RNA – Iftikhar Hussain Arif, the president of ECO Cultural Institute, spoke at the opening ceremony of the Allamah Iqbal Lahori International Conference, which commemorates Allamah Muhammad Iqbal, a great Pakistani thinker, statesman and poet of the Islamic world.
This conference took place in Tehran, Iran with the participation of a prominent group of Iranian and foreign scholars and literary figures who have researched Allamah Iqbal and his works.
Arif, a contemporary Pakistani scholar and poet, said such events strengthen the cultural ties between Iran and Pakistan.
He explained that Allamah Iqbal was a philosopher, scientist and poet whose thoughts emerge through his poetry and was a sympathizer to those who were suppressed by colonialism.
The president of ECO Cultural Institute further explained that through his works, Allamah Iqbal gave the gift of human freedom, including the legacy of democracy, to the Iranian nation. “The spiritual legacy of democracy that Allamah Iqbal presented to the Iranian nation is that democracy is not limited to one society but rather, it belongs to all of humanity,” he explained.
Arif also explained that the late Imam Khomeini viewed Allamah Iqbal as a unique philosopher and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, has referred to him as the “Star of the East” as he was influential among Islamic revolutionary figures and on the foundations of many revolutions, including the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution.
“Among his 12,000 verses of poetry, about 7,000 verses are in Persian. From this we understand that the poetry of Allamah Iqbal is influential among Iranians,” he said.
He stated that Iranians walked on the path that Allamah Iqbal had given them because of the immense importance of Allamah Iqbal’s poetry in inspiring and sustaining the Islamic Revolution.
Referring to the thoughts of Allamah Iqbal, Arif said that the thoughts of Allamah Iqbal show that he was a poet beyond his time and space and was a poet of tomorrow whose works had a great influence on the political and spiritual awakening of Muslims.
The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among its member states.
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