In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful 
Esteemed Professors, Researchers, and Scholars participating in the First World Congress of Farabi and Islamic Culture and Civilization,
Greetings and welcome.
Hakim Farabi is a renowned thinker, philosopher, and artist whose unique and exceptional contributions have been acknowledged by writers and historians. Throughout his life, he dedicated himself to rationalizing human culture and civilization. By drawing on the legacy of Islamic rationality and engaging in effective and critical dialogue with both Eastern and Western thinkers, Farabi expanded the scope of rationality and integrated many aspects of human life into it. This approach enabled individuals to gain a more expansive and enlightened understanding of their surroundings. Farabi's influence was widespread and many scholars in the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian worlds followed in his footsteps, seeking to free people from ignorance, prejudice, and shortsightedness. He is truly a teacher to whom the Islamic world, the West, and all lovers of ancient wisdom are indebted.
Throughout the centuries after his time, Farabi's ideas and contributions to wisdom, politics, art, culture, and knowledge have been revisited, analyzed, and debated. For Iranians and many neighboring nations, Farabi remains a living thinker whose circumstances and thoughts have led to change and transformation. Today, Farabi's intellectual and philosophical message is once again receiving attention from scientific circles and academic institutions in the West, with translations and re-readings in multiple languages. In the present day, as the world faces new challenges, there is a need for critical engagement with the past and the revival of important heritages in new forms, making Farabi an invaluable resource for contemporary researchers.
In June of this year, the supreme leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei, emphasized the establishment of a joint working group for Farabi studies between Iran and Kazakhstan during a meeting with the president of Kazakhstan. This joint cooperation was deemed a promising field for the development of scientific and cultural collaboration. The current World Congress of Farabi and Islamic Culture and Civilization, organized by the Institute of Cultural and Social Studies, the Permanent Secretariat of the Farabi International Festival from Iran, and Al-Farabi University and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education from Kazakhstan, is a perfect opportunity to foster this cooperation and strengthen interactions between scholars from both countries and beyond. It is hoped that Kazakhstan will hold the second session of this congress, as this joint effort has the potential to promote the study of Farabi and Islamic culture and civilization in the contemporary world and motivate researchers from around the globe to engage with this rich legacy.
I express my gratitude to all the esteemed professors and researchers who have participated in this congress and shared their articles and research findings, thereby facilitating fruitful discussions and reflections on the ideas of this great global philosopher. Furthermore, I extend my thanks to the Institute of Cultural and Social Studies, which represents the scientific department of the joint scientific working group on Farabi studies from Iran's Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology, as well as to all the collaborating institutions that have made this congress possible. I am truly appreciative of their efforts in creating an excellent platform for exchanging ideas among Iranian and non-Iranian thinkers.
Mohammad Ali Zulfigol
Minister of Science, Research and Technology of Iran