Statements in a Meeting with a Group of Poets and Cultural Figures on the Birth of Imam Hasan Mojtaba (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 on earth.

I have noted a few sentences here that I will express to my friends if I am to speak; however, before I present the thoughts I have in mind, I want to say that tonight's poetry reading session was very good; the friends who recited poetry were truly better than one another; tonight, thanks be to God, exceeded my expectations for this session and for the young poets, most of whom have not recited poetry in this gathering. I am very grateful and thank the Almighty God for helping the poetic movement in the country progress among a group like yours. Of course, there are many groups in Tehran and other places engaged in poetry and similar activities; I occasionally connect with them and read their poems; they have not progressed as much as you have; their poetry is purely romantic, about earthly loves, devoid of wisdom, devoid of knowledge, devoid of mentioning national and revolutionary interests — which those friends pursue in that kind of poetry — and occasionally naked poetry; they have not made progress. I see that in the poetry you recite, the themes, the refinement of words, the innovation in concepts are truly remarkable; I have great hope for the poetry of the Revolution, which is your poetry.

The points I have noted to discuss are two matters — I will try to make them shorter, God willing — one regarding poetry and the other regarding the Persian language. What I want to say regarding poetry is that the phenomenon of poetry is one of the miracles of creation, one of the miracles of the world of existence is this phenomenon of poetry; like expression itself, expression is also one of the greatest miracles of the Creator in the world of creation. The fact that you are able to convey your thoughts, your mental images to someone through the form of words, in the form of expressions, is a very significant event, a very great phenomenon. Well, we have become accustomed to it, and we do not pay attention to its greatness; this is far greater than the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, and these things that God Almighty swears by; hence He says: "The Most Gracious, taught the Quran, created man, taught him expression"; the first thing that God Almighty mentions after the essence of creation regarding the creation of man is the teaching of expression; "expression" is a miracle of creation. Among the types of expression, poetry has the characteristic of being beautiful. Not every expression is beautiful; it is a miracle, it is important, but beauty is in poetry. In poetry, the fact that you can convey a prominent concept in the form of words you put together is beautiful, it has beauty; its artistry is due to this beauty. Well, now that it has this beauty, this characteristic has made it an influential medium. Poetry is a medium; it is an influential medium and has a greater effectiveness for conveying concepts compared to non-poetic expression; most arts are like this. Of course, the arts differ from one another; poetry itself has unique characteristics and advantages — just as some other arts have their own advantages — that are unique, and we do not want to delve into those categories.

Well, this influential power that exists in poetry brings responsibility. Generally, all things, all individuals, all phenomena that have a higher status also have a higher responsibility. If you have a voice and opinion in a collection of individuals in society, your responsibility is greater than that of someone who does not have this voice. Therefore, poetry, due to this influential power, has responsibility; it has a commitment, there is a commitment on the shoulders of poetry; what is this commitment? To be in the service of the divine enlightenment movement throughout human history. There have been two movements throughout history: the movement of clear signs and the movement of seduction; the movement of guidance and the movement of misguidance. "Indeed, We sent Our messengers with clear signs" is one movement throughout history, "I will surely mislead them all" is the statement of Satan, another movement. The responsibility of poetry is to serve that first movement; the reason is clear, because this has been given by God, it belongs to God and is a divine blessing, and we are servants of God [therefore] we must place whatever blessings we have been given in the service of the prophetic and guiding movement from the Lord; thus, this is the commitment.

Of course, much is said; there is a naive fallacy that some make here, separating the aesthetic aspect of poetry and the artistic aspect of poetry from the aspect of commitment in poetry; they divide poetry into poetry that considers itself to have a mission, a responsibility, a commitment, and poetry that is purely poetry. They say the former is not poetry, it is a slogan; this is a clear fallacy; now whether it is due to ignorance or due to lack of knowledge. Look, who are the peaks of Persian poetry? Saadi, Hafez, Rumi, Ferdowsi; these are the peaks of Persian poetry. You see the poetry of these individuals, which is the peak of poetic art throughout our history, in what directions it has been used! Saadi has a "Bustan" which is his best artistic work — "Golestan" comes after "Bustan" — in "Bustan" you look, you see this extraordinary fine art is always in the service of ethics, in the service of education, in the service of commitment; from the beginning to the end of "Bustan" it is like this [meaning] the art of poetry is in the service of ethics.

If you fall in love, Saadi says, and you are young, The love of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad is enough.

Or: I am joyful in the world because the world is joyful because of Him. I love all the world because all the world is from Him.

Or: I would rather taste poison for the sweetness of the cupbearer, I would endure pain for the cure is also from Him.

These are from Saadi, these are the peak of our poetic art.

Hafez [similarly]; of course, my belief is that there is earthly poetry in Hafez's divan, but undoubtedly there is mystical poetry, outstanding poetry; great figures like the late Allameh Tabatabai interpreted Hafez's poetry for some of their students, and they have written and compiled those interpretations; that is, the mysticism of Hafez's poetry is like this.

Your love reaches a cry if you are like Hafez, You can read the Quran by heart with fourteen recitations.

Hafez is like this; we now find it difficult to read the Quran by heart [but he] memorized it with fourteen recitations, which are the seven famous reciters who each have two narrators, making fourteen narrations; that is how they are, this is the peak of poetry. Ferdowsi [similarly]; Ferdowsi is "Hakim Ferdowsi"; you pay attention, among our poets, "Hakim Ferdowsi" is mentioned; the wisdom of Ferdowsi is divine wisdom. In the depths of Ferdowsi's stories, wisdom is embedded; almost in all or many of Ferdowsi's stories, there is wisdom; hence he is called "Hakim Ferdowsi"; we do not call many poets throughout history wise, but his name is Hakim Ferdowsi. Rumi, whose situation is known; Rumi is entirely about mysticism, spirituality, truth, pure Islam, and pure monotheistic knowledge; he is also like this. These are the peaks of Persian poetry; if we are to imagine that the artistic and aesthetic aspect of poetry is separate from its spiritual, mission-oriented, and message aspect, we must exclude all of these from the realm of poetry and say these are not poetry; while the best poems in the Persian language are these.

Arabic poetry is the same to the extent that we are familiar. Sayyid Hamiri or Farazdaq or Dhibl and others who are great poets of the Ahl al-Bayt and Imamite poetry are the same; they are the best poets. I may have said once that in this book "Aghani" which includes the biographies of poets and similar matters, it reaches Sayyid Hamiri and says Sayyid Hamiri is the prominent poet of his time — perhaps it also says the most prominent poet of his time — [then] the author of "Aghani" says, however, his flaw is that he insulted the great companions of the early Islam in his poetry and did such and such, and if it were not for this, we would discuss and talk more about him; he says this, then he begins to write the biography of Sayyid Hamiri, which I think is longer than all the poets whose biographies he has written, fifty pages, fifty and some pages of his biography; that is the greatness of Sayyid Hamiri. Farazdaq, well, his place is known, Dhibl is the same; these are the peaks of poetry, and their poetry is in the service of spirituality and in the service of the Ahl al-Bayt and these matters. Therefore, those who separate pure poetry from artistic poetry must be told that they truly lack literary and poetic knowledge; that is, they are making a fallacy; they understand something themselves and express it.

Of course, I should also mention that this interaction is mutual; that is, when we place our poetry in the service of high ethical concepts, in the service of monotheism, in the service of expressing the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt, in the service of ethical values, in the service of the headings of national and revolutionary interests, it is not the case that we have only served those values and those teachings; we have also served our poetry; poetry is elevated. In my opinion — as far as I can remember — tonight, all your poems were committed and responsible poetry, and their level was honestly high and good; the level of these is significantly different from purely romantic poetry, especially earthly love; that is, there is a special elevation and enhancement in these poems. Therefore, the interaction is mutual. Of course, my belief is that a poet also includes the tales of their sorrows and pains in their poetry, and there is no problem with that; that is, we do not say that a poet cannot express a ghazal about their sorrows, their wishes, and their turmoil; my opinion is not at all this; no, they can express it; however, this is one chapter of poetry; the main chapter of poetry is that of commitment.

Well, fortunately, today in the country, we have many committed poets. Of course, I do not say all; there are some who are completely distant from this realm — I am not entirely unaware of their situation and their poetry and the value and weight of their poetry — but thanks be to God, the main poetic movement of the Revolution has commitment; whether it pertains to religious poetry, whether it pertains to ethical poetry, whether it pertains to political and revolutionary poetry, whether it pertains to ethical and monotheistic values, or whether it pertains to wisdom poetry. Of course, wisdom poetry is unfortunately scarce; we have previously recommended it, but our poets enter this field less. This collection, fortunately, has made very good progress today. Those who do not consider these as poetry and say, "This is a slogan, this is ideology" — and it seems they oppose having ideology in poetry — they themselves bring much more deviant issues and deviant ideologies into their poetry than you do. [They] are not opposed to the inclusion of ideology in poetry, but they oppose the very ideology that you bring; [now] in any expression and in any form; whether it is in the form of poetry or in the form of film, it is the same. Therefore, pursue this direction.

Thanks be to God, the poetic movement and the poetry that you create has become very good. It does not matter; whether this poetry is about Islamic teachings, in support of the Ahl al-Bayt, in the teachings of the Revolution, about the current events of the country, important events of the country — like the poems that some friends recited regarding Yemen and various issues of the Islamic world — or in praise of the beautiful behaviors of the nation. See! Our nation has beautiful behaviors. The behavior of our nation in this flood issue in the north and south was very beautiful. Those who are aware of what happened — whether in the Golestan region, in the Khuzestan region, in Khorramabad, or in Ilam, which were important flood areas — are aware of the presence of the people and the sacrifices of the people, they know what a beautiful glory and epic the people created; well, you can bring this into poetry and describe it. When you bring these things into poetry, your poetry becomes the flag of the identity of this nation; this becomes the flag of the identity of your nation; whether in the realm of Islamic teachings, revolutionary teachings, national teachings, ethical values, or these kinds of events; when you recite poetry about these, this poetry becomes the flag of identity. And identity is very important for a nation, my dear ones; a nation that has lost its identity can easily dissolve in the hands of foreigners and perish. This is regarding poetry.

Regarding language, I must say that I am truly worried; I am really worried. Now, in the realm of poetry, fortunately, the poetry you recite is good, and the language is a solid language, but in the general flow, the language is undergoing erosion; one can see this. Now, tonight one of the brothers from the radio conveyed something good to me, but I am dissatisfied with the broadcasting organization because instead of promoting the correct language, the standard language, the polished and completely correct language, they are promoting a language without identity, sometimes incorrect, expressions that are incorrect, and worse than all, full of foreign and external expressions. When, for example, a certain foreign word that a writer, a translator — who was translating an English or French article — has brought and used verbatim, and your presenter repeats it on television, on the radio once, twice, this becomes public; we are unnecessarily and gratuitously polluting our language with harmful additions.

Now, there is a time when a language, a word is not available, it borrows from another, which of course must be modified. I once said in a gathering of Persian literati a few years ago that the Arabs take words from the foreigners, but they Arabize them; this is very good. We do not do this; we are committed to ensuring that if possible, we even express it with an accent. At the beginning of the Revolution, in the gathering of the Revolution's officials and similar individuals, for example, it was sometimes said "commission," "committee"; there were a few individuals among the educated who had studied in France who said "commission"; "commission" was not useful, they should say "committee" to be closer to the French accent or, for example, "komiti." What necessity is there for this? I said we could have said, just as the Arabs when television came, called it "tilfaz" — "tilfaz" is an Arabic word structure; [like] "marhaz"; "tilfaz" — we could have said "telvizan" which has a Persian form. We do not have a word in Persian similar to radio, unless now it may be possible to find something; what harm would it have done if we had called radio "radiyan" to make it Persian; it would not have been a problem; we did not do this. Constantly, foreign words, borrowed words enter the Persian language and are repeatedly used; they are written in the press, repeated in radio and television, written in books, and now that there is social media, they are written in social media; I am worried. Truly, one of the things that must be done [is this]. The artistic field can work in this area; now, the one who can be addressed in this current session is one Mr. Salehi, the esteemed Minister of Culture, and one Mr. Momeni, the head of the artistic field; truly sit down and think about this issue, do not let the Persian language undergo erosion and destruction; we must preserve it very well.

I even sometimes see in the tyrannical regime, which was of course tied to the foreigners and outsiders, there was a certain fanaticism regarding the language issue, they had some things; we were also very good in this regard at the beginning of the Revolution, but gradually it became very lax.

Now, in the world of poetry, the same state of linguistic laxity has entered, but in the discussion of songwriting, the level of some of these songs that are created is truly very low; now, in terms of content, it is defective, and in terms of verbal structure, some of these songs have very poor structures. At that time, these songs come with this structure — now in underground spaces and similar matters, which is another discussion — they are sung on television, on the radio, repeated in the credits of films, broadcasted, and these become widespread; in my opinion, you should think about these. The songs of the early Revolution. [Like] this song that he (12) sang: "This cry of freedom rises from the East," is very beautiful [indeed]. May God have mercy on Hamid Sabzevari, he had many such [poems]. We must preserve the dignity of the language.

See, my dear ones! For centuries, this language has been preserved hand in hand by poets — a little also by writers, but mainly by poets. [For example] the language of Saadi; if today you want to express the same theme of the poem I just read: "I am joyful in the world because the world is joyful because of Him" (13), do you have words that are more eloquent, more expressive? Or suppose [the poem]: Where are you, O martyrs of God, The seekers of the plain of Karbala? (14)

Would you have guessed that this belongs to Rumi? This belongs to Rumi, which was said eight hundred years ago; it seems to have been said for today. That is, the language has reached us in this way; it has come down century by century to reach us. Even the Indian style, although complex and intricate in terms of content (15), but the language, the language is a polished and strong language; especially the prominent figures of the Indian style like Saib, like Kalim, like Hazin, like Bidel, truly their languages are excellent languages.

In no curtain is there not your melody, The world is full of you and empty of your place.

Although all creatures are beggars at your door, There is no created being that knows your abode. (16)

If you want to express the same theme, today, four hundred years after Saib, can you bring clearer, more expressive, more eloquent words than this? The language has been preserved in this way, handed down to us; now we give it to some unskilled songwriters — truly unskilled! — to ruin and break the words and so on, and then we publish this with public funds and broadcast it in the media or in various governmental and non-governmental institutions!

We hope that, God willing, the Almighty God grants us the success to be able to carry out these tasks correctly. We were very happy to meet with friends tonight; we hope that God will grant all of you success, God willing.

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