TEHRAN -- Mir Jalaleddin Kazzazi, an expert on Persian poet Ferdowsi’s epic masterpiece Shahnameh, was honored during a ceremony at Tehran’s Arasbaran Cultural Center on Tuesday.

The ceremony named “The Enchanter of Enchantment” was organized on the sidelines of the 10th Congress for Commemoration of Ferdowsi, which is underway in several Iranian cities.

A number of Iranian art and cultural figures including vocalist Shahram Nazeri attended the ceremony, the Persian service of MNA reported on Wednesday.

“I am both surprised and ashamed, and that is why speaking at this ceremony is a bit difficult for me, though I have made speeches for many years,” Kazzazi said at the ceremony.

“I am ashamed and surprised to see all this kindness, this generosity and the motive behind holding such a ceremony,” he added.

“Whatever I have done all these years, the research I have conducted, the books I have written, the words I have said and the students I have trained, I expect no word of thanks. I have done all these for my heart, for my own belief,” he continued.

“Whatever I have done is the debt I have paid to this land of Iran. I have enlightened my heart and soul through paying this debt, and have gained a big asset for myself,” he explained.

The ceremony continued with the screening of a documentary on Kazzazi and a live music performance by tanbur virtuoso Sohrab Purnazeri.

Kazzazi later put his signature on a series of stamps printed to commemorate his name and memoirs.

The expert’s three-recently published books were later introduced at the ceremony.

“Yorknameh” contains memoirs of the author during his trip to New York, “Parand-o-Palas” and “The Eye and Light of Spring” contain a collection of his notes and poetry composed over the past few years.


Photo: Mir Jalaleddin Kazzazi speaks during a ceremony that Tehran’s Arasbaran Cultural Center held on May 19, 2015 to commemorate the Shahnameh expert. (Mehr/Khosro Parkhideh)


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