TEHRAN - Iran’s prominent cleric, Ayatollah Lotfollah Saafi Golpayegani, has passed away at the age of 103 following a cardiac arrest at a hospital in the holy city of Qom.
Ayatollah Saafi Golpayegani’s office said the senior scholar had been hospitalized in Qom over the past week and passed away late Monday.
He had been teaching and researching in the seminary of Qom for many years, during which he trained hundreds of researchers and wrote dozens of scientific books.
He was a member of the Assembly of Constitutional Experts which is tasked with appointing the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Guardian Council that vets candidates for public office.
Ayatollah Saafi Golpayegani was also one of the pillars in the field of explaining and promoting Islamic Jurisprudence and a great master in mysticism and practical ethics.
Born in February 1919 in Iran’s central city of Golpaygan, Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani became a Grand Ayatollah and a Marja’a (a source to follow), a title given to the highest Shia authorities.
The late cleric has written scores of religious books in Persian and Arabic, some of which have won annual national book awards.

Messages of Condolences

In a message on Tuesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei paid tribute to the late cleric, calling him a pillar of the seminary of Qom and a prominent scholar with extensive experience in religious studies.
The Leader hailed Ayatollah Saafi Golpaygani as a faithful and trustworthy companion of late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini, saying he always commented on affairs relating to the Islamic Revolution and the country compassionately and responsibly.
Ayatollah Khamenei also praised Ayatollah Saafi Golpaygani for his talent in poetry, his long-term memory, and attention to social issues.
The Leader described the loss as a source of grief for Iran’s religious seminaries and offered condolences to his family, scholars of religious schools, and his followers.
In a message, President Ebrahim Raisi said “the passing the top Shia authority, Grand Ayatollah Saafi Golpayegani, was a cause of great sorrow and grief”.
“This great scholar… had deep religious insight, asceticism and simplicity and a heart full of love for Islam and the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), especially Imam Mahdi (AS) and dedicated his precious life to the struggle for the spread of Islamic knowledge and the Islamic system.”
The president said Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani’s works and deeds will continue to be “an inspiration and a beacon for scholars, clerics and seminaries”.
The cabinet declared Wednesday a day of national mourning.
In a message, top Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali al-Sistani said he was greatly saddened by the news.
“The loss of that noble man who was one of the masters of the holy seminary of Qom and the virtuous figures of the time and exemplary servants of religion is a great loss,” he said.