Today is Friday; 13th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 27th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1440 lunar hijri; and May 3, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

3394 solar years ago, on this day in 1375 BC, the oldest recorded eclipse occurred, according to one plausible interpretation of a date inscribed on a clay tablet retrieved from the ancient city of Ugarit, Syria.

1089 lunar years ago, on this day in 351 AH, Hassan ibn Mohammad al-Muhallabi, the literary patron and able vizier of the founder of the Iranian Buwaiyhid Dynasty of Iran-Iraq-Oman, Moiz od-Dowla Daylami, passed away in Oman during a military expedition at the age of 65. The Buwaiyhids were devout followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Hassan was one of the last members to achieve renown from the famous clan of the Muhallabids that traced its lineage back nine generations to the army commander Muhallab ibn Abu Sufra, who despite being the son of Abu Sufra – the loyal Omani supporter of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) – changed sides, along with his opportunistic sons, as per the political situation between the Omayyads, the Zubayrids, and later the Abbasids, and suffered ignominious ends. Hassan al-Muhallabi, who was master of both the Arabic and Persian languages, started life as an administrator in Ahvaz, who on catching the attention of the Buwaiyhid vizier, Abu Ja’far Saimuri, became attached to the court of Moez od-Dowla, and later on his patron’s death succeeded him as vizier. He was an accomplished poet as well.

1074 lunar years ago, on this day in 366 AH, Naseer od-Din Sabuktigin, a former Turkic slave, was made governor of Ghazni by his ex-owner and governor of Khorasan, Alptigin – himself an emancipated Turkic slave of the Iranian Samanid dynasty of Bukhara. Amir Nuh II Samani confirmed his appointment. Born in Barskon in what is today Kyrgyzstan, as a 12-year old, he was taken prisoner by a warring tribe and sold to a merchant named Haji Nasr, from whom he was purchased by Alptigin and became fully Persianized. When Alptigin rebelled against the Samanids, capturing Zabulistan and Ghazna, he made Sebuktigin a general and gave his daughter in marriage to him. Sabuktigin, on the death of Alptigin, served his two successors Ishaq and Balkatigin, before seizing the rule of Ghazna. Soon, on the decline of Samanid power, he became virtually independent. He expanded his realm after defeating Jayapala to take territory till the Neelum River in Kashmir and the Indus River in what is now Pakistan. In the north he took Balkh and in the west Helmand from the Samanids. On his death, after a 20-year rule, his younger son Ismail took over, but was soon removed by his elder son, Mahmoud, who expanded the realm and took the title of Sultan. Of unsound religious belief, Sabuktigin repressed both Shi’a and Sunni Muslims, and committed the unpardonable sin of destroying the holy shrine in Mashhad of Imam Reza (AS), the Prophet’s 8^th Infallible Heir.

950 lunar years ago, on this day in 490 AH, prominent Islamic scholar, Abu’l-Hassan Ali Ibn Zaid Bayhaqi, popular as “Ibn Funduq” and "Fareed-e Khorasan", was born in the city of Bayhaq in northeastern Iran, which later became Sabzevar. An expert in hadith, theology, literature, mathematics, and philosophy, his most important book is "Ma'arej Nahj al-Balagha", a commentary on the famous compilation of the eloquent sermons, letters, and maxims of Imam Ali (AS), the First Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In Persian he authored “Tarikh-e Bayhaq” giving geographical and dynastic details of the region. Among his books, mention can also be made of “Lubaab al-Ansaab” on genealogy of notable figures. He passed away in the year 565 AH.

614 lunar years ago, on this day in 826 AH, Shafei jurist and judge, Wali od-Din Ahmad bin Abdur-Rahim al-Misri Ibn Iraqi, passed away at the age of 54 in Egypt. He was buried beside his father, Zain od-Din Iraqi. He studied and taught in Damascus, Bayt ol-Moqaddas, Cairo, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. He wrote many books.

590 solar years ago, on this day in 1429 AD, French national heroine, Jeanne d’Arc, known to the English as Joan of Arc or Maid of Orleans, started her uprising for the liberation of parts of French territory from the occupation of England. She led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais for charges of insubordination and heterodoxy, and burned at the stake as a heretic in 1431 when she was only 19 years old.

550 solar years ago, on this day in 1469 AD, the Italian historian and philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli, was born in Florence. Regarded as a founder of modern (unprincipled) political science, he was a diplomat, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic, serving as secretary to the Second Chancery from 1498 to 1512, when the Medici family were out of power. He wrote his political theory titled “The Prince” after the Medici had recovered power and he no longer held a position of responsibility. He believed that there is no harm in acquiring power and maintaining it through any means possible including deceit and oppression, without regard for ethical principles or moral and religious values. Machiavelli died in 1527.

538 solar years ago, on this day in 1481 AD, the largest of three earthquakes struck the small island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea (off the coast of Turkey) causing an estimated 30,000 casualties. It was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

538 solar years ago, on this day in 1481 AD, the 7th Ottoman Sultan, Mohammad II (known as al-Fateh or the Conqueror), died, after a reign of 32 years and was succeeded by his son, Bayezid II. He transformed the Ottoman state into an empire by conquering Constantinople and ending Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire. He set out to revitalize the city, renamed it Islambol (today’s Istanbul) and made it the capital of his empire. The first decree issued by him was security and freedom of the residents who were almost all Christians. Hours later, he rode to the Hagia Sofia to proclaim the Islamic creed, converting the grand cathedral into an imperial mosque. When he stepped into the ruins of the Boukoleon, the Palace of the Caesars, built over a thousand years before by Theodosius II, he recited the famous Persian couplet of the Iranian poet, Shaikh Sa’di: 

"The spider weaves curtains in the palace of the Caesars.  The owl calls watches in the towers of Afrasiyab."                                                                            

He built the Grand Bazaar and the Topkapı Palace, which served as the official residence of Ottoman sultans for the next four hundred years. The city, built by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine I, on the coastlines of the Bosporus Strait was thus transformed from a bastion of Christianity into a symbol of Islamic culture. Mohammad II extended Muslim rule as far as the borders of Italy and his death saved Rome from possible subjugation. He initiated administrative reforms and was fluent in several languages, including Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. He invited famous scholars to his court, including the Iranian polymath, Ala od-Din Ali ibn Mohammad Qushji, who as a disciple of the famous astronomer-king Ulugh Beg, was an astronomer, mathematician and physicist from Samarqand.

504 solar years ago, on this day in 1515 AD, the Portuguese fleet occupied the Iranian Island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. In the next few years they seized more Iranian islands including Bahrain in 1521. The brutality of the Portuguese occupation forces enraged the people of Iran. Finally, upon establishment of a strong Iranian navy by the Safavid Dynasty, Shah Abbas the Great liberated Bahrain in 1602 and Hormuz in 1622.

174 lunar years ago, on this day in 1266 AH, the British agent, Mohammad Ali Bab was executed by a firing squad in Tabriz at the age of 31 on being found guilty of “spreading corruption on earth” for his blasphemous claim to be the imam, then a prophet and finally the divine manifestation (mazhar-e ilahi) with a new creed in replacement of Islam. Born in Shiraz to an unknown father and initiated into the deviant Shaykhi cult, he stirred up sedition by first styling himself “Bab” or gateway to the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS), then the Awaited Imam himself, later the incarnation of the Prophets Elijah and John the Baptist and eventually the godhead. After repeated renunciations of his beliefs whenever he was arrested, he always reverted to his devilish designs to mislead the people, prompting Prime Minister Mirza Mohammad Taqi Khan Amir Kabir, who strove to make Iran free of the Anglo-Russian plots, to order his arrest and trial. After execution his body was thrown into the ditch near the barracks where it was eaten up by dogs.

165 solar years ago, on this day in 1854 AD, Iranian poet, Mirza Habibollah Qa’ani Shirazi passed away at the age of 46 in Tehran and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Hazrat Abdul-Azim al-Hassani. Known for his melodious verses, his famous elegy on the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS), is still popular in Iran and is inscribed on walls of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad. Considered last of the classical poets, Qa’ani, breaks with the tradition of explanatory poetry and pays tribute to the Prophet’s grandson in the form of question and answer or a dialogue. He was a master of both Arabic and Persian literature, in addition to being familiar with French and English languages. He was also knowledgeable in mathematics, rhetoric, logic and philosophy. He composed over twenty thousand verses, and wrote a book “Parishaan”, in the style of “Golestan” of the famous poet, Sheikh Sa’di of Shiraz.

113 lunar years ago, on this day in 1327 AH, the Gnostic Ayatollah Mirza Habibollah Mujtahid Khorasani, passed away at the age of 61 near his hometown, holy Mashhad. He was a product of the Islamic seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, and after returning to Iran settled in Mashhad where he handled religious affairs and groomed students. He was an excellent poet, as is evident by his poems on gnosis.

80 solar years ago, on this day in 1939 AD, the All India Forward Bloc was formed in Calcutta by Subhash Chandra Bose, who had resigned from the presidency of the Indian National Congress on April 29 after being outmaneuvered by Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi. The goal was to liberate India from British rule through armed struggle. In August the same year Bose began publishing a newspaper titled Forward Bloc. On July 2, 1940 he was arrested. In January 1941 he escaped from house arrest, and fled to Germany to meet Adolf Hitler and set up the Free India Centre in Berlin. In August 1942 the British banned the Forward Bloc.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, the French student movement started in Paris. Soon French workers, dissatisfied with their negligible wages, joined the students. The uprising later became political and spread to several European countries. Protesters demanded social reforms in favor of low-income strata and end to US meddling in Europe. The movement fizzled out because of police brutality and deceit of politicians.

50 solar years ago, on this day in 1969 AD, President Zakir Hussain of India died in office at the age of 72. An ethnic Afridi-Pashtun born in Hyderabad Deccan, he was India’s first Muslim president. Earlier he was Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, Algerian foreign minister, Mohammed Seddiq bin Yahya, was killed at the age of 50 during a diplomatic mission to try to end the war imposed by the US on the Islamic Republic of Iran through Saddam, when his plane was shot down by the Ba’thist regime near the Turkey-Iran borders. A veteran of the Algerian independence struggle against France, he had a distinguished career, serving his country as Minister of Information (1967–1971), Minister of Higher Education (1971–1977), Minister of Finance (1977–1979), and Foreign Minister (1979-1982).

26 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the UN General Assembly declared May 3 as World Press Freedom Day and urged governments to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression as mentioned in Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek – a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991. UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day by conferring the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence or promotion of press freedom.

8 solar years ago, on this day in 2011 AD, the so-called justice minister of Bahrain’s repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime, said 24 doctors and 23 paramedics, who treated injured protesters demanding their birthrights, have been charged with acts against the state and will be tried in a military court. Their prosecution began on June 6. Bahrain is in the grip of a popular uprising which has been brutally quelled by the regime with the help of the invading Saudi Arabian forces – destroying mosques and hussainiyahs, and desecrating copies of the holy Qur’an.

AS/SS