Ceremony commemorating birth anniversary of the noted Iranian Azerbaijani poet Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Behjat Tabrizi, aka Shahriyar, was held in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan province, on Saturday.
His birth anniversary (September 18) has been designated as 'National Day of Persian Poetry and Literature', IRNA reported.
Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini will attend the event which is sponsored by the provincial Culture and Islamic Guidance Department.
Born in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan province, Shahriyar is the only Iranian poet who composed poems in both Persian and Azerbaijani languages.
He published his first book of poems in 1929, with prefaces by Mohammad Taqi Bahar, Saeed Nafisi and Pejman Bakhtiyari.
His poems are mainly influenced by Persian classical poets such as Hafez.
His most famous poem 'Heydar-Babaya Salam', in Azerbaijani, is considered to be among the best modern poems in the language and has been translated into many foreign languages.
Published in 1954, the poem won the immense affection of both the Turkish and Iranian speakers.
'Heydar Babaya Salam' was named after a mountain where the poet spent his childhood. It has been translated into over 30 languages, especially in Turkic-speaking countries.
Shahriyar was also interested in humanistic issues and his poem 'A letter to Einstein' criticizes the scientist's work.
His verse takes diverse forms, including quatrains, couplets, odes and elegies.
Since he uses slang and colloquial language in his poetry, his poems are understandable to a broad segment of the public.