Abai is resonating in the East again. In Tehran, the legacy of the Kazakh thinker was presented as part of a broader cultural space linking Kazakhstan, Iran and other member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization, DKNews.kz reports.
On August 26, the international seminar “Abai’s Legacy – World Pride of Kazakhstan” was held at the ECO Cultural Institute in Tehran, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. Diplomats, representatives of international organizations, Abai scholars, academics, intellectuals and media representatives took part in the event.
In Tehran, Abai’s legacy was called a shared treasure of ECO countries
One of the main messages came from the host institution.
Muhammad Hassan, President of the ECO Cultural Institute, praised Abai’s work and described his spiritual legacy as a common heritage of the organization’s member states.
For Kazakhstan, such an assessment broadens the way Abai is presented beyond the framework of a purely national literary canon. His ideas are being introduced to audiences across countries connected by historical, cultural and literary ties.
Scholars from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran and Uzbekistan also took part in the seminar, discussing different aspects of Abai’s literary and philosophical legacy.
Persian has become a cultural bridge to Iranian readers
The Tehran event had another significant feature: Abai’s works have already been translated into Persian.
Official Kazakh materials describe the translation of his poetry and prose into Persian as an important part of Kazakh-Iranian literary ties. These translations allow Iranian readers to engage not only with Abai’s poetry, but also with his reflections on humanity, knowledge, morality and society.
This work did not begin recently. In 2020, Kazhmukhamed Shatkam, a researcher of the history of ethnic Kazakhs in Iran and a translator of Abai’s works into Persian, received Kazakhstan’s Order of Dostyk, Second Class, for his contribution to promoting the poet’s legacy.
That is what gives translation particular value in cultural diplomacy: it turns a one-off commemorative event into long-term access to literature that remains available after the conference itself ends.
The East was part of Abai’s intellectual world
The link with Iran also has a literary foundation.
Official materials on Abai’s legacy note that he was familiar with the works of major Eastern classics, including Ferdowsi, Nizami, Saadi, Jami and Hafez. Eastern literature was one of the important sources that shaped his creative worldview.
That gives the discussion of Abai in Tehran a dual meaning. Kazakhstan is introducing its national classic to a Persian-speaking audience, while at the same time returning his work to a cultural space that helped influence his own intellectual development.
This theme is also explored in a publication by Kazakhstan’s diplomatic mission in Iran on Abai’s connection with the Eastern world. It presents Abai as a thinker who combined elements of Eastern and Western intellectual traditions with the realities of Kazakh society.
Onalbayev highlighted five core ideas in Abai’s legacy
Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Iran, Ontalap Onalbayev, delivered a presentation titled “On the Great Abai.”
The diplomat described Abai as an outstanding thinker, poet, educator and founder of modern Kazakh national literature. He placed particular emphasis on several recurring themes in Abai’s legacy: knowledge, labor, honesty, national unity and a just society.
These ideas make it possible to present Abai to foreign audiences without limiting the discussion to the history of nineteenth-century Kazakhstan. Education, work, personal responsibility and justice are themes that remain understandable across languages and borders.
That is where cultural diplomacy gains practical value: a national figure becomes recognizable abroad through ideas that carry broader human meaning.
Kazakhstan is taking Abai beyond commemorative dates
The Tehran seminar was held several weeks after Abai Day, observed on August 10.
In 2026, events dedicated to the thinker’s legacy were also held in other countries. In Paris, participants read excerpts from the Words of Edification and performed Abai’s songs; in Seoul, flowers were laid at his monument; and in Abu Dhabi, a research conference focused on his work.
Tehran stands out in this series because of its linguistic and historical-cultural connection to Abai’s intellectual world.
Persian translations make it possible to reach not only diplomatic audiences, but also Iranian readers, researchers and university communities.
From a national classic to a globally recognized thinker
Kazakhstan has clearly defined the broader objective of this work: to present Abai to the international public as a figure of universal significance.
That task is more demanding than holding anniversary events or unveiling monuments. International recognition requires quality translations, academic research, the presence of his works in universities and libraries, and sustained interest from scholars abroad.
In Tehran, several of these elements came together at once: Persian-language translations, researchers from four countries, an international institutional platform and direct attention to the Eastern sources that influenced Abai’s work.
We previously reported on how Abai’s legacy was presented in France and how his philosophy became part of Kazakhstan’s cultural dialogue with foreign audiences. In Paris, his works were presented in Kazakh and French; in Tehran, Persian became the main cultural bridge.
The international reach of Abai can now be measured less by the number of events held in his honor and more by how many languages his works are read in and how deeply his ideas enter the academic and cultural life of other countries.
