DUSHANBE, September 3, Asia-Plus -- An official opening of a monument of great the Persian-Tajik poet jurist and theologian Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi will be held in Qurghon Teppa, the capital of the Khatlon province, on September 9. 

It is the first monument of Rumi in Tajikistan.  

Safarbek Sharipov, an official with the Qurghon Teppa mayor’s office, told Asia-Plus that senior representative from the Tajik government, as well as participants of an international conference dedicated to the 800th anniversary of Rumi, which will be held in Dushanbe on September 7-8, are expected to attend the monument-opening ceremony.    .

Rumi was born in Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan), then a city of Greater Khorasan in Persia and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey).  His birthplace and native language/local dialogue indicates a Persian-Tajik heritage.  His poetry is in Persian and his works are widely read in Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and in translation especially in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the United States, and South Asia. 

Rumi''s importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders.  Throughout the centuries he has had a significant influence on Persian as well as Urdu and Turkish literature.  His poems have been widely translated into many of the world''s languages in various formats.