Iqbal Lahori

TEHRAN, Nov. 8--A former instructor of Mashhad University's Persian Language and Literature Department has said that self-awareness is the basis of reforms advocated by the distinguished Pakistani poet and philosopher Allameh Iqbal Lahori.
Speaking to ISNA on the occasion of Iqbal's death anniversary, Mohammad Mahdi Rokni added that Iqbal considered love in life and evading poverty as necessary prelude to self-awareness.
Rokni described love as the reason for the permanence and stability of Iqbal's philosophy, saying that he always invited mankind to express love because he knew that it promotes inner pursuits and can serve as a source of significant and gifted acts.
Noting that Iqbal's love was not merely a Platonic one, Rokni pointed out that in fact in his works he meant love for humanity, freedom and independence.
"Everywhere he speaks of love, he surely means love for enhancement and progress," he observed.
Referring to Iqbal's multi-dimensional character, Rokni said that the characteristic is completely evident in his anthology of poems.
The interesting point is that Iqbal chooses the Persian language as a means to express his mystic ideas, Mashhad University's instructor said.
Describing Iqbal's world as dynamic so as to breathe life into the backward society, he said that it is the reason why he has been called poet of life.
Since he used his talent to introduce social reforms into the society, he has been called the architect of Pakistan, he pointed out.
Iqbal's mother tongue was Punjabi and his national language was Urdu but two third of his poems are in Persian. This is while he neither visited Iran nor used to speak in Persian.

TEHRAN, Nov. 8--Historical and cultural studies on historic monuments in Tafresh, Markazi province, will begin soon.
Preliminary information provided by archeologists show that Tafresh dates back to the era of the Medes.
The city is situated to the north of Arak and ranks second after Saveh in terms of historical monuments, director-general of provincial Tourism and Cultural Heritage Department said.
Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini told Cultural Heritage news agency that the present location of Tafresh is within the territory once governed by the Medes, Achaemenids and Partians.
"Many cultural and historic monuments from the Sasanid era to post-Islam period, including the Safavid, Zandieh and Qajar are still located in Tafresh," he added.
Hosseini asserted that Markazi Tourism and Cultural Heritage Department intends to draw up a cultural and historical ID for the province's historic monuments and provide researchers with a more precise account of the era to which the monuments belonged.
"The research will also determine the era the Zoroastrian clerics of Tafresh belonged to," he noted.

TEHRAN, Nov. 8--An Iranian graphic artist and instructor said that the entries for the Biennial Exhibition of Posters from the Islamic World should be judged by a Muslim panel of jury and the presence of foreigners in the jury is intolerable.
Saeed Ajami told Fars news agency, "I am not involved in the biennial, but as a Muslim artist, I cannot accept that officials in the cultural-artistic field invite Westerners to judge an exclusively Islamic artistic event."
It is clear that a person who wants to judge such works should be familiar with the concepts of Islamic world and his/her knowledge on religious issues should supercede his/her cultural awareness, he noted.
Ajami recalled that Academy of Arts has selected the panel of jury from Europe and East Asia, disregarding the efforts of committed artists including Ali Vazirian and Seyyed Hamid Sharifi, who were working in the biennial's Policymaking Council.
The artists have resigned in protest against the move, he said. "Does the Academy of Arts believe that the committed persons in the country know nothing about art?" he asked, adding that if it thinks so, it can call on all the artists to present their capabilities in an exhibition.
This will surely make things clearer, he said.
Meanwhile, Vazirian, who resigned from the biennial's Policymaking Council, said that he will not submit his 60 selected posters for the Palestine Section of the event due to the incompetence of foreign judges. "The posters have been submitted for the biennial for our credibility and we will not put them at the disposal of the event unless the composition of the panel of jury is changed," he said.
If the judgment of the biennial is not assigned to Muslims, these posters will be displayed later at an appropriate time, he concluded.

TEHRAN, Nov. 8--Men of arts and culture are becoming increasingly sensitive about the translation of the holy Qur'an for different age groups.
The Persian daily Iran noted that following the translation of the holy Qur'an by Bahaeddin Khorramshahi into Persian poems, the issue has drawn the attention of authors. An author of children's books Shahram Shafiei said that those who want to translate the Qur'an for children and young adults should have rendered at least 10 Arabic books into Persian.
He said that those translating the holy Qur'an should have a good command of Arabic and interpretations of the sacred book in the same way as the translators of Persian literature for children and young adults.
Shafiei said that comparing several translations and translating a new piece through comparative study of other translations is unacceptable.
Deploring the publication of books for children and young adults through comparative studies of several books as a disaster, he cautioned that such tactics should not be used in translating the holy Qur'an.

Shahin Farhat

TEHRAN, Nov. 8--An Iranian composer and university lecturer Shahin Farhat has composed a symphony on Imam Reza (AS) and is waiting for the birth anniversary of the eighth Imam of Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) infallible household to perform the symphony with Tehran Symphonic Orchestra.
According to ISNA, Farhat said that he wanted to compose a symphony for Imam Reza (AS) for a long time when he was studying in Sweden and he began working on the composition from 2002.
He wished the Music Center of the Ministry of Culture and the Islamic Guidance would have ordered him to do the job, but he began to work on it because he had felt the need for it.
According to Farhat he had seen that western composers like Bach has composed several symphonies about Christian personalities and he said that he decided to compose symphonies about the Islamic heroes.
Farhat studied the biography of Imam Reza (AS) and also reviewed a description of Ashura--the 10th day of the lunar month of Moharram, which marked the martyrdom anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) grandson Imam Hussein (AS)--written by Sharifian.
Inspired by the lofty personality of Imam Reza (AS), Farhat composed the symphony in four parts--the first is a sonnet reflecting the sufferings of Imam Reza (AS) for the prosperity of humanity, rhythms of the Imam's heart which is a slow and mystical note, the second part reflects the thoughts of Imam Reza (AS) and his resolve to communicate with God, the third part is about the earthly life and Imam Reza's advice to the people how to live in line with the Islamic principles. The fourth part is about the blessings of the life of the Imam. Imam Reza believed that given the hardships he suffered during his life to establish Islamic principles, the people came to understand his lessons so that Islam will prevail.

TEHRAN, Nov. 8--Member of Visual Arts Association Seifollah Samadian said that the artists should have a sense of independence, as this is a prerequisite for creation of significant artistic works.
"As long as an artist is dependent upon a state agency, he cannot assume a transparent way of expressing something which the society expects from him/her. Such an artist cannot inspire the society as this is the foremost expectation from an artist," Samadian said.
The Persian daily Iran said that monopoly at the national and international level is detrimental to the arts community as well as to the visual arts. "An artist should have a sense that he does not need to rely on a government center for example, the Visual Arts Center or Tehran Contemporary Arts Museum. The associations of artists are good means to persuade the officials in charge of state institutes to respect the independence of artists enabling them to promote their creativity skills and freely communicate with the audience," he said.

TEHRAN, Nov. 8--Composer and spokesman of Iran Music House Mohammad Sarir has called for respecting copyright in the music sector to ensure that the rights of musicians and singers and orchestra players are not violated.
Speaking to Mehr news, he said that first of all, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) should honor the copyrights of the musicians and singers.
"Unfortunately, the IRIB does not easily respect copyright. I don't know whether it is possible to make the national television honor the rights of producers of the songs," Sarir said.
"Albums which are being produced after intense efforts and hard work by musicians and singers are being copied and sold illegally by peddlers and no one cares to take any action," he said.
The composer called for enforcing the copyright law.