TEHRAN – The birthday of Rudaki, who is widely regarded as the father of Persian poetry, will be celebrated tomorrow in Tehran.

The celebration will take place at 2 pm at the Rudaki Open-Air Theater near Vahdat Hall, the Rudaki Foundation has announced.

During the celebration, the foundation plans to introduce three books, one of which is “Rudakilike”.

The book contains over 20 articles about Rudaki, compiled by Marzieh Daliri-Asl under the supervision of Rudaki expert Mohammad-Jafar Yahaqqi.

The book throws new light on the unfamiliar aspects of Rudaki’s poetry and life.

A collection of articles compiled with contributions from litterateur Neder Karimian Sardashti will also be introduced.

A collection carrying a number of musical scores written by Kiavash Sahebnasaq for poems by Rudaki will also be unveiled.

The 4th of the month of Dey on the Iranian calendar, which falls on December 25 this year, has been registered as the day of Rudaki by the General Culture Council of Iran.

However, the day will be registered officially on the 1401 calendar of Iranian year.

Rudaki, the byname of Abu Abdollah Jafar ibn Mohammad, was born c. 859 in Rudak, Khorasan and died in 940/941. He was the first poet of note to compose poems in the “New Persian,” written in the Arabic alphabet, and consequently, he is widely regarded as the father of Persian poetry.

A talented singer and instrumentalist, Rudaki served as a court poet to the Samanid ruler Nasr II (914–943) in Bukhara until he fell out of favor in 937. 

He ended his life in wretched poverty. Approximately 100,000 couplets are attributed to Rudaki, but of that enormous output, fewer than 1,000 have survived, and these are scattered among many anthologies and biographical works. 

His poems are written in a simple style, characterized by optimism and charm and, toward the end of his life, by touching melancholy. 

In addition to parts of his divan (collection of poems), one of his most important contributions to literature is his translation from Arabic into New Persian of Kalilah wa Dimnah, a collection of fables of Indian origin. 

Later retellings of these fables owe much to this lost translation of Rudaki, which further ensured his fame in Perso-Islamic literature.

Photo: Tomb of Rudaki in the village of Panjrud, Tajikistan.

MMS/YAW