TEHRAN -- A ceremony honoring Rudaki, widely regarded as the father of Persian poetry, was held on Tuesday in Tehran, bringing together Iranian and Tajik cultural figures to highlight the poet’s enduring legacy and the shared literary heritage of the Persian-speaking world.
The event, titled The Scent of the Muliyan Stream, was organized by Iran’s Association for Cultural Heritage and Eminent Figures in cooperation with the Embassy of Tajikistan in Iran and the Rudaki Foundation. It also included a tribute to Khwaju Kermani, the 14th-century Iranian poet, linking two major figures in Persian literary history.
Opening the ceremony, Mahmoud Shalui, head of the association, described the fourth century Hijri as a formative period for Persian poetry. That era, he said, began with Rudaki and later reached its heights through poets such as Sana’i, Attar, Rumi, Sa‘di and Hafez. 
Although only a limited number of Rudaki’s verses have survived, Shalui said they continue to convey themes of human connection, kindness and joy.
Shalui also announced plans to restore Rudaki’s mausoleum in Tajikistan, describing the poet as a shared cultural figure whose legacy belongs to all Persian-speaking communities.
Nizam al-Din Zahedi, Tajikistan’s ambassador to Iran, said Rudaki played a central role in establishing Persian as a literary language at a time when Arabic dominated scholarship and poetry. 
By shaping poetic forms and expressive structures, he said, Rudaki laid the groundwork for more than a thousand years of Persian literary tradition. Zahedi called for greater academic cooperation between Iran and Tajikistan to produce a comprehensive and critically edited collection of Rudaki’s surviving works.
Poet Morteza Amiri Esfandeghe told the gathering that classical Persian poetry continues to play an active role in everyday life in Tajikistan, based on his own travels in the country.
The ceremony concluded with remarks by Ali Ravaqi, a prominent scholar of Persian language and literature, who introduced his recently published book on Rudaki’s poetry. The volume includes textual revisions and explanations of archaic vocabulary aimed at making the poet’s work accessible to contemporary readers.
The event also featured a musical performance by artists from the Rudaki Foundation.