A group of poets and literary scholars met this evening with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of Imam Hasan's (a.s.) birth anniversary.
At this meeting, a number of young and experienced poets recited their poetry on epical, religious, moral, and social themes.
Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence described post-revolutionary poems as a constant and progressive movement and referring to the improvement in the quality of the poetry composed by young and experienced poets, the Leader said: "Post-revolutionary poetry has so far been successful. In addition, the thriving post-revolutionary poetry must constantly move towards the goals and ideals of the Revolution."
Ayatollah Khamenei likened the goals and ideals of the Revolution to a group of stars that can help determine the course of the Revolution, further adding: "Post-revolutionary poetry must be at the service of the lofty ideals of the Revolution such as justice, morality, genuine independence, and preserving the national and religious identity of the Iranian people. During the Sacred Defense Era, we saw that the Iranian nation can move towards its ideals."
Ayatollah Khamenei described the post-election events as a war game which revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the country.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that those who are active in the field of art and culture shoulder the heavy duty of revealing the truth and clarifying the realities and should therefore make efforts to figure out the realities because understanding the situation and the difference between "aggressors and defenders" and "enemies and friends" is difficult in a fitna.
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to foresight as one of the necessities for understanding a situation and said: "Cultural figures are part of the great and constant movement of the Islamic Revolution and should clearly and eloquently state the realities because it is impossible to act like politicians in the world of culture. Instead, one should try to solve the problems by clarifying the realities."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described "soft war" as one of the realities of the present time and said that one can easily realize the existence of such a war given the current hostility against the Revolution, Imam Khomeini, and the goals of the Islamic Republic "although there might be some people who do not see these realities".
Ayatollah Khamenei further stated: "The duty of the cultural figures during this soft war is to bring art into the scene in an appropriate form so that it can play an influential role in this regard."
At the end of this friendly meeting, the poets said their sunset and evening prayers led by Ayatollah Khamenei and broke their fast along with the Leader.