Message on the Occasion of the Congress Honoring Contemporary Poet Mr. Ahmad Kamal

The commemoration of the distinguished Khorasani poet, Mr. Ahmad Kamal, is delightful and pleasing to me for two reasons. First, the tribute to this virtuous poet, who has intertwined the art of poetry with several other great arts in ethics and human conduct, is a tribute to a collection of human virtues. All those who have known Kamal closely, like myself, believe that in this honorable, chaste, noble, and sincere person, his poetry, which is undoubtedly among the peaks of contemporary qasida, is only one of his many radiances. He, who spent his youth full of toil and hardship during the reign of rulers devoid of virtue and knowledge, with contentment and dignity, never consented to use his precious pearl in the service of the merciless lords of the world and spoke only to the call of his pure and clear heart.

Secondly, our dear Kamal is among the few remaining poets who, between the 1950s and 1970s, made Mashhad a thriving and attention-grabbing center of Persian poetry and literature, earning the admiration of cultural and literary luminaries of the country, and placed it in a superior position among the poet-rich cities of Iran. It was due to that talented, ingenious, and virtuous group, endowed with literary courage, that Mashhad became renowned in the contemporary history of Persian poetry for its abundance of quality poets, and it was due to their warm hearts and spirits that its three literary societies became famous worldwide. From Qodsi and the writer and Aghahi to Farrokh and Golshan and Navid, and to Fayyaz and Yousofi and Rajai and other poets and literati, who, thanks be to God, some of whom still shine today, each had a share in building this illustrious history and played a role.

Our Kamal is one of the prominent figures of that vibrant and challenging era. Like all the others, he did not make his spiritual capital a means for bread and livelihood. With his poetry, which is part of his being, he lived pure and clear. The worldly and state rulers of that time elevated many talentless individuals for their servitude, while Kamal and the likes of Qodsi always remained distant from their gaze and favor. And they themselves desired and valued this.

The era in which the desire for luxury and enjoyment led those with a modicum of literature and art to moral and spiritual downfall has passed, while Kamal and many of the poets of Khorasan bore no stain on their mantle of piety, honor, and dignity.

Our veteran and eloquent poet today, thanks be to God, stands proud and cherished among his admirers and lovers of Persian poetry and literature. Honoring him is a tribute to a successful and proud period of trials, and a tribute to that collection of reputable and chosen individuals, whose regrettable loss of some is a tragedy, but the literary enthusiasm and efforts of some of their best, thanks be to God, today is a source of satisfaction and gratitude to the Lord.

Thanks be to God that the era of the Islamic Republic is an era of the brilliance of truths and authenticity. And this appreciative and commemorative gathering is a manifestation of this characteristic.

I pray to Almighty God for the health and long life, along with success, of the esteemed poet Mr. Ahmad Kamalpour and other poets of Khorasan.

Seyyed Ali Khamenei