TEHRAN -- A group of poets gathered at the library of Seyyed Jafar Shahidi on Tuesday on the occasion of Iran’s National Day of Poetry and Literature.

Poet Mohammad-Hossein Behjat Tabrizi (Shahriar) died on September 18, 1988, and in 2002, the day was designated as Iran’s National Day of Poetry and Literature.
Poet Esmaeil Amini gave the opening address and talked about the characteristics of Shahriar’s poetry.
Satirist and poet Saeid Biyabanaki was the next speaker and said that he got to know Shahriar and his poetry at a time when he was not composing any poetry, “I liked his poetry and I now know most of his lyrics by heart.”
“Shahriar set the standard for poetry, especially for lyrics, which were far below an acceptable level in his time. He also folded many common proverbs into his poetry,” Biyabanaki added.
Erfan Nazar-Ahari was the next to speak and recited a selection from his poetry, as did several other participants.
Afterwards at the end of the ceremony, selected young poets and poetess were given awards.
Shahriar (1906-1988) published his first book of poems in 1929, with prefaces by Iranian scholars Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Saeid Nafisi, and Pejman Bakhtiari.
His poems are mainly influenced by Hafez. His most famous works are “Heidar Babaya Salam”, a poem dedicated to his birthplace, the village of Heidar Baba, and “The Blessing Bird of Good Omen”, which is about Imam Ali (AS).