Sheikh Sa‘di Taught Humanity in All Facets: Iran Envoy

The Iran Culture House (ICH) hosted the 8th Sheikh Sa‘di Award Ceremony, where well-known Persian academics and university professors who have contributed to the Persian literature were honoured with cash and citations.

Written by

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Published on

December 24, 2022

The Iran Culture House (ICH) hosted the 8th Sheikh Sa‘di Award Ceremony, where well-known Persian academics and university professors who have contributed to the Persian literature were honoured with cash and citations.

Ali Chegeni, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ambassador to India, spoke at the event and highlighted Sheikh Sa‘di’s life and achievements.

Sa‘di is widely recognised as one of the best poets of the classical literary tradition, earning him the moniker “Master of Speech,” “The Wordsmith,” or simply “Master” among Persian scholars, said Chegeni.

Sa‘di, according to the Iranian envoy, taught humanity in all facets of his books and messages. He presented the methods of high-level communication between youths, i.e. between two nations, in his book Gulistan-e-Bustan.

Sa‘di Shīrāzī, better known by his pen name Sa‘di, also known as Sadi of Shiraz, was a major Persian poet and prose writer of the medieval period. He is recognised for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts.

Dr. Syed Farooq congratulated the ICH for encouraging the literary tradition and the awardees. He claimed that when he was a kid, reading Bustan was a must.

Sa‘di has been quoted in the Western traditions as well and Bustan has been ranked as one of the 100 greatest books of all time by London’s The Guardian, Dr Farooq said.

Among those who were conferred Sheikh Sa‘di Award are Prof. Mahmood Alam, Prof. Muhammad Mansoor Alam Masoodi, Prof. Muhammad Asif Naeem Siddiqui, Prof. Zakir Sharif,  Prof. Akhlaq Ahmad Ahan Ansari, Prof. Syed Mohammad Asad Alayhi, Dr. Syed Kaleem Ather, Prof. Ali Musharraf Khan, Prof. Rajendra Kumar, Dr. Syed Mohammad son of Dr. Mohammad Sajid Khan and Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Wali.  Each award was bestowed  with a citation, a cash reward of Rs 25,000.

The seventh Sheikh Sa‘di Award ceremony was cancelled owing to the Covid-19 outbreak, according to ICH Director Mohammad Ali Rabbani. This was held in conjunction with the 8th ceremony.