IRNA - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said late Wednesday that Persian poems have always been full of wisdom and ethics, playing a role in producing and deepening thought and inspiring hope.


'This feature and characteristic of Persian poems should be outstanding and brilliant today,' Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with a group of poets and literati on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Imam Hassan Mojtaba (AS), the second Shia imam.

Lauding young Iranian poets for their progress in choosing more beautiful and more meaningful words in their poems, the Supreme Leader said in course of the history of poetry, Persian poems have been known for their pureness and chastity. 'Try to preserve the chastity and pureness of Persian poems,' Ayatollah Khamenei told the audience.

Ayatollah Khamenei also reminded Iranian poets of their mission to lay the groundwork for such issues as justice, resistance and promulgation of ethical virtues.

Referring to the efforts and investment being made by the opponents of the Islamic Revolution to distract Persian poems towards superficial way of thinking, confusion about action, political submission and indifference to confrontation with the enemy, Ayatollah Khamenei said 'To counter such attempts, such concepts as wisdom, perseverance, in-depth way of thinking, solidification of identity and struggle against the enemy must be underlined in poems.'

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution also said that good songs play a very effective role in boosting the morale of the society and social movements and making them vibrant.

People's interest in poetry is an opportunity which should be seized in the best possible manner for conveying the concepts needed by the society, he said.

At the meeting, 31 poets recited their poems in the presence of Ayatollah Khamenei and presented their works to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
Later on the audience participated in a congregational prayers led by Ayatollah Khamenei before breaking their fast.