TEHRAN -- The body of distinguished contemporary Iranian poet Amir-Hushang Ebtehaj, who died earlier this month at age 94, was laid to rest in his home town on Saturday.
Ebtehaj, best known under his nom de plume of Sayeh (The Shadow), was buried at Mohtasham Garden in Rasht where his family and a deluge of his fans and friends attended the ceremony.
Hundreds of Iranians had a day earlier attended his funeral service in the capital to pay farewell to the poet, who shot to prominence after composing lyrical poems themed on love and solitude as well as reflections on the woes of life.
Ebtehaj died of renal failure in his home in Cologne, Germany, on August 10 and his body was transferred to Iran ahead of Friday’s service, which was attended by a crowd of officials, artists and admirers.
“Father always said: I want to return to Rasht where I belong,” Ebtehaj’s daughter, Yalda, said at the gathering. “Although his body will be buried, he will live on in this country with his poetry… he always was with the Iranian people in their sorrow and happiness; his heart was full of the love of Iranian people.”
The poet was one of the founders of the Iranian Writers’ Association (IWA), established in 1968.
In a message, President Ebrahim Raisi lauded the poet for “his role in the rich treasure of Persian literature” and for his “anti-hegemony” poems.