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

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

First of all, I extend my welcome; this is one of the sweet sessions for me. Of course, it is always like that feast with various dishes, but appetite and stomach capacity do not allow one to enjoy all the food, thus one rises from the table satiated yet eager and hungry. We usually rise from this session in the same way; our capacity is full, but there is a desire and eagerness to hear from you, especially since, thanks be to God, one observes that the flow of poetry and the caravan of poetry in the country is progressing. The poetry of today’s session is truly incomparable to the poetry of ten or twelve years ago; it has advanced significantly.

I congratulate you on the blessed birth of Imam al-Mujtaba (peace be upon him) and thank those dear friends present in this session who honored the memory of that great man. I remind you of the approaching blessed Night of Qadr; cherish the nights of Qadr; they are precious windows opened for you and me; let us place ourselves in the path of the spiritual and sacred breeze that flows through these windows and, God willing, benefit from it; I humbly ask for your prayers as well. God willing, may you be successful.

Let me say a few words about poetry. Poetry is essentially the expression of the poet's thoughts, feelings, longings, words, and what needs to be said. The Almighty God grants the poet a power that enables them to express their thoughts, opinions, feelings, and longings through the combination of letters and words and with appropriate music, in a beautiful and impactful manner. This is poetry. Therefore, the primary function of poetry is to respond to the inner needs of the poet; it is a spiritual birth from the poet that can reflect concepts, knowledge, and truths from within themselves and send them out; it expresses their longings. Thus, if a poet considers poetry as a means to express their pains, their afflictions, and their heart, this is not something to be condemned; this is the natural and primary state of poetry. The poet expresses their inner self through these words; however, the main function of poetry is not this.

The main function of poetry is the impact that your poetry has on the audience. You occupy the solitude of your audience with your poetry. Humans have a solitude; this is one of the distinguishing features of humanity; they have an inner world, a realm of secrets, a self; you enter this solitude with your poetry, you influence this solitude, and enrich it. This is one of the most important functions of poetry. You can keep this solitude, these most private moments of a person who has now become your audience, fresh; you can keep it pure, clean, delicate, vibrant, and hopeful; you can nourish their thoughts, you can guide them; because the solitude of humans is, in fact, the personal think tank of a person. Every human has a think tank within themselves, and if your poetry gains the power of influence and can enter the solitude of the minds and hearts of humans and your audience, you become a permanent presence in the think tank of your audience. This is one of the most important functions of your poetry. And this is significant; because this solitude is, in fact, influential and formative in shaping the manifestations of humanity. Human thoughts and important decisions are made in these solitudes. Humans move from the departure point of this solitude to the right or wrong paths, to good or bad ways. This is the place of understanding, the place of decision-making, the place where the true identity of a human is formed. You can be present there and make an impact. And this is one of the most important functions of poetry. This solitude is very important. Today, the efforts of the devils are to influence the solitude of humans, our audience, our people, and the nations - whether our nation or other nations - to inject values into them and place them under the control and grasp of their values and thoughts. If you can acquire this art, this fortune, to be present in the solitude of your audience and enrich it with spirituality, with tools that inspire humans towards vitality, hope, movement, and progress, you have achieved a great success. This is the very work that our great poets have done over hundreds of years. You see that Saadi, or Rumi, or Hafez, or Ferdowsi, or Khaqani are present in our spiritual lives, in our minds, in our thoughts, and for hundreds of years they have been able to influence the mentality of our societies; and these are the ones who have preserved the true identity of our national culture and have passed it down from generation to generation. Today, this is the important duty of our poets. If the solitude of humans is preserved - which you can play a role in - then one can hope for the reform of social norms. Social norms can be resolved through this means; that is, when humans are corrected from within, directed, motivated, hopeful, and vibrant, one can hope that abnormalities will be corrected and social norms will find their rightful place. This is a matter that presents a great opportunity for you poets. In my belief, the Almighty God has granted you this art of poetry; there are many who have good thoughts, but they do not have this effective tool at their disposal, this eloquent, warm, and captivating voice to convey those thoughts; you have this voice, and if you can use it well, it seems that you have accomplished something great.

Another issue regarding poetry is its social function; poetry is the guardian of national identity, the guardian of national identity. The identity of nations consists of their cultural characteristics and cultural advantages; this cultural identity forms the essence of a nation. This cultural identity is fundamental; if it is taken away from a nation, that nation will be absorbed, meaning it will be truly destroyed in the real sense of the word; now it may exist in a geographical location, but it is nothing; it exists, but its existence is like non-existence; cultural identity is the entirety of the life of a collection and a nation. Poetry can strengthen, enrich, and nourish this cultural identity; and when we look at the poets of our history - the great wordsmiths - we see that their messages are very valuable: the message of monotheism, the message of belief in God, the message of righteousness; truly, the verses that exist in this regard are astonishing. Now, I am not very familiar with the poetry of other nations; with some, we have familiarity, and honestly, Persian poetry - Saadi's Bustan, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Nizami's Khamsa, Hafez's Divan, Rumi's Masnavi - is full of wisdom; that is, in the true sense of the word, wisdom flows in these books and lofty thoughts; there are very prominent and noble ideas in these books; they have been able to define an identity for our nation. And let me tell you this: all that we have in terms of distinction comes from this cultural identity; if this cultural identity did not exist, our revolution would not have succeeded. If this cultural identity did not exist, an Imam like our Imam, who brought the movement into existence and brought it to fruition, would not have been created at all. The great Imam was shaped and molded by this very culture. It is this cultural identity that nurtures a person like the Imam in society; this must be preserved. You can preserve this. Poetry must safeguard this identity, and this identity is, in fact, the spiritual rationality upon which we rely - on the issue of spiritual rationality and the collective wisdom of society - this cultural identity is, in fact, the same rationality; you must take care to preserve this in your poetry: the lofty ethics of Islam, the spiritual and divine wisdom of Islam, monotheism, belief in God, justice, honesty, and all those things that exist in noble Persian poetry. And if this motivation arises in today's poet and they become diligent, then the aggression that is directed at this center will become clear to them.

Some have the problem that they do not see the essence of the aggression at all, they do not understand it. They do not realize that there is a front that is sworn to eradicate the national, Islamic, and cultural identity of our nation; they do not understand all these signs, indications, and appearances; they say: "Look at this flock, how peacefully they graze;" they graze peacefully and are completely oblivious; their problem lies here. A poet, due to the spirit of art and the keen insight, when this concern, this pain, this feeling exists within them, naturally senses this aggression and seeks to counter this aggression, which is one of the important tasks; and in the name of God, the Lord of the soul and intellect, they defend and support the soul of this nation; this is the characteristic of poetry - this noble and valuable art - that, of course, the scope of this work and the limits of this work are not only for the nation, but for humanity; that is, with a view to humanity, today’s world is a world where the hand of oppression is extended to all human values - whether their material values or their spiritual values, the hand of oppression is extended to the independence of nations, to the wealth of nations, to the religion and spirituality of nations, to the honor of nations, and to the ethics of nations. The arrogant powers have extended their hands of oppression with the tools of science - which has also brought them wealth and, following that, the massive propaganda of the world is at their disposal - and they do whatever they want in the world today and easily distort the truths.

Well, suppose that in one part of the world, a person is killed, or sometimes even an animal is killed, they create an uproar; now, in the attack on Gaza, for instance, suppose that for several days now, planes have been going, and perhaps more than a hundred people - many of whom are innocent and helpless children - have been killed, and it does not matter to them at all. I wish it only did not matter; America and England - as we have read in the news - have said that they support these attacks. Today, the world is like this: they support every evil, crookedness, filth, corruption, and impurity - if it serves their interests - and they have no shame. They oppose and confront every purity, sanctity, cleanliness, and honesty if it does not align with their interests; today, the world is like this.

Well, what is the duty of a person who is a poet, that is, one who possesses the power of awareness, understanding, and expression? What should they do? In addition to being able to express wisdom - that: indeed, some poetry is wisdom - you can be an example of "and whoever seeks help after being wronged" or "and they sought help after being wronged" which is mentioned in the noble verse related to poets: "and they sought help after being wronged"; you can embody this. You can seek to support the oppressed front, speak the truth, express the truth, and show the truth with your poetry; you can play a significant role in these matters. Ultimately, having this distinction is a divine blessing; a divine proof; and every blessing has a duty of gratitude, and for every proof, a response must be prepared. God willing, may the dear brothers and sisters present in this session have more diligence in this regard than they have had so far; although, fortunately, I see that our young poets, our revolutionary poets are truly presenting good works and expressing good poetry. Of course, all of this is provided that the poetry has artistic substance; this is our constant recommendation. Poetry is not just meaning, it is not just content, and the artistic composition and structure and artistic style are the main conditions for it to be lasting and impactful, God willing.

We hope that the Almighty God grants all of you success, supports you; God willing, may you always be in the service of values, sanctities, truths, and realities. Tonight, we also benefited from the poems that were recited; God willing, may God warm your spirits day by day.

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