Statements in Meeting with Members of the International Poetry Festival of the Hawzah

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

The Hawzah (seminary) has multiple and diverse capacities; this is not specific to today, it has been the same in the past. Among the great jurists and scholars of Shia Islam, there are many who were poets, and some of them were prominent poets, such as Muhaqqiq al-Hilli, the father of Allameh, and others like them; up to later times, including the late Mirdamad, the late Fayyaz, Hazin Lahiji, and others; in Najaf, it was the same, including the late Bahr al-Ulum. Let me mention the memory of Bahr al-Ulum, which is interesting and indicative of the spirit and atmosphere of Najaf during his time; that is, two hundred years ago. After the late Mr. Bahbahan, he became a marja (source of emulation); that is, the late Bahr al-Ulum was accepted by the other great scholars and the prominent students of the late Bahbahan; and everyone submitted to him and willingly chose him as their leader. At the beginning of his leadership, the late Bahr al-Ulum set out on foot from Najaf towards Karbala. In one of the early stops, he became tired and sat down; the late Bahr al-Ulum said, "I am weak and cannot move from here tonight." Some suggested to go on; he said no, I will stay; then he recited this couplet:

"From weakness, wherever we sat became our homeland, And from crying, wherever we passed became a garden."

[This couplet is from] Talib Ameli. The Arab poets who were with him, I find it very interesting here; that now Bahr al-Ulum reciting a couplet of Talib Ameli is not very strange, but the fact that he took a number of poets with him from Najaf on his pilgrimage to Karbala is, in my opinion, significant; the Arab poets said, "Our master! What is the meaning of this couplet you recited?" He explained it to them, interpreted it for them, saying that what I recited means this, and he said, "Now you compose something similar," and the Arab poets began to create verses similar to this couplet. I think I have seen this incident in the book of the late Harz al-Din; it mentions that such and such person said this way, such and such person said that way, and Bahr al-Ulum himself said this way; that is, a scholar like Bahr al-Ulum, who is outstanding in jurisprudence, is also spiritually distinguished - you know Bahr al-Ulum is extraordinarily spiritual, and perhaps that spiritual aspect was what led all the great jurists who were students of the late Bahbahan to submit to him - with those spiritual ranks, with that mystical state, with those things that are narrated about his encounters with the Prophet and such matters, when he sets out from Najaf for a pilgrimage to Karbala, he takes poets with him. This indicates the importance of the seminary's engagement with poetry. In any case, the seminaries were like this. In Qom, the late Mr. Sadr was a prominent poet; this couplet that he composed for the late Sheikh Abdul Karim, which is inscribed on the gravestone of the late Haj Sheikh, is a very distinguished and excellent couplet that includes the historical material of the late Haj Sheikh.

In any case, poetry is one of the subjects that the seminaries engaged with, and it is appropriate; that is, it does not contradict knowledge and virtue and such things; being a poet and being a good poet does not contradict jurisprudence, nor does it contradict philosophy and being a philosopher, nor does it contradict any of these important subjects that we have in the seminaries. The late Haj Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Isfahani composes ghazals, composes qasidas, writes in Arabic, writes in Persian; the late Sayyid Muhammad Saeed Habubi, who was a marja in Najaf and contemporary with the late Akhund and others; he has a thick divan (collection of poetry), and I have his divan. It contains extraordinary poems; romantic poems, ghazals in Arabic, because the Arabs do not have ghazals in the same form as we do in Persian, but they have various other forms of ghazals. The late Sayyid Muhammad Saeed Habubi was both a jurist and a fighter, one of those who fought against the British, and at the same time, he was a poet. Our great Imam (may his soul be sanctified) is also the last example before our eyes, who also has those romantic ghazals - which, of course, have a mystical meaning, but the appearance of those ghazals is like this. Therefore, poetry is an important subject and it is good to pursue it in the seminary. It is a breath of fresh air for the dense academic atmosphere that exists in the seminary; because the academic atmosphere in the seminary is very dense and differs from universities. The atmosphere is entirely academic; it is like a closed room. And sometimes the fragrance of poetry can rise in this atmosphere; in my opinion, this is a desirable thing. Thanks be to God, there are also good talents; now the gentlemen who are here and that lady who recited poetry, it was very good. I also know some others from the seminary who are good poets, and since their thoughts are also Islamic thoughts derived from correct religious sources and principles, their poetry can also be very beneficial. This work is a very good work, but do not be satisfied with little; that is, go for higher levels.

In Najaf, poets who were scholars and poets, who are not few, sometimes their poetry was raised on a global level. That famous Lebanese poet residing in America, a well-known poet whose name I do not remember now, has a famous poem called "Al-Talasim" and its refrain - of course, the term refrain is not in the conventional sense - is "Lest Adri". This was answered by the late Sayyid Raza al-Hindi: "Ana Adri"; that poem spread in the Arab world and everyone recognized it. That is, there were prominent poets among the scholars of Najaf. The late Shah Muhammad Raza al-Muzaffar, whose scientific book is a textbook in the seminary and is read, is also a poet, a good poet who was familiar with a group of poets in Najaf and was engaged with them. In any case, poetry is a good thing, and the seminary, thanks be to God, has this talent, and the more you can cultivate it; of course, provided that it does not take away from the time of lessons and discussions; that is, it should not be such that the gentlemen spend more of their time on poetry.

God willing, may you be successful and supported.