Today is Monday; 1st of the Iranian month of Khordad 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 25th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1438 lunar hijri; and May 22, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
2351 solar years ago, on this day in 334 BC, Persian generals, proud of their might and scoffing at the ragtag force a young Macedonian had assembled for what appeared to be a raid on the western fringes of the vast Achaemenid Empire that overlapped the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, suffered the first defeat at the hands of Alexander in the Battle of Granicus. The battle took place between Abydos and Dascylium (near modern day Ergili in Turkey), at the crossing of the Granicus River, which the Turks today call Biga Jayi. It was fought in northwestern Asia Minor, near the site of ancient Troy. The defeat shocked the Persians; and Alexander who was almost killed in the battle and was saved from certain death by Cleitus, savagely slew not just the retreating forces but as many as 18,000 Greeks led by Memnon of Rhodes Island, who as allies of the Persians sought to broker peace. This unexpected success encouraged Alexander to advance into the interior of the Persian Empire. The pride and laxity of Emperor Darius III, allowed Alexander a whole year’s time to strengthen his forces, win over Greeks to his side, and ravage the countryside. And when Darius III at last decided to personally confront the upstart invader, he suffered a stunning defeat in 333 BC at the Battle Issus, close to the present-day Turkish city of Iskenderun. The collapse of the Achaemenid Empire set in as the Persians suffered defeat after defeat and retreated from Anatolia, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, where in 331 BC Darius lost the decisive Battle of Gaugamela (near Arbil), despite fielding an awesome force assembled from all over the empire, including war elephants from his Indian satraps. Finally the capital Persepolis in the heart of Persia was conquered and destroyed by Alexander. In 330 BC the 220-year old Achaemenid Empire ceased to exist after Darius III was killed by his own general in Bactria, Central Asia, where Alexander sealed his series of victories, before marching three years later to the River Indus and Punjab, the easternmost limits of the Persian Empire. Although, Alexander, who died in 323 BC, styled himself "Shahanshah” (king of kings) and adopted elements of Persian dress and customs, he destroyed the cultural heritage of Persia, and terrorized the whole empire – at times slaughtering all males and selling into slavery women and children of cities that resisted his assaults. He was so ruthless and cruel that during a drinking bout in Samarqand, he killed, Cleitus, his close companion and saver of his life at the Battle of Granicus. Seven decades later, the Parthians rose up from northeastern Iran to cleanse the land of Hellenistic influence by establishing the second great Iranian empire, which lasted 471 years, and which checked the eastward expansion of the Roman Empire, by establishing the capital at Ctesiphon (Madaen) in Iraq near modern day Baghdad.
1680 solar years ago, on this day in 337 AD, Constantine I, the Emperor who imposed the Pauline Creed on the Roman Empire, died in Bythynia in what is now Turkey at the age of 65 after a reign of 31 years, while planning to invade the Persian Empire, following rejection of his peace proposal from Iran’s Sassanid Emperor Shapur II. Born in Dardania in the Balkans to army officer Flavius Valerius Constantius, it is not known whether his mother Helena was a wife or a concubine. When his father became deputy emperor of the Roman west in 293, Constantine was sent to the Roman east, where he became a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian and Galerius – notorious for their persecution of the monotheist followers of Prophet Jesus, and those who later came to be known as Christians. In 305, his father was raised to the rank of Augustus, or senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign in Britain. Acclaimed as emperor by the army after his father's death in 306, Constantine emerged victorious in a series of civil wars against the emperors Maxentius and Licinius to become sole ruler of both west and east by 324. He built a new imperial residence at Byzantium and named it New Rome, but it was called Constantinople in his honour. Later the city served as capital of Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire for over a thousand years, before falling in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks, who renamed the city Islambol (Istanbul), and made it the capital of their empire for the next 470 years. Constantine has earned lasting notoriety for persecuting Arianism and the purely monotheistic followers of Prophet Jesus. The form of Christianity he imposed is actually the innovation of Paul the Hellenized Jew, who was a fierce opponent of Prophet Jesus, but after him, claimed to be his follower in order to distort the monotheistic message of the Messiah, by coining the weird concept of Trinity that was more closer to the Roman pantheon of deities.
1333 lunar years ago, on this day in 105 AH, Yazid II, the 9th self-styled caliph of the usurper Omayyad regime, died of tuberculosis at the age of 37 after a reign of four years, a fortnight after the death of his paramour, a slave girl named Hayyaba, in whose debauched love he had neglected state affairs in pursuit of drinking and other wanton pleasures. His father was Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan and his mother Atika was daughter of the Godless tyrant Yazid ibn Mu’waiyya, the perpetrator of the heartrending tragedy of Karbala. Installed as caliph on the suspicious death of Omar ibn Abdul-Aziz, he immediately reversed the latter’s positive policies and seized back the large orchard of Fadak in Medina from the progeny of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Oblivious of the civil wars in Spain and North Africa in the west, to Khorasan in the east – where the Abbasids were building a power base that would be later used to topple the Omayyads – he was so infatuated with Hayyaba that when she died, he kept her corpse in his palace unburied, indulging in all lewd acts, until the stench made the courtiers to press him to bury her. At the graveyard when Hayyaba’s corpse was lowered in the grave, Yazid II, who had clearly lost his mind, ordered it to be brought up and indulged in senseless behaviour, until forcibly separated. He was succeeded by his half-brother, the bloodthirsty Hisham.
1301 lunar years ago, on this day in 137 AH, the Iranian agent of the usurper Abbasid regime, Abu-Muslim Khorasani, whose string of military victories against the Omayyads, starting from Khorasan and continuing all the way up to Syria, resulted in regime change, was killed by his own masters, who feared his growing power might pose a danger to their newfound caliphate. The Abbasids and their agents had deceived the masses, especially the Iranian Muslims, through their slogan of restoring power of the Islamic state to its rightful owners, the progeny of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), but after exterminating the Omayyad usurpers and even digging up their graves and burning the bones of the dead caliphs, including those of Mu’awiyya ibn Abu Sufyan, they usurped the power themselves. As part of the elaborate propaganda to mislead the masses, Abu Muslim, who launched his uprising against the Omayyads in Balkh, actually on behalf of Abu’l-Abbas as-Saffah (the blood-shedder), shortly after the martyrdom in Jowzajan of Yahya ibn Zayd ibn Imam Zayn al-Abedin (AS), ordered his followers to wear black, brought down from the gallows the headless corpse of the young martyr, buried it, and instructed the naming of boys born that year in Khorasan as Yahya. This led to the mass popularity of the uprising and decisive victories against the hated Omayyads. In the meantime, the Prophet’s 6th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), on being offered the caliphate by one of the victorious generals of the uprising, coolly burned the letter without opening it, thereby implying that such dubious political authority that depends upon the whims and inclinations of unprincipled elements, is definitely not the God-given "wilaya” which he already possessed. Thus, Mansour Dawaniqi, on succeeding his brother Abu’l-Abbas as-Saffah as the second caliph of the usurper Abbasid dynasty, had Abu-Muslim Khorasani murdered.
1164 solar years ago, on this day in 853 AD, a Byzantine fleet sacked and destroyed the undefended port city of Damietta in Abbasid-ruled Egypt, killing hundreds of people, abducting at least 600 Arab and Coptic Christian women, and seizing large quantities of weapons and supplies intended for the Muslim Emirate of the island of Crete, while the garrison was absent, attending a feast in the capital Fustat. The Christian Greek fleet of 85 ships and 5,000 ruthless pirates, led by a turncoat Arab admiral named "Ibn Qatuna", then sailed east and attacked the fortress of Ushtun, where the many artillery and siege engines were burned. According to Muslim historians, the surprise raid, while the self-styled caliphs in Baghdad were sunk in pleasures and oppression of the people, especially the followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, jolted the conscience of the Egyptian people to the urgent need of strengthening of maritime defences. As a result ships were constructed, new crews conscripted, and Damietta and other coastal sites fortified. This was the birth of the Egyptian navy that reached its peak later under the Shi’ia Muslim Fatemid dynasty.
496 lunar years ago, on this day in 942 AH, Ottoman Prime Minister "Damaad” Ibrahim Pasha, who was the Sultan’s son-in-law, concluded a treaty with France for lease of the French Port of Toulon to establish a Turkish naval base for checking Spain’s ambitions. For the period of the lease, the French evacuated the local Christian population, while the Ottomans built mosques and used Toulon as a safe haven to raid Spanish coasts and dominate the Mediterranean Sea.
445 lunar years ago, on this day in 993 AH, the Ottomans, taking advantage of the power vacuum in Iran, breached the treaty of peace with the Safavids to occupy the Iranian city of Tabriz. The occupation lasted 18 years until Shah Abbas, after assuming power, inflicted a shattering defeat on the Ottomans to liberate Tabriz, the Caucasus, and eventually Iraq, where he reconstructed the holy shrines in Najaf, Karbala, and Kazemain on a grand scale.
394 solar years ago, on this day in 1623 AD, Hormuz Island in the Strait of the same name in the Persian Gulf was liberated by Iranian naval forces from the Portuguese occupiers after a 3-month siege. Iran took humanitarian measures to allow the entire Portuguese population of the island to leave for Muscat in Oman. Shah Abbas the Great granted certain commercial privileges to the English for their naval assistance against the Portuguese.
MUSIC
158 solar years ago, on this day in 1859 AD, Scottish author and physician, Arthur Conan Doyle, was born. He created the fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes.
132 solar years ago, on this day in 1885 AD, the French author and poet, Victor Hugo, died at the age of 83. He was involved in politics and as an advocate of civil rights, opposed the repressive rule of Napoleon III. Hugo is considered the pioneer of the Romanticism School. Among his famous novels, mention can be made of "Les Miserables”, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, "The Man Who Laughs”, and "Toilers of the Sea”.
105 solar years ago, on this day in 1912 AD, the American Chemist, Herbert Charles Brown, was born in London. His family immigrated to the US when he was two years old. He obtained PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago. In 1979, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering new combinations in Organic Chemistry, including different types of fertilizers and vegetable preservatives. He died in 2004.
57 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, the Great Chilean earthquake measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hit southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. It lasted approximately 10 minutes. The resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia and the Aleutian Islands. The main tsunami raced across the Pacific and devastated Hilo in Hawaii. Waves as high as 10.7 meters or 35 feet were recorded 10,000 kms from the epicenter and as far away as Japan and Philippines.
41 solar years ago, in the year 1976 AD, the Afro-American poet, novelist and playwright, James Langston Hughes, died in New York at the age of 74. He was born in Missouri and his first novel "Not without Laughter” won him the Harmon gold medal in literature. He campaigned for the rights of Afro-Americans, and in his works portrayed the hardships of the black people in the US. Among his works, mention can be made of "One-Way Ticket”, and "Laughing to Keep from Crying”.
37 lunar years ago, on this day in 1401 AH, scholar and statesman, Chief Justice Ayatollah Dr. Seyyed Mohammad Husseini Beheshti, along with 72 officials of the Islamic Revolution, including ministers and MPs, was martyred in a terrorist bomb blast by the MKO hypocrites at the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party in Tehran, a few days before start of the blessed fasting month of Ramadhan. Born in Isfahan, he studied religious sciences in Qom, and at the same time continued his academic studies at the university in Tehran, obtaining PhD in philosophy. He was active in political and cultural spheres, and as a loyal follower of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), was involved in the 15th of Khordad uprising of June 5, 1963 against the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. Later, following the Imam's exile to Iraq, Ayatollah Beheshti spent several years at the Islamic Centre in Hamburg, Germany. His fluency in German, English, and Arabic assisted him in promoting Islam in Europe. He returned to Iran in 1971 and continued his struggles against the despotic Shah. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he was assigned key posts, the last of which was Chief Justice. He played a major role in drafting the constitution of the Islamic Republic, establishing the Islamic Judicial system, foiling plots of anti-revolutionaries, and standing firm against US conspiracies. He wrote several books, including "God in View of Islam"; "Banking and Islam’s Financial Laws"; and "Role of Faith in Mankind’s Life". According to the late Imam, Ayatollah Beheshti was like a nation and his martyrdom revealed the true, ominous nature of the MKO terrorists.
30 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, the Hashempura Massacre occurred in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh state, India, when 19 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) rounded up 42 Muslim youth from the Hashempura Mohalla, took them to the outskirts near Murad Nagar in Ghaziabad District, where they were shot and their bodies were dumped in water canals. A few days later corpses were found floating in the canals. In May 2000, 16 of the 19 murderers surrendered, and were released on bail. In 2002 the Supreme Court transferred the trial of the case to a Sessions Court at the Tis Hazari complex in Delhi, where it is the oldest pending case. On 24 May 2007, twenty years after the massacre, two survivors and members of the victims’ families filed applications at the Lucknow court as per The Right to Information Act, seeking information of the case. The inquiry revealed that all police culprits remained in service, and none had any mention of the incident in their Annual Confidential Report (ACR)
27 solar years ago, on this day in 1990 AD, North Yemen and South Yemen decided to merge into a single state, after decades of separation, following the treaty of 1914 between the Ottomans and the British. The North’s president, Col. Ali Abdullah Saleh retained power as President of united Yemen. Yemen was ruled intermittently for almost a millennium by descendants of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), who mostly belonged to the Zaydi Shi’a sect. The majority of Yemeni people are Shi’a Muslims, mostly Zaydis, followed by Ismailis and a minority of Ithna Ash’aris (Twelvers). Parts of Yemen, such as Najran, Jizaan, and Asir are under Saudi occupation, despite the long-expired treaty of 1934 calling for their return after a 40-year period.
Khordad 1st: is commemorated every year in the Islamic Republic of Iran as National Day for the celebrated Islamic scholar and philosopher, Sadr od-Din Mohammad bin Ibrahim Shirazi, popular as Mullah Sadra. He is arguably the most significant Islamic philosopher after Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna to medieval Europe). He remains the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years. Born in Shiraz in 979 AH or 1571 AD, he studied in Isfahan, the Safavid capital, under such famous luminaries as Mir Mohammad Baqer Damad and Shaikh Baha od-Din al-Ameli, before retiring for a number of years of spiritual solitude and discipline in the village of Kahak, near holy Qom. He was then invited by Allah-Wardi Khan, the governor of Fars Province, to return to Shiraz, where he taught for the remainder of his life. He passed away in Basra in 1050 AH (corresponding to 1640 AD), while on his seventh Hajj pilgrimage on foot to holy Mecca. He was later given the title of Sadr al-Muta’allihin or Master of Theosophists for his approach to philosophy that combined an interest in theology and drew upon insights from mystical intuition. The author of over forty works, his major philosophical work is the "Asfar al-Arba’a” (The Four Journeys). A keen thinker who wrote on a wide variety of topics such as philosophy, theology, mysticism, and Qur’anic exegesis, Mullah Sadra strove for a wide-ranging synthesis of approaches to Islamic thought and argued for the necessity of the method of understanding reality through logical reasoning, spiritual inspiration, and a deep meditation upon the key scriptural sources of the Twelver Shi‘a traditions in Islam.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)