The following is the full text of the speech delivered on August 25, 2010 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with poets. The meeting was held on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of Imam Hassan Mujtaba (a.s.).
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
First of all, I would like to say that even if I had listened for hours to poems from the honorable participants who are present in this meeting, I would undoubtedly not have become tired. Of course, physical limits - most of which result from old age and other such things - are a different issue, but psychologically, we enjoyed listening to the fruits of your imagination and we will enjoy it no matter how long it will continue. The reason is that as I said last year or two years ago, I find the new poetry movement and the new poetry era to be a growing and developing movement.
In the present time, the poetry of our country enjoys a growing and perfecting movement whether in terms of the number of poets or in terms of the progress of poetry - that is to say, the things which are of utmost importance in poetry such as using powerful words, having a creative imagination, adopting a clear outlook towards distant horizons and paying attention to details about all affairs of life. These are things that should exist until poetry becomes poetry in the real sense of the word. Therefore, achievements in the area of poetry are both related to form and content.
There is another thing which I spoke about two, three years ago, but I still cannot put a name to it. A new style has emerged in poetry. When each friend recites a poem, we see that all of them share a style which is based on the conditions of the time. Perhaps, we cannot easily understand what these conditions and its characteristics are. In particular, we can see this in ghazal. By Allah's favor, in future years, some people will try to specify the characteristics and qualities of today's style.
We ourselves made an effort to specify and categorize the characteristics of poetry in the Constitutional Era many years after its emergence. We also highlighted the characteristics of the Indian style or the other styles that existed in those days. Therefore, a new style has emerged and it is developing and growing on a daily basis. Even I sometimes see that those veteran poets whose style is clear and definite and who have composed poems in that style for many years are being drawn to this new style recently. I can see this in the poems of our old friends who are good and outstanding poets. I am happy that a new poetry movement has thankfully emerged.
Now, I would like to raise certain points. One is that if we were supposed to choose one form of art from among different forms - for example, dramatic and visual arts - so that we can allocate our limited budget to it, then in my opinion, we should choose poetry. This is because if poetry thrives in society, the ground will be prepared for other arts to grow as well. Poetry cannot be compared with other forms of art. At least, this is the case in our country, our society and our history. We have acquired mastery over poetry throughout our history. We enjoy a very old, ancient and valuable history of poetic legacy.
This is not true of all arts. For example, the Europeans and the Greek have had drama since 2,000 years ago, but we do not. We are behind them in the area of fiction. The art of novel and fiction in the west - particularly during the past two, three centuries - is not comparable to what exists in our country and to our achievements in this area. They are ahead of us to a great extent. We are behind them in these forms of art, but this is not the case with poetry. We are among top countries in terms of the progress of poetry and the firm establishment of this art in our society. Well, this is a prominent form of art. Therefore, no matter how hard we study and work on poetry and how many pieces of research and managerial tasks - such as organization, categorization and division - we carry out, it is not enough. I would like to ask veterans in the area of poetry - in the present time, many youth of the revolutionary era have fortunately grown and they have become veteran poets - executive officials and those who are involved with executive organizations to think about and to work and plan on poetry management because the country has great talent in this regard.
In the meeting that was held in mid-Ramadan a few years ago, I insisted that you should establish a literary society, but I did not hear that a large number of literary societies were established. When, we ask why, they say, "they did not support us". They expect the Art Organization, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and executive organizations to support them so that a literary society can be established, but establishing a literary society is not like that. A literary society means a place where five, 10 poets gather together because of their poetic motivations to recite poems for one another. Gradually, other people can join them if they like it and if they do not like it, they can choose not to join them. This is a literary society. In fact, it is like a nursery and greenhouse for cultivating the saplings and flowers of this art. Establishing such a center is necessary and it does not need assistance offered by such and such an organization. Of course, it is better if organizations help, but if they do not do so, this should not be an excuse for poets to stop pursuing the matter on their own.
We had the best poets in Mashhad. In a particular period of time, the poets in Mashhad were really the best in the country. We knew all of them very well. Mashhad poets - both those who composed qasidas and those who composed ghazals - were among the best. During the time when these individuals were active, there were only three literary societies in Mashhad. One was established by the late Negarandeh. These literary meetings were held in his own house. And the house did not belong to him, he had rented it. Once in a while, he changed his house and those who wanted to participate in the meetings had to get the new address. At that time, I was in Qom. Whenever I went to Mashhad, I participated in the meetings. This continued until I moved back to Mashhad. This was one literary society and 10, 15 individuals participated in it.
There was one samovar there and the late Negarandeh himself poured tea for the poets. Mr. Shafiee Kadkani, Mirzazadeh, Ghahraman and Qodsi cultivated their talents in those meetings. In the beginning, they were not so outstanding. When the late Sahebkar - known as Sohi - joined the society, he was a clergyman, but he had poetic talent and he used to compose ghazals. A few years ago, when he passed away, he was one of the outstanding experts in Indian style. He was not so outstanding in the beginning. He grew in those meetings. Even Mr. Ghahraman - who is really a prominent and brilliant poet - was not so outstanding when he participated in the meetings in the years 1337 and 1338. However, he and others cultivated their talents there.
There was another literary society whose meetings were held on Fridays in the late Farrokh's house. This literary society had 10, 15, 20 participants. Another literary society was recently established by Mr. Ghahraman. The meetings were held in his house. Some time ago I went to Mashhad and Mr. Ghahraman said to me that the meetings are still held in his house. This is a literary society. In such societies, poets can cultivate their talents and gradually eliminate their weak points - there is no poet without any weak point - and develop their poems. Of course, if they are lucky to benefit from a veteran poet, expert and genius, it will be much better. If not, they will not be as good. Therefore, a literary society is very necessary and you should attend to it.
I request that both officials - whether the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance or the Art Organization - and veteran poets work on poetry. Poetry should not be in the hands of those who know nothing about it, who consider it as a small hobby and who do not understand it correctly. You yourselves should gather together and compose poems. Wherever a literary society exists and some people recite their poems together, poetry grows. This is one point.
Another point is that your poetic talent is not a minor gift. It is a great divine gift which has been offered to you. Compare your gift to those who are very strong physically. Your gift is more important than theirs. Compare it with those who have a lot of money and who have the chance to earn a lot of money. Your gift is more important than theirs. Compare it with those who have important positions. For example, some people are managers and bosses in certain places and they do not have your gift. Your gift is more important than the positions that they occupy. Compare it with those who have the gift of beauty. Some people are good looking or they have a good voice - of course, this is a gift, a great one - but yours is better than theirs. Poetic talent is an outstanding divine blessing. God has given you a large and endless bag of jewelry. You can get your hands into the bag, pull out some and spend. And you do not spend it to eat and scrape a living. Rather, you spend it on more important things. This gift has been given to you by God.
I do not say that you should not use your poetic talent to express your human feelings and emotions. You know that this is unavoidable. But I say that you should use a great part of this divine gift on those things that Allah the Exalted and religion expect. You should use it on those paths which Allah the Exalted likes. It should not be the case that you do not use this valuable divine gift in the way of God. I do not only mean ayini [religious] poetry. Ayini and monotheistic poetry, Ahlul Bayt eulogy, marsiyah [elegy] and the like are terms that you use. Of course, all these poetic forms are valuable, but I do not only mean these. Rather, I mean all those forms that are needed for society one of the most important of which is the kind of poetry that attends to the issues of the Revolution and the country.
You should be men of your own time. The present time is an important era. I have extensively toured Iran's long history road - particularly the part after Islam. I have studied different dynasties, the social and political developments of the country, wars and monarchies. But I do not think that in our millennium-long history, the country has witnessed an event as great as the event of the Islamic Revolution. I do not know any event that is as great as this one in the country. We had many bitter events, but great victories - during which a people suddenly begin to blossom and grow and the different walls that had been built around them suddenly begin to break - had never happened in the country. Before the victory of the Revolution, this country had never witnessed great victories during which a people begin to grow and bring about a great change in the course of 20, 30 years.
Although it is true that certain dynasties and monarchies emerged and the country enjoyed military and political power in their time, the people played no role. For example, an Abbasid or Tahmasbi king or a Safavid Ismail carried out certain tasks. The way they ruled was not different from the way kings before them ruled. There was the same dictatorship, tyranny and monopoly of power. The people played no part. Such intelligent, courageous and brave participation and growth of the people in political, military and social arenas did not exist at all. Such a thing did never exist throughout our history. At least, I did not witness it. Anyone who has witnessed it should mention it.
So, poetry is a good farm for growing culture, thinking and art. This is the area where you should be in charge. You should utilize your talent to portray the present time. With your portrayal, you can enrich the present time. The better, the more correct, powerful and meaningful poems you compose, the richer your time will be. Your poems fill the bowl of the time with valuable and rich content. So, this is your responsibility. As I said, we do not expect poets to avoid using their poetic talent to express their feelings and emotions. After all, poets have feelings and you know better than others what kind of feelings poets have. They have delicate and sensitive feelings and they easily become sad and upset. Poets have a talent to express their feelings. So, I am not saying that they should not express their complaints and pains. I am not saying that they should not express their enthusiasm, love and interests. We cannot expect them to do so.
If someone has this expectation of poets, their expectation is unrealistic. Of course, we have had certain poets who did not have this characteristic. For example, Nasir Khusraw was totally devoted to his school. Another example is Vaez Qazvini who composed poems in the Indian style. He was a good and outstanding poet and his poetry is as good as Kalim and other such poets. He is not less outstanding than Kalim, Hajj Mohammad Qodsi and other such poets. In fact, he was their contemporary. But he was a preacher and he composed didactic poems. He did not touch on ghazal and lighthearted subjects. We have had such poets as well.
Therefore, I do not expect poets to compose such poems. I myself have composed some poems and it is not the case that I did not express my feelings in them. I too have expressed my feelings in my poems. But I say that you should be like Hafiz. Hafiz composed mystic poems. Of course, I do not say that by "Lucky Shiraz and its unique condition" he meant a spiritual Shiraz. This is not what I say. He was a poet like others. But he was interested in mysticism and he dedicated part of his life and his valuable gift to such poems. We say that you should do the same. We expect all ladies and gentlemen - particularly young poets - to do so.
The last point is that when you express your heartfelt emotions and feelings, you should observe limits. That is to say, you should preserve your modesty and morality. You should know that the poems that Forugh Farrokhzad composed at that time were not accepted by the world of intellectuals of those days. We were in touch with them. Even those individuals who used to go to Tehran's coffee houses and bars to drink and who were carried out of the bar while they are completely drunk did not believe in open and decadent poems - like those of Forugh Farrokhzad's. This was while a totally different culture was dominant in those days. That era was the era of bitter, ugly and decadent realities part of which was portrayed in the poems of some poets. I do not want to mention other female poets. This is because first, Forugh Farrokhzad has passed away and second, I believe that she found salvation in the end. Others did not and will not find salvation. Therefore, I will not mention their names.
What I am saying is that young girls should not think that if they are to compose a poem about their heartfelt emotions, they should go deep. It is good for one to observe limits.
I hope that all of you will be alive next year and if we are alive as well, we can be at your service and listen to even better things.
I have written down another point to discuss, but I will not expand on it because it requires a long discussion. I will speak about it briefly. We can witness signs of an anxiety and perplexity in the poems of some young poets - I witnessed this in some poems tonight. For example, a poet in this meeting said, "Take care of the chicks of my faith". Of course, this anxiety is a holy one. It is very good and I am happy to see these anxieties in young poets. But on the other hand, my heart trembles and I ask to myself why they have such anxieties. This anxiety and perplexity or a mixture of them should be removed from poetry. And the way to do so is to strengthen one's faith and understanding. Fortunately, you have the capability to do so.
Poetic experts and great personalities in this area should speak more clearly. Both Mr. Ali Moalem and others should do so. They should speak more clearly and express the intellectual principles and lessons that they have learned in the correct way so that readers can understand them easily. You should take care not to confuse your readers. Well, you want to say something that others can understand. You use powerful words and good subject matters, but it will be like this couplet: "I am confused and my warm flower is an excuse". Of course, our Afghan friend and poet has translated Bidel's poems and to be fair, his translation is good and satisfactory, but it is confusing in any way. When those who have been in touch with Indian-style poetry for 30, 40, 50 years fail to understand it after trying hard, this is considered to be a weak point. If an ordinary person does not understand its meaning, it is alright. But those who are deeply familiar with poetry should understand what you say.
I hope that God will bestow success on all of you. I thank the friends in this meeting, particularly those gentlemen who were in charge of managing the meeting - both Mr. Qazveh who really carried out an outstanding piece of work and Mr. Feyz for the long tribute that that he recited for Mr. Qazveh. It was an interesting tribute which eternalized Mr. Qazveh's name in history! I also thank the other friends who cooperated in organizing the meeting.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings