Today is Thursday; 1st of the Iranian month of Tir 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 27th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan 1438 lunar hijri; and June 22, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2234 solar years ago, on this day in 217 BC, the seesaw Battle of Raphia took place in what is now Gaza, Palestine, in which Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeated Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire that spanned Iraq, Iran and parts of Turkey. It was fought near modern Rafah as one of the largest battles between the two Hellenistic kingdoms, the successor states of Alexander of Macedon’s short-lived empire, for control of Syria, and hence known as the Syrian Wars of the ancient world. Ptolemy had 70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 African war elephants, while Antiochus had 62,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 Asian war elephants. This is the only known battle in which African and Asian elephants were used against each other, and Ptolemy's elephants which were from what is now Eritrea could not bear the smell, sound and view of their Indian counterparts as well as their greater size and strength and caused panic in their own ranks, before the Egyptian cavalry moved in to defeat the Seleucids. Ptolemy's victory secured Syria for Egypt, but it was only a respite, since at the Battle of Panium in 198 BC Antiochus defeated the army of Ptolemy's young son, Ptolemy V Epiphanes and recaptured Syria and Judea.

1101 solar years ago, on this day in 916 AD, Amir Saif od-Dowla, the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo and most of Syria, was born. Named Ali, he was the son of Abu'l-Hayja Abdullah bin Hamdan, and was a staunch follower of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt. He was the younger brother of Nasser od-Dowla the Amir of Mosul. He distinguished himself in battles against the Byzantines and could be called the Warden of the Marches of the Islamic frontier of those days by checking the bid by the Christians to plunder Syria. Saif od-Dowla was a man of letters and surrounded himself with prominent intellectual figures, notably the great Arabic poets, al-Mutanabbi and Abu Firas Hamdani, as well as the noted Iranian Islamic philosopher Abu Nasr Farabi. Saif od-Dowla himself was a poet; his delicate short poem on the rainbow shows high artistic ability.

878 lunar years ago, on this day in 560 AH, the famous Spanish Muslim philosopher and Gnostic, Mohi od-Din bin Mohammad Ibn al-Arabi was born in Andalusia, southern Spain. A child prodigy, after acquiring the sciences of the day, he left Spain at the age of 30 to travel over the Islamic world, acquiring further knowledge and writing books during his journeys, which took him on pilgrimage to Mecca, and far off places like Baghdad in Iraq and Qonya in what is now Turkey. In 620 AH, he settled in Damascus, where he lectured and wrote books. Among his well-known works are “Fusus al-Hikam” (Bezels of Wisdom), and “Futuhaat al-Makkiyya”. His Gnostic school of thought has continued to have a profound impact over the centuries despite the senseless attacks on him by the pseudo scholar Ibn Taimiyya, who failed to taint Ibn Arabi’s saintly personality for elaborating the Qur’anic concepts of “wasila” (means of attaining the proximity of God) and “shafa’a” (power of intercession) that God has granted to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Infallible Imams. He passed away in Damascus in 638 AH.

588 solar years ago, on this day in 1429 AD, the eminent Iranian astronomer and mathematician, Ghiyas od-Din Jamshid Kashani, died under suspicious circumstances in Samarqand at the age of around 50. He was born in Kashan and went to Samarqand at the invitation of the Timurid scientist-ruler, Ologh Beg, to set up the famous observatory. He produced a Zij entitled the “Khaqani Zij”, which was based on Khwaja Naseer od-Din Tusi's “Zij-e Ilkhani”. He also produced tables on transformations between coordinate systems on the celestial sphere, such as the transformation from the ecliptic coordinate system to the equatorial coordinate system. He wrote the book “Sullam as-Sama” on the resolution of difficulties met by predecessors in the determination of distances and sizes of heavenly bodies such as the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the Stars. He also invented a mechanical planetary computer which he called the Plate of Zones, which could graphically solve a number of planetary problems, including the prediction of the true positions in longitude of the Sun and Moon, and the planets in terms of elliptical orbits; the latitudes of the Sun, Moon, and planets; and the ecliptic of the Sun. In one of his numerical approximations of "P" (pronounced pie), he correctly computed 2 P to 9 sexagesimal digits. This approximation of 2 P is equivalent to 16 decimal places of accuracy. This was far more accurate than the estimates earlier given in Greek mathematics of 3 decimal places by Archimedes, Chinese mathematics of 7 decimal places by Zu Chongzhi and Indian mathematics of 11 decimal places by Madhava of Sangamagrama. The accuracy of Jamshid Kashani's estimate was not surpassed until Ludolph van Ceulen computed 20 decimal places of "P" nearly 200 years later.

490 solar years ago, on this day in 1527 AD, Fathollah, the Muslim general of the Sultan of Demak drives away the Portuguese occupation forces from Sunda Kelapa, and renames the town Jayakarta, which now known as Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia. Fathollah is a national hero in Indonesia.

479 lunar years ago, on this day in 959 AH, the prominent theologian, Hassan bin Zain od-Din, was born in Lebanon to Shaikh Zain od-Din al-Jubai Shaheed Thani (Second Martyr). He was a product of the Najaf Seminary in Iraq and wrote the famous book “Ma’alem al-Usoul”. On returning to his homeland he groomed numerous students and passed away in 1011 AH.

424 solar years ago, on this day in 1593 AD, the Battle of Sisak or Kulpa Bozgunu in Turkish, was fought in Croatia on the confluence of the Rivers Sava and Kupa between Ottoman regional forces of Hasan Pasha Predojevic, a notable commander of the Eyalet of Bosnia, and a combined Christian army from the Habsburg lands, mainly the kingdom of Croatia and Austria. Earlier in 1591 and 1592 the Ottomans had two failed attempts of capturing the Sisak fortress, sieging forces on 22 June. The ensuing battle resulted in a defeat for the regional Turkish forces, triggering the Long War between the Ottoman and the Hapsburg Empires that lasted for 13 years.

384 solar years ago, on this day in 1633 AD, Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist, Galileo Galilei, was forced to renounce his scientific remarks and beliefs before the Church officials. Influenced by the Latin translations of the Arabic works of Islamic scientists, such as Iran’s Abu Rayhan Berouni, he wrote a book in the year 1632 in rejection of Ptolemy’s beliefs on the solar system, supporting the fact that the Earth orbits around the Sun. A year later, the Pope summoned him to Rome and termed his writings as blasphemous, and gave him the option of denying what he said or death.

328 lunar years ago, on this day in 1110 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar, Allamah Mohammad Baqer Majlisi, passed away in his hometown Isfahan and was laid to rest beside his equally renowned father, Mullah Mohammad Taqi Majlisi the First. His grandfather, Maqsood Ali was also a theologian and the genealogy of the family is traced back to the famous scholar, Abu Nu’aym Ahmad bin Abdullah Isfahani, the author “Hulyat-al-Awliya” and “Zikr-e Akhbar-e Isfahan.” By the age of 25, he gained certification of "riwayah" from the famous philosopher Mullah Sadra to teach. He was appointed Shaikh ol-Islam (Chief Religious Leader) by the Safavid King, Shah Sultan Hussain. During his 84-year lifespan, he wrote and compiled as many as 600 volumes of books and treatises, including the famous encyclopedic work “Bihar al-Anwaar” on hadith. His books are considered as the most important reference books for Muslims. He also popularized the Friday Prayers and guided tens of thousands of people towards the school of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) Ahl al-Bayt.

212 solar years ago, on this day in 1805 AD, Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian politician and activist for the unification of Italy, was born. His efforts helped bring about an independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers that existed until the 19^th century.

82 lunar years ago, on this day in 1356 AH, Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Modarris was martyred through poisoning by agents of the despotic British-installed Pahlavi ruler, Reza Khan, in the city of Kashmar, Khorasan, at the age of 68, for his untiring efforts to safeguard freedom and liberties in Iran. Born near the city of Ardestan in central Iran, on completion of his studies, he left for the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, to attend the classes of prominent ulema, such as Ayatollah Mirza Hassan Shirazi. On returning to Iran, Ayatollah Modarris started his struggles against the despotic regime and its colonial masters. He was elected to the parliament and lobbied for implementation of Islamic laws in the country, a factor that angered Reza Khan, who exiled him from Tehran.

77 solar years ago, on this day in 1940 AD, France formally surrendered to Nazi German leader, Adolf Hitler, by signing a treaty, according to which Marshal Henri Petain was instated as the premier of France with Germany’s support. But, General Charles de Gaulle, with the support of French troops overseas, formed the French government in exile to continue the struggle for liberation of France.

76 solar years ago, on this day in 1941 AD, during World War II, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, after occupying several east European countries. German troops advanced till the outskirts of Moscow, but were bogged down with the arrival of the winter. The Soviets also resolutely resisted and gradually forced the German troops to retreat.

72 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD, the World War II battle for Okinawa officially ended. It was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War Theater resulting in the death of 12,520 Americans and 90,000 Japanese soldiers, plus 130,000 civilians killed in the 81-day campaign.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him), formally dismissed Abol-Hassan Bani Sadr from the president’s post, a day after the Majlis (parliament) impeached him for his political incompetency and dalliance with anti-revolutionary groups, with 177 affirmative votes, 12 abstentions, and 1 negative vote. Earlier on June 10, the Imam had relieved him of the post of Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces because of his failure to check the advance of the Ba’thist forces. The Iranian nation hailed the move. Upon Bani Sadr’s deposal, his friends, the MKO terrorists, stepped up subversive activities, including the terrorist explosions of 27 June that led to the martyrdom of Chief Justice Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hussaini Beheshti and 72 officials. On July 29, Bani Sadr, with his mustache shaved off and disguised as a chador-wearing woman, fled the country for France, along with MKO terrorist ringleader, Masoud Rajavi, aboard an aircraft piloted by an anti-revolutionary.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, on the instructions of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), the Islamic Propagation Organisation was established for enlightening people at home and abroad with the dynamism of Islam, through preaching, publishing of books, holding of seminars, and related ideological and cultural work to strengthen the beliefs of the people.

AS/ME