Today is Tuesday; 14thof the Iranian month of Dey 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 4thof the Islamic month of Rabi as-Sani 1438 lunar hijri; and January 3, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2123 solar years ago, on this day in 106 BC, Marcus Cicero, Roman orator, statesman and author, was born. He was elected Consul in 63. He chose to support Pompey over Julius Caesar and was murdered by Mark Antony in 43 at the age of 63 years. One of his sayings is: "What is more unwise than to mistake uncertainty for certainty, falsehood for truth?"

1265 lunar years ago, on this day in 173 AH, Seyyed Abdul-Azim al-Hasani, a prominent descendant of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), was born in Medina. A pious scholar of repute, he was fifth in descent from the Prophet's elder grandson and 2nd Infallible Heir, Imam Hasan al-Mojtaba (AS). His genealogy reads: Abdul-Azim ibn Abdullah ibn Ali ibn Hassan ibn Zayd ibn Imam Hasan (AS). He was ten years when the Prophet's 7th Infallible Heir, Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), was martyred in Baghdad in the dungeon of the Abbasid tyrant Haroun Rasheed, and he had the honour of companionship of the 8th, 9th and 10th Infallible Imams – Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), Imam Mohammad at-Taqi (AS), and Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS). He was sent as a missionary to Iran to enlighten the people about the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt.

925 lunar years ago, on this day in 513 AH, the narrator of Hadith, grammarian, and lexicographer, Abu-Bakr Mohammad Anbari, was born. After acquiring other sciences, he started lecturing and groomed a large number of scientists. He has left behind a large number of compilations, including the book: “Manshour al-Fawayed”.

516 solar years ago, on this day in 1501 AD, the Amir Ali Shir Navai, the acclaimed Central Asian politician, mystic, linguist, painter, and poet, passed away at the age of 63 in Herat and his body was taken to Mashhad for burial in the porch he had built at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Born in the Khorasani capital, Herat, which is currently in western Afghanistan, he is considered the Father of Chagatai Turkic literature, and was a prolific author. He also wrote and composed poems in Persian under the penname Fani, and has excellent compilations in this language as well to his credit. He studied in Mashhad, Herat and Samarqand, and when his childhood friend, Sultan HusaynBayqarah became the principal Timurid ruler of Khorasan, he joined his service and for almost 40 years devoted his efforts to cultural developments including fine arts and the building of public utility works like schools, mosques, caravanserais and hospitals. In Mashhad, he carried out extensions in the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS). He is regarded as a national hero in the modern republic of Uzbekistan and is famous all over the Turkic-speaking world.

235 solar years ago, on this day in 1782 AD, the Sylhet District in what is now northeast Bangladesh was taken over by the British as part of their expansion policy. It was previously called Jalalabad in memory of Shah Jalal Naqshbandi, a Sufi saint of Iranian origin, who was born in Konya in what is now Turkey in the time of the famous Persian mystic and poet, Mowlana Jalal od-Din Roumi Balkhi. In 1303 AD, with his arrival in Sylhet along with 360 disciples, Islam began to spread and the local Hindus, Buddhists and pagans of the area, embraced the truth of Islam. At the same time Muslim rule was established by Sikandar Ghazi and the region was included in the dominion of the Delhi-based Tughlaq Turkic Dynasty of India. His shrine is the main center of pilgrimage in Sylhet till this day, along with that of Seyyed Zaker Shah Zaidi al-Fatemi, a descendent of Martyr Zaid, the son of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) 4th Infallible Heir, Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). Today, almost 90 percent of the people of Sylhet are Muslims.

142 solar years ago, on this day in 1875 AD, the French literary figure and linguist, Pierre Larousse, passed away at the age of 58. After years of study, he compiled the Larousse Lexicon.

126 lunar years ago, on this day in 1312 AH, prominent religious scholar of India, Seyyed Ali Mohammad, known as Taj ul-Ulema passed away at the age of 52. He was the son of Sultan ul-Ulema, and has left behind numerous compilations, including “Ahsan al-Qessas”, an exegesis of Surah Yousuf of the Holy Qur’an. Another of his books is “Gohar-e Shab Cheragh” in Persian on the virtues of nightly prayers.

106 solar years ago, on this day in 1911 AD, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroyed the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan, and which is now the Republic of Kazakhstan.

59 solar years ago, on this day in 1958 AD, the British created the politically short-lived West Indies Federation in Caribbean Sea which included Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago and the Windward and Leeward Islands. Because of numerous problems, it was dissolved by the British in 1963, with nine provinces becoming independent sovereign states. Despite the collapse of the Federation, the West Indies (with addition of Guyana) continues to field a joint cricket team for international competition.

56 solar years ago, on this day in 1961 AD, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro announced he was a communist. The US has refused to relinquish its occupation of Guantanamo Bay base where it has set up a subhuman prison that holds nationals of several countries, who are denied any legal access and are brutally tortured.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the treaty for reduction of atomic weapons was signed by Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, and the US president, George Bush Sr., with the two countries pledging to reduce their nuclear arsenal by two thirds. The US agreed to the treaty because following the collapse of Soviet Union, Moscow had started to cooperate with the West and was not considered as a major threat to Washington. Nonetheless, instead of dismantling its nuclear arms, the US stockpiled them, and Russia, in protest to Washington’s refusal to deliver on its vows stopped dismantling its nuclear warfare. Meanwhile, in April 2010, the US and Russian presidents signed a new START, according to which the number of nuclear warheads of each side is reduced to 1550.

AS/MG