and a reserve. Well, this treasure must be utilized by the country at critical moments; this is a very clear and natural conclusion: wherever the country - whether in cultural matters, political matters, social matters, public relations and social bonds, or in confronting foreign enemies - needs assistance, well, this reserve is like the reserve of the national development fund that we save here from oil money for it to be useful to the country at some point and to be utilized there [it must be useful]. Therefore, if we have poetry that has no stance on the current issues of the country, this poetry is of no use to the country's needs; it must have a stance.

Of course, you know I have repeatedly said in this very session that I do not advocate that all the poetry you recite must be poetry with a stance or political or committed or such; no, reciting ghazals and love poetry is perfectly fine, after all, these are part of the poet's nature, and the poet recites poetry, there is no objection; however, even in that - that is, even in that ghazal and love poetry - there must be the essence of guidance, not the essence of corruption and deviation; this, of course, is reserved for itself, [but] my point is that the expectation is not that now when you recite poetry, all of a ghazal from beginning to end must be related to political issues; no, you may use three or four couplets of a ghazal in emotional and love concepts, and suddenly bring in two couplets like a dart in the middle; this is something that our good poets have always done; they have recited a ghazal, but suddenly you see that two couplets refer to a sensitive issue, reviving and addressing that issue. Ultimately, the poet's poetry must be alive.

One issue is the poetry that has been recited regarding current events in the country, which fortunately we have poets in our time who recite this living and committed poetry; thanks be to God, they exist; that is, today we are ahead and better in this regard compared to ten or fifteen years ago; however, these are not promoted. For example, several poems have been recited for the martyrs of the divers or for the defenders of the shrine, or the very poem that tonight Mr. (6) recited regarding the defenders of the shrine; well, these are very good poems, they are prominent; why are they not promoted? My question is; what is the way to promote these? Or, for example, poems have been recited for Sheikh Zakzaky (7); well, Sheikh Zakzaky is a victim and brave individual who has been attacked and avenged. Well, if we suppose we translate this poem and send it to a place where his fame reaches, you see how much impact it has; how much spirit it gives! We do not do this; we have honestly been negligent in these areas; or in the context of Palestine, or Yemen, Bahrain, and similar issues; or regarding the treachery of America. Well, in the issue of the JCPOA, the Americans did not commit little treachery that must be addressed; and this is not only the job of politicians to say; better than the work of politicians is for artists to express these. Among the arts, the one that is most accessible, easier, more flourishing, and quicker is poetry. These must be said, these must be expressed, these must be transferred into public thought. Or in the context of the sacred defense, it is the same. Of course, I sincerely and wholeheartedly thank the brothers who are present in our session tonight, many of whom have recited poetry in these areas; they did a good job, but this work must continue, it must develop, and it must be promoted; it must be promoted. I see that in some places, it seems the opposite of this is the case.

From a certain uncommitted artist who has shown no inclination towards the concepts of the Islamic Revolution and Islam over these 38 years, praise is given [but] from an artist who has dedicated his entire life to this path, no praise is given, no respect is shown, no attention is paid to him; this is a very wrong approach; our officials must pay attention to these matters. Therefore, one of our points is that we should make our poetry alive, vibrant, and committed and reflect it, that is, promote it; individuals should promote it, the media should promote it, governmental and non-governmental organizations should promote it.

Well, fortunately, this collection that is engaged in work is doing good work, honestly. [But] their scope of work and their resources are limited, and these resources must be expanded so that they can truly work. Both in the area I mentioned and in the area of training poets and nurturing young poets, fortunately, they are doing work in this regard.

One issue is the poetry that has a lot of application among the people; including elegies and mourning poetry; elegies have a great impact, they can have a significant effect; [of course] if there is a theme in these elegies. For example, in the country during the days of Ashura or some other mourning days, you see millions of people, and today mostly young people, standing listening to a reciter who is reciting elegies, and that poetry and that melody create excitement in them; they beat their chests, they cry, their beliefs, feelings, and emotions towards religious concepts increase, this is a very important opportunity; we must take advantage of this opportunity. When I say we, I mean the country must take advantage, Islam must take advantage, the Islamic Republic must take advantage; I have, of course, reminded the groups of mourners and similar individuals, and I remind you who are poets. For example, during the revolution - in those days of Muharram - I remember a tape was brought to me from chest-beating in Jahrom - we were in Mashhad - it was so effective; firstly, it was beautiful in terms of the poetry itself and the wording and meaning of the poetry; secondly, in terms of melody; thirdly, it was exciting, motivating, guiding; it had great value. After that, they brought a tape from Yazd [and] I remember from these two cities; I did not see it from anywhere else; well, they had conveyed the political concepts of that day in the context of elegies. We had similar experiences during the sacred defense; those elegies that Mr. Ahangar recited - and that respected poet who may God have mercy on him, Mr. Moallemi, who composed poetry for him in Ahvaz - they were also the same; these were poems and elegies that were educational. We must seriously pursue this work; of course, elegy poetry has its own characteristics; that is, in terms of wording, in terms of composition, in terms of poetic structure, it must have certain characteristics to be accepted, so that the reciter can recite it. But I kindly ask those who are engaged in reciting elegies, those who are engaged in mourning poetry, to pay attention; they should want and accept, take and utilize, and you dear poets should pursue this as much as possible.

One of the gentlemen (8) recited a poem whose theme was that if you draw your sword, there are many chests that will come and stand in front of you and shield themselves against your enemies [there are many]; I said I have drawn my sword, I am busy, we are striking from the left and right; it is not like that; however, the type of sword today and the type of battlefield today differ from the type of battlefield of those early years; we are in a soft war; we are in a political war, we are in a cultural war, we are in a security and infiltration war; thoughts and wills are fighting against each other. Today we need effective and impactful tools; a major part of these tools, in my opinion, is poetry, which must be given attention by you.

I believe that there is much work yet to be done in the field of poetry; as we said. One of them is the issue of translation; now tonight he (9) told me that we have translated poems into Urdu. This is a very good work; this work is necessary. Persian poetry should be translated in various fields. Now, for example, poetry about Palestine, poetry about the sacred defense, poetry about women, poetry related to regional issues; poetry about Yemen, these should be compiled, translated, translated into Arabic, translated into Urdu and English, and translated into some other languages, good translations, and published, reflected, and [sent abroad]. Now, for example, suppose "Palestine in Persian Poetry" is an example; it is another topic. Or what happened during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, or what the story was. Well, they do not know. That Iraqi doctor told our friend that during my first and second visits to Iran - after Saddam's departure - I thought that every Iranian I met had killed my two brothers who were killed in the war, I looked at them with that eye. And I had a lump in my throat - now the continuation of her speech is not what I am concerned about, that first part [is what I am concerned about]. That is, a young Iraqi, an Iraqi woman, an Iraqi mother who does not know what the story was, does not know what happened. Well, we were sitting in our homes, the planes came and bombed us, what could we do? Should we remain handcuffed? They came and crossed our border, took thousands of kilometers of our border, what could we do? We had to just sit and wait for them to come forward or we went to defend? Well, we did that. This is a reality, this reality should be made clear to the young Iraqi, the Iraqi mother, the Iraqi orphan, the Iraqi sister; why should it not be made clear to others? These are things that can happen and be conveyed in the language of poetry.

Another point is that our dear poets have indeed made significant progress. I mean, today when I look, both among the youth and among the middle class, poetry has indeed advanced; that is, the poetry of the country has advanced, and overall one feels that our poetry has taken a step forward compared to what it is; however, this does not mean that we have reached a destination where there is no need to move forward. I have repeated this many times, and I will repeat it again: I kindly ask you not to cease in refining your poetry and elevating the poetry that you will recite later. That is, your poetry today is good poetry, we also enjoy it when you recite it, we say "Bravo"; however, this does not mean that it is at the peak. No, well, it is good poetry, [but] we want your poetry to reach the peak; we are pursuing this. One of the so-called tools is words; beautiful words, noble words, established words. Sometimes one sees that the poems are good poems, [but] they contain immature or inappropriate words; these are not good. When poetry has good words in it, one [is satisfied].

And poetry must be elevated; the determination of the elevation of poetry is with the experts in poetry. I have heard that now some people publish poetry in this virtual space that has become very common; [for example] someone has written something, it has no value, and then, for example, thousands [of people] like it; that like has no value; what gives value to the poet and the poetry is the opinion of the expert; someone who is knowledgeable about poetry and understands what poetry is, what good poetry is, what bad poetry is; that is, they are not the criteria for the goodness of poetry. In any case, efforts must be made to elevate poetry.

In my opinion, now that the respected minister (11) is also present here, yes, there have been some short-term courses created to train poets, [but] a poet cannot be trained in one day, five days, or two weeks; these are the works of the same technical and popular groups. Governmental organizations, if they want to do something, must help these; they must support these, strengthen them, equip them so that they can carry out their work.

Another point that exists [is this]: the late Mr. Bahajati (may God have mercy on him) - our dear old friend who, like Mr. (12), was from Yazd, but Mr. Bahajati was from Ardakan, and Ardakan and Meybod often have disagreements and disputes over various issues; but he was a good poet - had turned the supplication of Abu Hamze into poetry; now how much of the supplication, I do not remember exactly. He mentioned a phrase to me and said this phrase was difficult for me, and I could not finish it. One of the works is that one can truly bring the themes of these distinguished religious texts into poetry; this is a branch of work; as filmmakers say, this is a poetic genre; that is, it is not that we want to confine everyone to this, but this is one work. Because these supplications, in addition to having lofty themes, also have lofty words. These supplications that exist, [like] the supplication of Arafa, the supplication of Abu Hamze, the Sha'bani supplications, the supplications of Sahifa Sajjadiyya, are filled with lofty concepts and Islamic teachings, also with the best and most beautiful words; it is good to reflect these.

Last year, I read this poem by Akhavan here (13) which, of course, he wrote for another purpose: "O support and refuge of the most beautiful moments of my pure and glorious solitude, O my sweet and prosperous river"; (14) well, see how beautiful this poem is. I said when I read this poem, my audience in this poem is prayer. Prayer is just this: "O support and refuge of the most beautiful moments of my pure and glorious solitude, O my sweet and prosperous river". Of course, he took this poem in another direction; well, if you can bring the poetry related to supplication with such literary styles that have both beautiful words and beautiful themes, how beautiful the themes are, how excellent the music of the poetry is - the music of poetry itself is a chapter, that fluidity and beauty and clarity and music of poetry take it out of the state of stuttering and such - with these materials and these methods, I think it is very good.

And the last point is regarding the religious poetry. Well, some of our poets, fortunately, some of the friends who are religious poets are also present here now, indeed recite good poetry; good thematic poetry regarding the Imams (peace be upon them) - whether their elegies, their praises, or their merits - and there are many good words in their poetry, but some do not. Let us make religious poetry a collection of the teachings of the Imams; that is, when you give this poetry to a reciter and suppose he recites it in a session, it should have an impact equal to several good sermons - which it does - if the themes are truly good - suppose this poem that Mr. Ensani (15) recites in the session - if his poetry is good poetry, because artistic methods are used, it has an impact equal to several good sermons; if not, his poetry is just the usual and ordinary words and, for example, these things that do not have that much value to express except for making people cry - which, of course, making people cry is also an advantage - but [the goal] is not just this. Let us look at the poetry that figures like Kumeit and Dhibl recited about the Imams (peace be upon them), see how they recited, what they said, what themes they included in those long poems; if one wants to recite good poetry, one must recite poetry like this. If these are in the hands of the organizers of these sessions, it is certainly very valuable.

We hope, God willing, that the Almighty God keeps all of you safe, keeps you alive, and enables you to work, to work well, to do timely work, and to meet the needs of your country, your community, and your system.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.