Today is Saturday; 9th of the Iranian month of Azar 1398 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Sani 1441 lunar hijri; and November 30, 2019, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

5359 solar years ago, on this day in 3340 BC in Mesopotamia, the earliest record of an eclipse seems to have been documented, according to the cuneiform clay tablets deciphered. Perhaps the first recorded eclipse might have occurred earlier in view of the fact that it was in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) that Prophet Enoch (Idris) taught the science of writing, as well as astronomy and many other branches of knowledge and professions.

1193 lunar years ago, on this day in 248 AH, the Abbasid caliph, Muntasser-Billah, died mysteriously after a reign of less than a year, and was succeeded by his cousin Musta'in, who was raised to the caliphate by the all-powerful Turkic Slave Guard. Muntasser himself was the choice of the Turkic guards as caliph following the killing of his father, the Godless Mutawakkel (10th self-styled caliph of the Abbasid usurper regime), whose most blasphemous act was demolition of the holy shrine of Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala. During his brief rule, Muntasser reversed the policies of his cruel father by allowing pilgrimage to the shrine of the Martyr of Karbala, and returning the orchard of Fadak to the descendants of Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS).

Some 1186 lunar years ago, on this day around 255 AH, Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS), the 11^th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), made a miraculous visit from Samarrah in northern Iraq to Jurjan (Gorgan or Astrabad) in northern Iran – a distance of over a thousand km. As recorded by the scholar Ali ibn Isa al-Irbili in his book “Kashf al-Ghumma fi Ma’refat al-Aimmah”, the narrator Ja’far ibn Sharif says: I came to the Imam in Samarrah after performing Hajj and said: People of Jurjan are eager to meet you; sometimes honour them by your visit. The Imam said: After 17 days you will reach your hometown on Friday, 3^rd of Rabi as-Sani.” When Ja’far reached Jurjan, to his surprise he saw Imam Askari (AS) there, which is indeed a miracle of Imamate. Meanwhile, a person named Nazar ibn Jaber approached the Imam and requested him to pray for restoration of eyesight of his son. Imam Askari (AS) passed his hands over the eyes of the blind boy who was miraculously cured. The same day the 11^th Imam was back in Samarrah.

1042 solar years ago, on this day in 977 AD, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II was forced to lift the siege of Paris and withdraws. His rearguard was defeated while crossing the Aisne River by Frankish forces under King Lothair III. Five years later in 982, when Otto II ventured in southern Italy he was decisively defeated by the Muslim forces of the Fatemid Ismaili Shi'a Muslim caliphate of Egypt-Syria-North Africa at the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria. The Fatemids, who after taking control of Sicily in the 960s had advanced into southern Italy, came into conflict with the Germans under Otto, who was advancing from the north with the intention of seizing Apulia and Calabria from the Byzantines. He was met by forces of the Sicilian Emir, Abu'l-Qassem, to whom the Greek Christians had appealed for aid against the Roman Catholics. After initial success, Otto's army was bogged down in a pitched battle south of Crotone at Cape Colonna, and although Abu'l-Qassem was martyred, the Muslim troops did not flee. They regrouped and surrounded Otto's soldiers, killing many of them and inflicting a severe defeat upon the Holy Roman Emperor. The defeat changed the political makeup of southern Italy, where Muslims retained their presence, while the Greek Orthodox forces joined the Muslims to regain possession of Apulia from the Roman Catholics. The Muslim presence in Italy lasted for over three centuries till 1300 AD, when due to loss of political power they were expelled, and the remaining were forcibly converted to Christianity with mosques turned into churches.

352 solar years ago, on this day in 1667 AD, Irish author, Jonathan Swift, was born in Dublin. He made strenuous efforts for the independence of his country from British rule. He wrote books depicting the social conditions, including the fictitious work titled “Gulliver's Travels”, which became one of the world’s literary masterpieces. He died at the age of 78.

288 solar years ago, on this day in 1731 AD, Beijing in China was hit by a powerful earthquake that resulted in the death of at least one hundred thousand people.

216 solar years ago, on this day in 1803 AD, in New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transferred the Louisiana Territory in North America to a French representative, and just 20 days later, France sold the same land to the United States in a deal known as the Louisiana Purchase.

202 solar years ago, on this day in 1817 AD, German historian and researcher, Theodore Mommsen, was born. His most important book is "The History of Rome". He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1902, and died a year later at the age of 86. He served as an elected lawmaker in the Reichstag (parliament), and was considered a staunch opponent of the well-known German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.

184 solar years ago, on this day in 1835 AD, US author and humorist, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known popularly as Mark Twain, was born. His childhood and teenage were adventurous and these adventures later turned into the themes of his books. He wrote numerous stories for youngsters, including "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and "The Prince and the Pauper". He was broke in the waning years of his life, and finally following the death of his two daughters, he died in 1910.

166 solar years ago, on this day in 1853 AD, during the Crimean War, the Battle of Sinop was fought resulting in the destruction of Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha by the Russian Navy commanded by Pavel Nakhimov at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey.

149 lunar years ago, on this day in 1292 AH, the prominent religious scholar, Ayatollah Mirza Abul-Qasem Kalantari, passed away in Tehran. He was a product of the well-known seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, where he studied under the celebrated Sheikh Morteza Ansari, attaining the status of Ijtehad. He was highly influential among the people for his tireless efforts to promote Islamic teachings in society. He also wrote several books including “Matareh al-Inzaar”.

143 solar years ago, on this day in 1874 AD, Winston Churchill, British soldier, journalist, politician, and Prime Minister was born. He was an avowed imperialist with little regard for the sentiments of the nations under the hegemony of Britain. He wrote the book “History of the English Speaking Peoples.”

48 solar years ago, on this day in 1971 AD, with the withdrawal of British occupation troops, the Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, and Greater and Lesser Tunbs, returned to Iran’s sovereignty. These three Iranian islands are strategically located near the Strait of Hormoz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Britain had seized these islands in 1887, and had also taken control of Bahrain which earlier had been seized by the Aal-e Khalifa pirates from Qajarid Iran. Bahrain was not returned to Iranian sovereignty because of the treason of the Pahlavi regime.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, the world famous Egyptian “Qari” (reciter) of the holy Qur'an, Abdul-Baset Mohammad Abdus-Samad, died in Cairo. His son, Yasser, who is also a prominent “Qari” of the holy Qur’an, and has recently become a staunch follower of the School of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, relates that after death his father appeared to him in a dream and lamenting about his not-so-satisfactory fate in afterlife, even though he was the world’s foremost memorizer and “Qari” of the holy Qur’an, said the reason was his lack of proper faith in the “Wilayah” or divinely-decreed authority of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the First Infallible Successor of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

9^th of Azar is marked every year as Day of Shaikh Mufid, as a mark of respect to the great service rendered to Islam and the School of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) by this celebrated scholar who flourished in Baghdad almost a millennium ago. Named Mohammad, he was born in the town of Ukbar, north of Baghdad. He has left behind numerous compilations in almost all branches of Islamic sciences, some of which are: “al-Irshad”, “Ahkam an-Nisa”, and “Tashih E`teqadat al-Imamiyah” – the last named is a critical and edited version of his one-time teacher, Ibn Babwaih Shaikh Sadouq's “al-E'teqad”. He trained a great number of scholars, including the celebrated pair of brothers, Seyyed Murteza and Seyyed Radhi – the compiler of the famous book “Nahj al-Balagha” – and Shaikh at-Ta’efa Abu Ja’far Tousi.

AS/SS