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Commemorating Ferdowsi will promote Iranian-Islamic identity: President Raeisi

The photo shows the statue of prominent Iranian poet Abul-Qasem Ferdowsi in the city of Tous in Iran’s eastern Khorasan Razavi Province.

President Ebrahim Raeisi says the great “open-hearted and free-thinking” Iranian poet Abul-Qasem Ferdowsi revived the Persian language and the history of Iran, noting that his commemoration will help promote the Iranian-Islamic identity.

Raeisi made the remarks in a message on Monday on the commemoration day of the prominent Iranian poet and the preservation of the Persian language.

“Undoubtedly, commemorating this prominent poet and introducing his precious personality and works to the society, especially the young generation, will greatly help promote the Iranian and Islamic identity and self-confidence, develop and deepen common language and national empathy as well as regional solidarity,” he said.

He added that the greatness of Ferdowsi is in his heroic perseverance in creating the national epic of the Islamic Iran.

The president described Iran as a “cultural and spiritual truth in the heart of the ancient continent of Asia”, which connects the East to the West.

The administration supports researchers and professors in the direction of institutionalizing the thoughts of great figures like Hakim Ferdowsi in order to promote the rich Iranian culture, he added.

Ferdowsi was born in 940 CE in a small village near Tous in Iran’s eastern Khorasan Razavi Province.

He is best known for his magnum opus, Shahnameh (Book of the Kings), which is a classic in epic Persian poetry and recounts Iran’s mythical and historical past.

The book, which had a great influence on the nation’s cultural heritage, chronicles the legendary history of the pre-Islamic kings of Iran from Keyumars to Yazdegerd III.

Ferdowsi spent over three decades writing the book in Persian at a time when Arabic was the main scientific and literary language of Iran.

Shahnameh is composed of 55,000 couplets and has been translated into several languages.

Every year, Iran pays tribute to its great poet on National Ferdowsi Day marked on May 15.


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