Today is Sunday; 14th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 7th of the Islamic month of Safar 1441 lunar hijri; and October 6, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2124 solar years ago, on this day in 105 BC, at the Battle of Arausio, the Cimbri, a German people, inflicted the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus. As a result Roman expansion into west-central Europe was checked for some decades. Roman losses are described as being up to 80,000 troops, as well as another 40,000 auxiliary troops (allies) and servants and camp followers — virtually all of their participants in the battle. In numbers of losses, this battle is regarded as the worst defeat in the history of ancient Rome.

1391 lunar years ago, on this day in 50 AH, according to a narration, Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba (AS), the elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was martyred at the age of 47 through a fatal dose of poison, given on the orders of the usurper Mu'awiyyah Ibn Abu Sufyan. He was over seven years at the passing away of the Prophet, who hailed him along with his younger brother, Imam Husain (AS), as Leaders of the Youth of Paradise. At the age of 37, the mantle of Imamate came to rest on his shoulders, following the martyrdom of his father, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS). Some seven months later, because of the treachery of those who claimed to be his followers, but had succumbed to threats and bribes of the enemies of humanity by refusing to decisively confront them, he relinquished the caliphate and retired to his hometown Medina, after stipulating certain conditions for the next ruler. The Omayyad rebel Mu'awiyyah ibn Abu Sufyan seized the caliphate, broke all accords, violated the laws of Islam, and finally administered poison to Imam Hasan (AS). Some consider Safar 28 as the day of martyrdom of Imam Hasan (AS). 

1313 lunar years ago, on this day in 128 AH, Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was born in Abwa between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. At the age of 20, the mantle of divine leadership came to rest on his shoulders following the martyrdom of his father, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), through poisoning. His period of Imamate was 35 years, during which he was subjected to hardships by the Abbasid tyrants – Mansour, Mahdi, Hadi, and Haroun. His epithet “Kazem” means Restrainer of Anger, and despite frequent bouts of imprisonment he showed profound patience and forbearance, even in the dungeons of Haroun, who martyred him through poisoning in 183 AH in Baghdad. Today, his magnificent gold-plated shrine is the centre of pilgrimage in Kazemayn.

1005 solar years ago, on this day in 1014 AD, Byzantine Emperor Basil II (the Macedonian) earned the title “Slayer of Bulgars” after he cruelly ordered the blinding of 15,000 captive Bulgarian troops. During his 49-year long reign, he suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the Ismaili Shi’a Muslim Fatemid caliphate of Egypt-North Africa in Syria and Anatolia. In 988, a seven-year truce (and in 1001 a ten-year truce) was signed with the Fatemids, stipulating an exchange of prisoners, the recognition of the Byzantine emperor as protector of the Christians under Fatemid rule and of the Fatemid caliph as protector of the Muslims under Byzantine control, and the replacement of the name of the Abbasid caliph by that of the Fatemid Caliph in the Friday prayer in the Mosque of Constantinople. It is worth noting that the Azaan (call to the daily prayer) of the Fatemids included the phrase of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) days “hayya ala khayr-il-amal” (hasten to the best of deeds), in addition to bearing testimony to the God-given authority (wilayah) of Imam Ali (AS), after testifying the monotheism of the One and Only God and the mission of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Basil II, who continued to suffer defeats at the hands of Muslims, conquered most of Italy and used to vent his anger on the Bulgars and the Khazars, whom he vanquished and cruelly treated.

786 lunar years ago, on this day in 655 AH, the Sufi scholar of Punjab, Shaikh Baha od-Din Zakariyya al-Quraishi, passed away in Multan at the age of 100. He was a student of the famous Iranian Sufi, Shahab od-Din Suhrawardi, who initiated him in the mystical order at his hospice in Baghdad. The mausoleum of Baha od-Din Zakariyya in Pakistan, mounted by a hemispherical dome, is visited by devotees throughout the year. Almost all Sufi orders trace their spiritual lineage to Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the First Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

647 lunar years ago, on this day in 794 AH, Zafar Khan, sent by the Tughlaq sultan of Delhi defeated and killed Malik Mufarrah Farhat u1-Mulk, the rebellious governor of Gujarat, at Kambhu near Nahrwala, founded the village of Jitpur on the site of the victory, and made the city of Anhilwada Patan his capital. Son of the Rajput convert to Islam Wajih ul-Mulk, whose sister was Firuz Shah Tughlaq’s wife, Zafar Khan consolidated his rule in Gujarat, and when the Tughlaq sultanate collapsed as a result of the invasion of the Central Asian conqueror, Amir Timur, he declared himself independent with the title Muzaffar Shah I. He died after a 20-year reign. His son Ahmad Shah I built the city of Ahmadabad as the new capital. The dynasty ruled for almost 200 years, until the conquest of Gujarat by the Moghal Empire. The sultanate reached its peak under Mahmoud Shah I Begara, extending east into Malwa and west to the Gulf of Kutch. During Muzaffarid rule, Ahmadabad grew to become one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, and the sultans were patrons of a distinctive architecture that blended Islamic elements with Gujarat's indigenous Hindu and Jain architectural traditions. The court language was Persian and the Sultans of Gujarat maintained infrequent ambassadorial relations with Iran.

480 solar years ago, on this day in 1539 AD, Spanish marauder Hernando de Soto and his army entered the Apalachee capital of Anhaica (present-day Tallahassee, Florida) and forced the approximately 30,000 native Amerindian population to abandon their city which had 250 buildings. Notorious for his ruthlessness, he left Anhaica in ruins in March of 1540 after thoroughly pillaging it. He led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas), massacring men and children, and kidnapping and raping women. The Spaniards, carrying the cross in one hand and the sword in the other, destroyed the centuries-old Native American civilizations. De Soto died of a fever on May 21, 1542, in the native village of Guachoya on the western banks of the Mississippi. Since de Soto had tricked the local natives to believe that he was an immortal sun god (as a ploy to gain their submission without conflict), his men concealed his death, hid his corpse in blankets weighted with sand and sank it in the middle of the Mississippi River during the night.

437 solar years ago, on this day in 1582 AD, although a normal date for most of the world still using the Julian calendar, in the Catholic countries of Italy, Portugal, Spain and Poland, because of implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day was skipped, as well as the next 8 days. Thursday 4 October 1582 was the last day the Julian calendar was used, and the next day Friday became 15 October as per the decree of Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced this change to realign the calendar with the spring and autumn equinoxes. Britain and its colonies resisted this change by the Catholic Pope, and used the Julian calendar for more than a century and a half until 2^nd September 1752, while Russia used it till 1918. The Islamic solar hijri calendar which starts on the exact time of the spring equinox and is in use in Iran, Afghanistan and the peoples of neighbouring countries, is far more perfect than the Gregorian calendar that was imposed by the colonial powers on the rest of the world after World War I.

289 lunar years ago, on this day in 1152 AH, Nadir Shah Afshar of Iran departed from Delhi with a booty estimated between 80-to-145 million rupees, which included the famous diamond encrusted Peacock Throne of Emperor Shahjahan, the Tent of Pearls and the world’s largest diamond, Koh-e Noor (Mountain of Light). Nader Shah had invaded the Moghal Empire due to the inability of Emperor Mohammad Shah ‘Rangileh’ to stop the infiltration of the Hotaki Afghan rebels fleeing into India after the end of their occupation of Iran. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Karnal near Lahore, and then along with the defeated Mohammad Shah, whom he treated with respect, marched into Delhi, where he stayed for several days, before returning to Iran after restoring the Moghal Emperor to power.

251 solar years ago, on this day in 1768 AD, in continuation of Russia’s expansionist policies Empress Catherine the Great attacked Poland, prompting the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Russia. During the 18th century, the Ottomans and the Russians fought many wars, but their fight over Poland is considered as the most important. The Turks who were in a state of decline suffered major defeats in the naval and ground battles until the year 1774, in which an armistice was signed by the two empires to end confrontation. Based on the treaty, the Muslim populated Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine was declared a Russian protectorate and was later annexed by Moscow. Meanwhile, Poland ceased to exist and was divided among Austria, Prussia, and Russia.

127 solar years ago, on this day in 1892 AD, Alfred Tennyson, British Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign and one of the most popular English poets, died at the age of 83. He excelled in penning short lyrics, such as “Break, Break, Break”, “Tears Idle Tears” and “The Charge of the Light Brigade” – the last one pertaining to the abortive charge of the British Light Brigade in the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War. He also wrote some notable blank verse including “Idylls of the King” and “Ulysses”. A number of phrases from Tennyson's work have become commonplaces of the English language, including “Nature, red in tooth and claw”, “Tis better to have loved and lost/Than never to have loved at all”, “Theirs not to reason why/ Theirs but to do and die”, “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”, “Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers”, and “The old order changeth, yielding place to new”. He is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

89 years ago, on this day in 1930 AD, Hafez al-Assad, the statesman who as president brought political and economic stability to coup-wracked Syria for three decades, was born in poor Alawite family in Qardaha village of the Kalbiyya tribe. After finishing high school he joined the air force in 1950 and through hard work and dedication was promoted to the rank of major-general and chief of the air force. At the same time, his resentment against the West for its plots against Syria and the Arabs made him join the Arab Ba’th Party. In 1966 he was named Defence Minister, and in 1970 took over the reins of government as prime minister, before being elected to the presidency the next year. He held the post of president till his death in 2000 AD. As an astute politician, he kept the US at bay and maintained his country’s independence by cultivating friendly ties with the Soviet Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran. He refused to yield to the designs of the illegal Zionist entity, and continued to demand the return of the occupied Golan Heights to Syria. At the same time, he backed independent Palestinian and Lebanese groups, and never recognized Turkey’s occupation of what is called Hatay Province including the cities of Iskendurun and Antakiya (Antioch). His son Bashar al-Assad was elected president after him, and because of his resistance policies against US-Zionist plots, Syria has for the past five-and-a-half years has become exposed to organized acts of terrorism supported by the West, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.

46 solar years ago, on this day in 1973 AD, the 4^th war broke out between Arabs and the illegal Zionist entity Israel. On this day, the Egyptian army caught the Zionist forces off guard in a military operation on the other side of Suez Canal and entered the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula. In the initial days of the war, the Egyptian and Syrian troops dealt heavy blows to the Zionist army and downed a large number of Israeli warplanes. But, with the swift assistance of the US to the usurper state of Israel, Zionist troops advanced against both Syria and Egypt, forcing the acceptance of ceasefire. This war broke the myth of invincibility of the Zionist entity.

39 solar years ago, on this day in 1980 AD, in a blatant anti-Iranian act of support for the tyrannical Ba’th minority regime of Saddam, Jordan put its port of Aqaba on the Gulf of the same name in the Red Sea at the disposal of Iraq during the 8-year war imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran by the US, following blockade of Iraqi ports on the Persian Gulf by the Iranian navy, and Syria’s closure of the Iraqi oil pipeline to the Mediterranean Sea. Jordan also supplied troops to Saddam for war against Iran.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, while reviewing a military parade in Cairo on the anniversary of the 1973 war against the illegal Zionist entity, Egypt's President Anwar Sadaat was executed in a revolutionary manner by a group of officers of the Islamic group "al-Jihad" led by the 27-year old Lieutenant Khaled Islambouli, for signing of the scandalous Camp David Accord with the usurper state of Israel in 1978. As his section of the parade began to approach Sadaat's platform, Islambouli, along with Abdul-Hameed Abdus-Salaam, Ata Tayel Hameeda Raheel, and Hussein Abbas, leapt from the truck and ran towards the stand while lobbing grenades toward where the Egyptian President was standing with other dignitaries. Islambouli entered the stands and emptied his assault rifle into Sadaat's body. Khalid Islambouli and his companions were sentenced to death and attained martyrdom.

30 lunar years ago, on this day in 1411 AH, Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Shahab od-Din Mar'ashi Najafi, passed away at the age of 96 and was laid to rest at the doorstep of his famous library in holy Qom. He mastered theology, hadith, jurisprudence, exegesis of the Holy Qur'an, philosophy, and principles of ethics at the seminaries of holy Kazemain and holy Najaf in Iraq. After attaining the status of Ijtehad he returned to Iran and started to lecture and research at the Qom Seminary. He was a supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, late Imam Khomeini (RA), in the struggles against the Shah’s despotic regime. He has left behind a large number of books on theology, jurisprudence, hadith, history and genealogy. He also founded the public library in holy Qom, which houses more than 300,000 books – many of them rare manuscripts collected by him.

8 solar year ago, on this day in 2011 AD, youthful Bahraini protestor, Ahmad Jaber al-Qattan, was killed in cowardly manner by the US-Saudi-backed forces of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime. In a desperate bid to avert the inevitable, the Bahraini Shaikh, who for the past decade has been styling himself king, has hired mercenaries from Pakistan, Jordan and other places, to savagely kill, injure and torture Bahrainis, destroy mosques, and desecrate husseiniyyas, in a bid to crush the popular uprising, which has gathered further momentum.

AS/SS