Croatia ceremony honors Mowlavi

Iran's embassy in Croatia celebrates the 800th birth anniversary of prominent Persian poet and mystic Mowlavi in an official ceremony.

The Thursday ceremony held in Iran's embassy in Zagreb was attended by a great number of Croatian university lecturers, students, celebrities and political figures.

Various efforts have been made by the media to introduce Mowlavi to the Croatian people. Literary bimonthly journal Bahar has published a series of articles on the life and works of Mowlavi in the Croatian language.

Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi known as Mowlavi (1207-73) was a 13th century Persian poet, mystic and theologian. He was born in Balkh (now part of Afghanistan) and passed away in Konya.

Mowlavi is better known for his six-volume poem 'Masnavi' which is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of both Islamic mysticism and Persian literature.

UNESCO has named 2007 as the year of Mowlavi in honor of the Persian poet's outstanding achievments.