Today is Saturday; 3rd of the Iranian month of Mehr 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 22nd of the Islamic month of Zi’l-Hijjah 1437 lunar hijri; and September 24, 2106, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1377 lunar years ago, on this day in 60 AH, the staunch Muslim, Maysam at-Tammar (or Date-Seller), was brutally martyred in Kufa, Iraq, by Obaidollah Ibn Ziyad, the tyrannical governor of the Godless Yazid. Of Iranian origin, he was born near Nahrawan and circumstances had made him a slave of an Arab family, which imposed upon him the Arabic name “Salem”. He was purchased and manumitted by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (PuH), who not only restored to him his original name “Maysam” given by his parents at birth, but also taught him the correct meaning and interpretation of the holy Qur’an, spiritual values, as well as exoteric and esoteric sciences. The Imam had prophesied Maysam's martyrdom, saying he would be hanged from a tree, and after chopping off his hands and feet, the ungodly Omayyads would cut his tongue for his defence of Islam and his speaking of the merits of the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt. His death happened in the exact manner as Imam Ali (PuH) had prophesied. Earlier, while in prison, Maysam had also briefed his cellmate, Mokhtar ibn Abu Obaidah, on the manner of his death; and foretold him not to worry of his own fate, for he would be set free, and after the impending martyrdom of the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Husain (PuH) – who was on his way to Iraq for his date with destiny – he would avenge the blood of the martyrs of Karbala, by eventually killing Ibn Ziyad.

1248 solar years ago, on this day in 768 AD, Charlemagne was crowned the first King of the Franks at the age of 26, on the death of his father, Pepin the Short. A warlike figure he set about expanding his realm and after conquering the Lombard kingdom, he was declared as the king of Italy as well in 774. In 800, after more conquests and subjugation of central Europe, he was crowned by Pope Leo III as the first emperor in Western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier – an imperial title that would eventually evolve into what would become known as the Holy Roman Emperor by the twelfth century. Throughout his long 45-year reign, he was brutal in his suppression of opposition to his rule, but his attempts to expand his dominion into Muslim Spain met with defeat and a historical retreat that resulted in the complete destruction of his rearguard by the Basques in the Pyrenees. When a clock was sent to him from Baghdad by the scientifically advanced Muslims (along with an Asian elephant named Abu’l-Abbas), Charlemagne and the French, who like the rest of the European Christians were living in the dark ages, were for long suspicious of the mechanical object and thought that a genie was inside it, showing the time of the day and the passing hours.

1080 solar years ago, on this day in 936 AD, Adhud od-Dowla Daylami, the greatest ruler of the Iranian Buwaiyhid dynasty of Iran-Iraq-Bahrain-Oman, was born in Shiraz and named Fana Khosrow by his father Amir Rokn od-Dowla. He became ruler of Fars on the death of his childless uncle, Amir Emad od-Dowla. He was sent by his father to crush a rebellion by his cousin Ezz od-Dowla, on whose defeat he claimed the emirate of Iraq for himself. On his father’s death, as senior Amir of the Buwaiyhid family, Adhud od-Dowla chose as his capital, Baghdad, which was suffering from violence and instability due to sectarian sedition by the Hanbalis. In order to bring peace and stability, he banned public demonstrations and polemics. He patronized a number of scholars such as the celebrated Shaikh Mufid, and renovated the holy shrines in Najaf and Karbala. He also undertook several scientific projects, such as the observatory in Isfahan, and the dam known till this day as “Band-e Amir” between Shiraz and Istakhr to irrigate some 300 villages. He also ordered digging of the Haffar Canal joining the Karun River to the Arvand Roud at the confluence of the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. He embellished Baghdad with several buildings including the famous public hospital known as “Bimaristan-e Adhudi”, where the great Iranian physician Zakariyya ar-Razi used to practice. Adhud od-Dowla passed away in Baghdad and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of the Command of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS) in Najaf.

956 lunar years ago, on this day in 481 AH, the famous Iranian Gnostic and poet, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, who was known as “Pir-e Herat”, or Senior Citizen of the Khorasani city of Herat, passed away at the age of 85 in his hometown – which is currently in Afghanistan. He traced his lineage to Abu Ayyub Ansari, a companion and host in Medina of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He mastered the sciences of the day, including theology, hadith, and exegesis of the Holy Qur'an. He was a frequent visitor to the city of Naishapour – a centre of science – to meet and confer with prominent figures, and add to his erudite knowledge. He lived a spiritual life and avoided the company of the rich and politically powerful. He wrote valuable books including an exegesis of the Holy Qur'an in Arabic titled “Kashf al-Asraar”. He composed excellent poetry in his native Persian, and authored several works in both Arabic and Persian, such as "Munajaat-Namah", and “Kitab al-Arba’een". He is the ancestor of the Heravi-Khwajavi line in Iran that once dominated Khorasan and eastern Iran. Some of his descendants moved to the Subcontinent. Among them was Hakim Shaikh Ilm ud-din Ansari, better known as Wazir Khan, who was a governor of the Mughal Emperors in Multan, in what is now Pakistan – best known for building the famous Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore. His other prominent descendent was Qutb ud-din Ansari who founded the famous Firangi Mahal school of religious education near Lucknow in India.

365 solar years ago, on this day in 1651 AD, the fort of Gandikot, in Cadapa in what is now Andhra was captured by the Iranian adventurer, Mir Mohammad Ardistani entitled “Mir Jumla” for Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah of the Deccan (southern India). Born in Isfahan to an oil merchant, he set out for the Deccan on a business trip under a diamond merchant to the Qutb-Shahi Sultanate of Iranian origin of Golkandah-Haiderabad, where he started his own business and rose to become the prime minister. Soon friction with the court made him seek service with the Mughal Empire of Hindustan (northern subcontinent), where Emperor Shahjahan made him governor of Bengal. Mir Jumla started his conquest of the remote northeast and brought under control Assam and other regions, before death overtook him.

352 solar years ago, on this day in 1664 AD, the Dutch Republic of North America came to its end with its occupation by the British and the seizure of its capital on Manhattan Island, named New Amsterdam, which was renamed New York in honour of the Duke of York, who was later crowned James II of England. Today New York is the largest city of the US.

333 solar years ago, on this day in 1683 AD, King Louis XIV expelled all Jews from French possessions in America. The Jews, while they enjoyed all rights in the Muslim lands, were despised by the Christians for their negative characteristics like miserliness and usury, in addition to their blasphemous slandering of the Virgin Mary (SA) and Prophet Jesus (AS).

196 lunar years ago, on this day in 1241 AH, the second Russo-Iranian war started. The cause was the continued hostility of Russia that had seized the northwestern territories of Iran in the Caucasus. Despite the courage displayed by Prince Abbas Mirza who achieved initial success and pushed back the Russians, the Iranian army was defeated because of lack of supply and support from Tehran, where King Fath-Ali Shah was immersed in inefficiency and pleasures. The disgraceful Turkmenchai Treaty was forced upon Iran, which had to cede to Russia the region of Daghestan west of the Caspian Sea, and areas north of the River Aras, including what is now called the Republic of Azerbaijan.

175 solar years ago, on this day in 1841 AD, the Sultan of Brunei was forced to cede Sarawak on the large Borneo Island to the British invaders, who installed a certain James Brooke as the White Rajah, and whose descendants ruled this land till 1946, a few years before the independence of Malaysia from Britain. Sarawak is now a province of Malaysia.

146 solar years ago, on this day in 1870 AD, Georges Claude, the French chemist and engineer who invented the neon light, as the forerunner of the fluorescent light, was born. He was the first to apply an electrical discharge to a sealed tube of neon gas, around 1902 and make a neon lamp (“Neon” from the Greek word “neos”, meaning “new gas”). He first publicly displayed the neon lamp on 11th December 1910 in Paris at a motor show.

114 solar years ago, on this day in 1902 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (RA) was born in Khomein. From childhood he was immersed in the study of Islamic sciences, and was aware and conscious of political developments in those days of Iran’s subservience to the British and the Russians. When he entered manhood, and was already a scholar of repute in hadith, philosophy and other fields, he saw the British replace the Qajarid dynasty with an illiterate soldier named Reza Khan, who took the surname Pahlavi and unleashed oppression on the people and the ulema – forcibly unveiling women and banning men from wearing the traditional Iranian dress by imposing upon them European clothes. In 1941, the British replaced Reza Khan with his son, Mohammad Reza on the Peacock Throne, and this new self-styled king was even more submissive to his masters. In the early 1950s the Imam saw the oil nationalization movement take shape and the Shah fled but was restored to power in the August 1953 CIA coup by the Americans, his new masters. In 1963, the Imam openly spoke against the anti-Islamic policies of the corrupt Pahlavi regime, for which he was imprisoned and then exiled – initially to Turkey and thereafter to Iraq, where he spent 14 years in holy Najaf, beside the shrine of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), grooming a large number of scholars. His guidelines generated the Islamic Revolution, and in February 1979, after a brief three-month stay in Paris, he returned to Iran to found the Islamic Republic. He thus delivered the country from both domestic despotism and foreign hegemony. It was his astute guidance that saved Islamic Iran from the intricate plots of the Great Satan (the US) including the 8-year war imposed by the American stooge Saddam. Imam Khomeini, who led the worldwide Islamic revival, was a prominent Mujtahid and a Gnostic of the highest order, who wrote several books. His concept of “Wilayat-e Faqih” (Governance of the Supreme Jurist) in the absence of the Infallible Imam is indeed an unique and the keys to the steadfastness and success of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of heavy odds. His speeches and messages are gathered in the 21-volume book “Sahifa-e Noor” (Scripture of Light). He has also composed Persian poetry.

82 solar years ago, on this day in 1834 AD, the jurisprudent Mirza Abu’l-Qassem Kabir Qommi, passed away at the age of 73 in his hometown holy Qom. A product of holy Najaf in Iraq, where he studied under leading scholars like Seyyed Kazem Yazdi, and Akhund Mullah Mohammad Kazem Khorasani, on his return to Iran, he groomed several outstanding ulema, including Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Reza Golpayegani, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini.

77 solar years ago, on this day in 1939 AD, German planes pounded the Polish Capital, Warsaw for three days on the eve of World War II, killing over 15,000 people, and forcing Poland to surrender to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces.

74 solar years ago, on this day in 1942 AD, the Iranian literary figure and poet, Mohammad Yousefzadeh Hamedani passed away. He was a polymath in logic, Islamic philosophy, and literature, especially Persian poems. He was active in the Constitutionalist Movement, but when colonialist agents infiltrated and diverted it from its goals he left politics and devoted himself to social and literary activities. He has left behind as diwan of poetry.

51 lunar years ago, on this day in 1386 AH, the Iranian Gnostic and Philosopher, Ayatollah Sheikh Mojtaba Qazvini, passed away. A product of the famous seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, where he studied such great scholars as Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Yazdi, and Ayatollah Mirza Mohammad Hussain Na’ini. He was a fellow student of the famous Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassim Khoei. On return to Iran, he attended the classes in holy Mashhad of Aqa Bozourg Hakim and Mirza Isfahani. He spent 40 years in teaching and writing books, besides his social activists. His books include “Roshangar” and the 5-volume “Bayan al-Firaq”. 

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1974 AD, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa declared independence from Portuguese colonial rule. It was part of the Mali Muslim Empire, before its occupation by Portugal, which enslaved the people and sent hundreds of thousands of them to the Americas as slaves. In the mid-1960s, the uprising of the people against the Portuguese intensified and in 1970, the independence seekers took control of two-thirds of this land. In 1974, Portugal was forced to grant independence. Over 65 percent of the people are Muslim in Guinea-Bissau which covers an area of over 36,000 sq km. It lies on the coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean, sharing borders with Guinea and Senegal.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, on instructions from the Shah's regime, the repressive Ba'th minority regime of Iraq, besieged the home of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), in holy Najaf, to pressure him to refrain from interviews with reporters, issuance of declarations, and delivery of speeches and sermons on the tyrannical nature of the Pahlavi despot. Imam Khomeini told them that he was fulfilling his legitimate Islamic duty and has no regrets. Soon the Ba'thists forced the Imam to leave Iraq, and after obtaining a visa from the Kuwait embassy in Baghdad, he headed towards that Persian Gulf sheikhdom in a car, but was prevented entry at the border despite holding a valid visa. As a result, he was forced to obtain a visit visa from the French embassy and flew to Paris, where he became more accessible to the media in the events leading to the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1992 AD, the Iranian mystic and lecturer, Mirza Abdul-Karim Roshan Tehrani, passed away at the age of 89. He studied under prominent masters of his day, and for a while lectured at the Faculty of Theology at Tehran University.

AS/ME