Tehran Times – The performance style of Iran’s icon of Islamic eulogy, Salim Moazzenzadeh Ardebili, was made a National Intangible Cultural Heritage item on Tuesday.

The eulogist of the Prophet Muhammad’s household had his own unique style, which was then followed by his numerous disciples who dubbed him “the king of Iran’s eulogists”, although he used to perform most of his eulogies in the Azeri language.

His full life and decades of eulogy performances were celebrated during a mass funeral for Moazzenzadeh Ardebili in his hometown Ardebil in November 2016 when he passed away at the age of 80. He is buried at Ardebil’s Beheshte Zahra Cemetery.

A number of officials of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) and Ardebil Province attended a ceremony organized at Ardebil’s Beiza Library to announce the decision to register the item on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

“Master Salim Moazzenzadeh Ardebili’s style is part of the province’s cultural and historical identity,” the director of CHTHO Office for Registration and Restoration of Intangible and Natural Heritage, Mostafa Purali, said at the ceremony.

“He preserved the Islamic eulogy principles that remained from the Safavid era, and the CHTHO registered his style to observe his heavenly voice, teachings and service,” he added.

In his short speech, Nader Fallahi, the director of the Ardebil Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department, said, “Master Salim Moazzenzadeh is really part of Ardebil’s spiritual heritage. His expertise in the melodic modes of Persian music helped him progress in Islamic eulogy and made him internationally famous.”

Photo: Eulogist Salim Moazzenzadeh Ardebili performs in an undated photo.