TEHRAN-The funeral procession for the renowned Iranian poet, writer, critic and lawyer Mohammad-Ali Eslami Nodooshan was held in Tehran on Monday. 

The renowned figure passed away last April in Canada at the age of 97. His body was temporarily buried there and after about 18 months, his remains arrived in Tehran on Sunday, IRNA reported.

On Monday morning, a number of literary figures gathered in front of the Faculty of Literature, the University of Tehran, where the funeral procession started.

The attendees carried the coffin containing the body of Nodooshan from the Faculty of Literature to the Faculty of Law. He had served as a professor for many years at both faculties. 

According to his will, after holding ceremonies in Tehran and Yazd, where he was born, Nodooshan’s remains will be buried in Neyshabur, northeastern Iran. He will be buried next to the graves of the famous Iranian poet, hagiographer, and theoretician of Sufism Attar of Nishapur, and the renowned Iranian astronomer, philosopher, and poet Omar Khayyam.

Nodooshan’s academic journey began in Yazd, where he graduated from high school before earning his BA in law from the University of Tehran. He then moved to Paris to pursue his MA and Ph.D. Upon returning to Iran, he began teaching literature and law at the University of Tehran, quickly becoming one of its prominent professors and one of Iran’s renowned writers.

His fame extends beyond Iran, reaching thinkers, writers, and scholars around the world. Nodooshan’s magnificent works have significantly contributed to promoting the Persian language and literature.

Nodooshan’s tireless efforts to familiarize people worldwide with Iranian literature and his deep sense of patriotism are truly commendable and will continue to inspire future generations.

He spent his life studying the scientific and literary works of Iranian writers and translating books by the world’s great writers, all of which have been published in over 50 books.  

“Iran’s Conscience: Ferdowsi, Rumi, Sadi, Hafez” is one of his wonderful books. This book covers a series of lectures he gave at the Book City Institute in Tehran in the late 1990s.

His studies on Persian poet Hafez are among the most useful sources of information for Persian literature scholars. Among them are “Endless Story of Hafez” and “Contemplation on Hafez”.

Some of his massive studies on the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), the epic masterpiece of the Persian poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi, are contained in the books “The Story of Stories: Rustam and Esfandiar in the Shahnameh” and “Heroes’ Death and Life in the Shahnameh”.

“Days”, his autobiography covering his life story from age 4 to 53, became a bestseller in 2016 when it was first published.

“Testimony for Progeny”, which contains helpful advice for the younger generation in Iran on how to find their ways in life, was published in 2019 and turned out to be his last book. 

A street in Tehran’s District 6 was named after Mohammad-Ali Eslami Nodooshan in November 2020, and a bust of the Iranian scholar was set up at the intersection of that street with Vesal Shirazi St.

A boulevard in the central city of Yazd was also named after him at the same time. The City Council in his hometown Nodooshan had previously named a square after him.

SS/SAB