TEHRAN -- Poet Hamid Sabzevari, best known for his revolutionary works such as “Khomeini, Oh Imam!” and “USA, USA, Shame on Your Deceits!”, is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, his wife, Dowlat Bahar, said on Tuesday.

“His illness has worsened compared to what it has been over the past few months,” she said in press release.

“Sometimes, he can’t even recognize our children,” she added.

However, she said that 90-year-old Sabzevari attended the annual meeting of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei with literati in mid-Ramadan and recited verses from his poems.

“On the way to the Leader’s home, he forgot several times where he was going, but our son reminded him,” Bahar stated.

“He doesn’t read books or compose poetry anymore,” she lamented.

Ayatollah had previously asked cultural officials to arrange a special commemoration for Sabzevari.

The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in collaboration with the Hakim Sabzevari University commemorated Sabzevari during a ceremony in his hometown Sabzevar in Khorasan Razavi Province in October 2012.

Born as Hossein-Aqa Momtaheni in 1925, Sabzevari began composing poetry at the age of 14. He has composed poems in different styles including couplets, sonnets and blank verse.

In 1979, he composed “Khomeini, Oh Imam!” in praise of Imam Khomeini, the founder of Islamic Republic. The poem was performed and recorded by a group of students weeks before the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

He is the composer of “USA, USA, Shame on Your Deceits!”, which was performed by a chorus and solo tenor Esfandiar Qarabaghi after the occupation of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.

His poem “This Is the Call of Freedom from the Orient” was performed by singer Mohammad Golriz after the victory of the revolution.

Ayatollah Khamenei has called Sabzevari “a talented poet who always supports the achievements of the Islamic Revolution in his works.”

Photo: Poet Hamid Sabzevari reads book at his home in Tehran in an undated photo.

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