Today is Friday; 11th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 2nd of the Islamic month of Rajab1438 lunar hijri; and March 31, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1390 solar years ago, on this day in 627 AD, the fledgling Muslim community of Medina led by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) triumphed in the Battle of Trench (Khandaq) over a joint Arab-Israelite force of 10,000 after withstanding a 27-day siege led by the archenemy of Islam, Abu Sufyan. Also known as the Battle of Ahzaab or Confederates, the decisive victory, thanks to the valour of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS) occurred on 17^th of Shawwal, 5 AH, as per the Islamic lunar hijri calendar. To defend the city against the mighty horde, the Muslims dug a ditch around the sensitive parts of Medina on the suggestion of Salman Farsi, the Prophet's Iranian disciple. When the joint Arab-Israelite force arrived, it was surprised to see the ditch and decided to besiege the city in order to break the will of the Muslims. As days passed and no moral breakdown occurred in Medina, the fearsome Arab pagan warlord, Amr ibn Abduwad, along with some of his accomplices, leapt his horse across the ditch at its narrowest point and challenged the terrified Muslims to personal combat. Except for Imam Ali (AS), none of the companions of the Prophet dared to rise up against this veritable giant who had a nasty reputation of physical strength. A duel took place, and the Imam, despite receiving a wound on his forehead, knocked out Amr to the ground. At this moment, the fallen foe, turned out to be a coward, and spat at the Imam in a bid to avoid certain death. On this insult, Imam Ali (AS) gently withdrew to allow his emotions to cool down so that personal feelings do not mix up with pure and sincere jihad in the way of God. The Arab infidel rose to his feet and renewed the life-and-death struggle, but this time the flashing sword of Imam Ali (AS), the famous double-bladed Zul-Feqar, made short work of the opponent who fell down dead to the ground. The Imam then scattered the companions of Amr, and this valorous feat sent shivers down the spine of the Arab-Israelite hordes, making them break ranks and flee. The Prophet expressed the famous hadith this day, saying: “The Stroke of Ali on the Day of Khandaq is superior to the worship of (Thaqalayn) mankind and genies.”

1217 lunar years ago, on this day in 221 AH, the renowned Arabic poet, Ali ibn Abbas ibn ar-Rumi, was born in Baghdad. The son of an Iranian Muslim mother and a half Greek Muslim father, named Abbas ibn Jurayj, by the age of twenty he was an accomplished poet. His patrons included the Taherid ruler of Khorasan, Obaydallah ibn Abdullah, and the Persian Ismail ibn Bulbul. He was a follower of the School of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He composed numerous poems in praise of Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS) and Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS) – the Prophet’s 10^th and 11^th Infallible Heirs. He died of illness at the age of 59, although some have suggested he was poisoned. His Diwan is a masterpiece of Arabic poetry.

1195 solar years ago, on this day in 822 AD, the Godless tyrant Mutawakkil, who styled himself as the 10th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was born to a Turkic concubine from Khwarezm of Mu’tasim. Named Ja’far, he became caliph on the suspicious death of his half-brother Watheq – whose body lay in negligence with mice eating away his eyes, while Mutawakkil held festivities for several days. He immediately unleashed a reign of terror, especially on the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He persecuted the Prophet’s progeny, instructed judges to always give the verdict against them, forbade them to ride horses in Egypt, forcibly brought the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), to Samarra from Medina to be placed under house arrest, and blasphemously destroyed the holy shrine of Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala, several times. He was finally murdered while drunk and asleep, by his own son, Muntasir, with the help of Turkic guards, at the age of 39 after a reign of 14 years. The reason for his murder was his usual habit of cursing the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) that finally broke the patience of his elder son, Muntasir, who left the assembly of drunkards in rage under the taunts of his father and soon got rid of him. Imam Ali (AS) had prophesied him as "the most infidel" of Abbasid rulers.

1070 lunar years ago, on this day in 368 AH, the Iranian Arabic philologist, Hassan ibn Abdullah Sirafi, passed away in Baghdad. He was among the childhood teachers of Seyyed Radhi, the famous scholar and compiler of the “Nahj al-Balagha” – the collection of sermons, letters and maxims of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). Once the child Radhi had a lively discussion with him on the wrong track the caliphate took after Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

998 lunar years ago, on this day in 440 AH, the prominent Iranian Islamic scientist, Abu Rayhan Mohammad ibn Ahmad al-Berouni, passed away in the city of Ghazni, in present day Afghanistan at the age of 77. He was a multisided genius and wrote prolifically on history, geography, mathematics, astronomy, mineralogy, and various other topics. He wrote over 180 books. His work on geometry, arithmetic, trigonometry, and algebra, is titled "at-Tafhim" in which he has calculated the weight of objects. Born in Khwarezm, a region adjoining the Aral Sea and presently in Uzbekistan, Beiruni, who was a follower of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), has written about the spherical shape of the Earth and its revolving on its axis as it orbits around the Sun, several centuries before Europeans were to discover these facts. He was conversant in Arabic, Persian, Greek and Sanskrit, and after visiting India and spending several months in the company of its sages, he wrote the valuable book, “Tahqiq ma lil-Hind”. Among his works, mention could be made of “Kitab Sina‘at at-Tanjim” (The Book of the Elements of the Art of Astronomy), and “Aasaar al-Baqiyah an-il-Qoroun al-Khaliya” (The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries), which is a comparative study of calendars of different cultures and civilizations, interlaced with mathematical, astronomical, and historical information. He also wrote the “Qanoun al-Mas'oudi”, an extensive encyclopedia on astronomy, geography, and engineering.

525 solar years ago, on this day in 1492 AD, Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering 150,000 Spanish Jews to convert to Christianity within three months or face expulsion. This happened less than three months after the occupation of the Muslim emirate of Granada and the famous al-Hamra (Red Palace) by the Christians, who were notorious for their anti-Semitism, which means persecution of both Arabs and Israelites. Jews had been living for several centuries under Muslim rule in Islamic Spain as "People of the Book"' and were given special status. Some of them had rose in the social hierarchy to become scholars and ministers. But with the gradual occupation of Islamic Spain by the Christian rulers, both Muslims and Jews found themselves persecuted and such measures were prevalent throughout Europe. The punishment for any Jew who did not convert or leave by the deadline was death. The punishment for a non-Jew who sheltered or hid Jews was the confiscation of all belongings and hereditary privileges. Other Spanish Jews (estimates range between 50,000 and 70,000) chose to avoid expulsion by conversion to Christianity. However, their conversion did not protect them from the Church’s hostility after the Spanish Inquisition came into full effect. Many of these "New Christians" were eventually forced to either leave the countries or intermarry with the local populace by the dual Inquisitions of Portugal and Spain. As a result many Jews migrated to the Muslim lands of North Africa. This edict against the Jews of Spain was in force till 16 December 1968, when the Second Vatican Council cancelled it. It is also worth noting that hundreds of thousands of Spanish Muslims were forcibly converted to Christianity in Spain, while hundreds of thousands of others were massacred, and many expelled.

518 lunar years ago, on this day in 920 AH, the Battle of Chaldiran took place between the Ottoman and the Safavid Empires, in which Sultan Selim who was on the verge of defeat and contemplating flight, unexpectedly found victory as Shah Ismail’s forces suddenly gave way after brave resistance. The Turks, who were afraid of the growing influence of the Iranians in Anatolia and Syria, succeeded in checking Shah Ismail’s advance in what is now Turkey, but withdrew from Tabriz and retreated on hearing news of reorganization of the famous Qizilbash Corps by the Iranians. This was the first of the many battles between the two sides that continued intermittently for almost two-and-a-half centuries.

421 solar years ago, on this day in 1596 AD, the French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, Rene Descartes, was born. He considered mathematics a complete science and conducted extensive research on physics, elaborating the phenomenon of light’s refraction and the laws related to the angles of radiation and refraction. His books include “Principles of Philosophy” and “Meditations”. He died in 1650 at the age of 53. His work "La Geometrie" includes his application of algebra to geometry that led to emergence of Cartesian geometry. During 1620-28, he travelled through Europe, before settling in Holland. Soon after, he began work on his first major treatise on physics. This work was near completion when news reached him that the Italian scientist Galileo was condemned to house arrest by the Christian Church because of divulging scientific facts about the earth and the planets, based on the study of works of the early Islamic scholars. Descartes decided not to publish that work during his lifetime. Later, he turned to philosophy, and his most famous quote is “I think, therefore I am.”  

332 solar years ago, on this day in 1685 AD, German musician and composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, was born. Many of his songs are religious, and he also played a pivotal role in the progress and perfection of German music. Later in his life he went blind. He has composed numerous works, including a number of carols.

294 lunar years ago, on this day in 1144 AH, a treaty was signed after wars between the Ottoman and Safavid Empires, according to which the Turks withdrew from the western border areas of Iran and the Iranians regained sovereignty over Azerbaijan and parts of the Caucasus

290 solar years ago, on this day in 1727 AD, Isaac Newton, English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and alchemist died at the age of 84. He improved upon the works of Muslim scientists that had been translated into Latin from Arabic, and described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws.

208 solar years ago, on this day in 1809 AD, English author and poet, Edward Fitzgerald, was born in Suffolk County. He specialized in eastern languages, especially Persian, and translated into English many Iranian classical works. In 1856 he anonymously published in Miltonic verse a version of “Salamaan and Absaal” of the Iranian poet Abdur-Rahman Jami. In 1859, he translated and published the quatrains of the renowned Iranian scientist-poet, Khayyam Naishapuri as “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”, a work which he later revised and on which his fame rests till this day. He also translated from Greek into English two Oedipus tragedies, and plays from the famous Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderón. He left an unpublished manuscript version of the Iranian poet Farid od-Din Attar Naishapuri’s “Manteq-ot-Tayr”. This last abridged translation which FitzGerald called "A Bird's-Eye view of the Bird Parliament", is often called an unknown masterpiece, although he whittled the Persian original of some 4500 lines, down to 1500 lines in English. He died in 1883 at the age of 74.

208 solar years ago, on this day in 1809 AD, the Russian author, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, was born in Ukraine. He wrote the novel “Taurus Bulba” in 1832 that was inspired by the struggles of the Cossacks in 17^th century Poland.

162 solar years ago, on this day in 1855 AD, the famous English author, Charlotte Bronte, died at the age of 39. She wrote the moving novel titled “Jane Eyre” under the pen name Currer Bell.

128 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, the Eiffel Tower was formally opened in Paris, the capital of France, as the world's tallest tower. With a height of 300-meters (986-feet), it remained the world's tallest structure until surpassed by the Empire State Building in New York, 40 years later. The designer was Gustave Eiffel. The immense iron latticework design was chosen from 700 proposals submitted in an international tender. Construction lasted for over two years from 26^th January 1887 to 31^st March 1889. It was erected for the 1889 Paris Exposition, which had 1,968,287 visitors. Elevators are powered by in the basements of the eastern and western pillars.

69 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, with the intensification of terrorism by armed illegal Zionist migrants from Europe, a train bound from the Egyptian capital Cairo to the port city of Haifa in Palestine, was blew up, resulting in the death of 40 Palestinians and injury to 60 others. Carried out by the “Stern” Zionist terrorist outfit, it occurred four days after a similar passenger train blast by Zionist terrorists in British-occupied Palestine, resulting in the martyrdom of 24 persons and wounding of 61 others. The illegal Zionist migrants from Europe conducted a campaign of organized terrorism in public places, villages, buses, and trains in Palestine, as part of the plot for the illegitimate birth of Israel in May 1948, after forcibly evicting Palestinians from their homes and hearths.

38 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, The Arab League suspended the membership of Egypt, while most Muslim countries severed ties with Cairo for signing of the treasonous Camp David Accord by Egyptian president, Anwar Sadaat with the illegal Zionist entity called Israel. However, due to US threats and pressures, coupled with the dubious policies of certain reactionary Arab regimes, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, the stage was set for the return to Egypt to The Arab League in the late 1980s. Ironically, today the Arab League has put itself at the service of the US and Zionist entity by illegally expelling Syria for its steadfast opposition to Israeli and Takfiri terrorists, and has allowed Saudi Arabia and 7 other Arab regimes to militarily attack Yemen, in a bid to quell the popular revolution that overthrew the unrepresentative regime of Mansour Hadi.

11 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, a new Fajr-3 radar-evading missile was successfully test-fired by Iran. It can hit several targets simultaneously.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, Syed Qasim Ali Shah Mahmood, the famous Urdu writer, novelist, researcher, translator, publisher and foremost compiler of encyclopedias, passed away in Lahore, Pakistan at the age of 82. Born in Kharkhoda, a town in district Sonipat of what is now Uttar Pradesh in India, he claimed descent from Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS) the elder grandson and 2^nd Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He migrated to Pakistan on its birth, and strove to promote Urdu as the national language of the newly established country. He compiled fifteen encyclopedias, one dictionary and left seven encyclopedias incomplete, produced three collections of short stories, wrote five dramas for Radio Pakistan, wrote story of the film “Baghi Sepahi” (Rebellious Soldier), translated masterpieces of international fiction, science & technology, edited nine literary and social magazines and brought forth nine scientific and literary magazines. From his publishing companies, he published 211 scientific and literary books, wrote many articles on literature, science, politics and sociology in national newspapers and magazines. His encyclopedias include “Pakistanica”, “Encyclopedia of Muslim India”, “Encyclopedia of Holy Qur’an”, “Encyclopedia of the Prophet’s Sirah”, “Encyclopedia of Human History”, etc

5 solar years ago, on this day in 2012 AD, forces of the repressive Aal-e Khalifa minority regime of Bahrain, brazenly killed 22-year old Bahraini Muslim citizen Ahmad Ismail, during a peaceful protest by freedom movement activist. Bahrain is in the grip of nationwide protests which the regime brutally suppresses through imprisonment, torture, and killing of citizens, with the help of the Saudi invasion forces and mercenaries from some Arab states and Pakistan.

AS/ME