Today is Thursday; 27th of the Iranian month of Mehr 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 28th of the Islamic month of Muharram 1439 lunar hijri; and October 19, 2107, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

2219 solar years ago, on this day in 202 BC, during the Second Punic War at the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Publius Scipio Africanus defeated the famous general Hannibal Barca, the leader of the army defending Carthage near modern Tunis in North Africa. Despite Hannibal possessing numerical superiority, Scipio conceived a strategy to confuse and defeat his war elephants. Scipio's troops then routed the Carthaginian infantry. Soon after this defeat on their home ground, the Carthaginian senate sued for peace, which was given to them by the Roman Republic on rather humiliating terms, ending the 17-year war.

1403 lunar years ago, on this day in 36 AH, Hudhayfa ibn Yaman, the loyal companion of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), passed away in Mada’en, Iraq, where he was serving as governor. Born in Mecca, he was from the Abs tribe of Yemen, and embraced the truth of Islam shortly after the Prophet declared his universal mission. He migrated to Medina after the Prophet and was considered both a Muhajer (migrant from Mecca) and Ansar (helper from Medina), since he was allied to a clan in Medina. The Prophet gave him the option to count himself in either of the two groups, and he chose to be known as one of the Ansar. The Prophet confirmed his choice and made a pact of brotherhood between him and the other loyal companion Ammar ibn Yasser – a migrant from Mecca. Hudhayfa participated in the Battle of Ohad, along with his father, whom certain Muslims suspiciously killed and claimed it was an accident. During the Battle of Khandaq, he was asked by the Prophet to obtain information about the enemy's camp, and he successfully did. He was trusted by the Prophet and informed him of many future events and seditions, including the true characteristics of some people, especially the hypocrites amongst his companions. When a group of hypocrites from among the Muslims lay in ambush to assassinate the Prophet while he was as returning during night from the expedition to Tabuk, a streak of lightning illuminated the sky and stayed for a while instead of a brief flash, thereby exposing the conspirators and revealing their identity to the Prophet and Hudhayfa. Since Hudhayfa was told by the Prophet the names of all the hypocrites, he is called him “Saheb as-Sirr” (close confidant of the Prophet). He is considered as one of the four prominent companions of Imam Ali (AS. The biographer al-Kashshi has cited a hadith in which Hudhayfa is considered one of the seven people because of whom God bestows His blessings and bounties on people. These seven people attended the funeral of the Noblest-ever lady, the Prophet’s daughter Hazrat Fatema az-Zahra (SA), who annoyed with the hypocrites willed to her husband, Imam Ali (AS) to bury her in the dead of night, without any person connected to the ruling regime attending her funeral. Hudhayfa narrated hadiths regarding the virtues of Imam Ali (AS) and the Ahl al-Bayt. He also narrated a hadith from the Prophet of Twelve Imams after him. Al-Mas'udi reported that Hudhayfa's two sons, Safwan and Sa'd, accompanied Imam Ali (AS) in the Battle of Siffin and attained martyrdom, while at-Tabari writes that Sa’d was alive during the rise of the Tawwabin (Penitents) to avenge the blood of the Martyr of Karbala Imam Husain (AS) and assisted them.

1378 lunar years ago, on this day in 61 AH, 18 days after the heartrending tragedy of Karbala and the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), the captive children and womenfolk of the Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), along with the heads of martyrs, mounted on spear-points, entered Ba’lbek in what is now Lebanon on their way to Damascus, the capital of the Godless Yazid, the self-styled caliph of the Omayyad regime. The noble captives were taken through a circuitous route passing through Mosul in Iraq, Nusaybin in what is now Turkey and Aleppo in Syria, where there are sacred places related to Imam Husain (AS), so that people on the normal straight route to the Syrian capital do not become aware of the tragedy of Karbala and rise up against Yazid. 

783 lunar years ago, on this day in 656 AH, Baghdad was sacked by the Buddhist army of the Mongol marauder, Hulagu Khan (grandson of the bloodthirsty Chingiz Khan), who had the 37th and last self-styled caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, al-Musta'sem, rolled in a carpet and trampled to death under the feet of horses. The grand library of Baghdad, containing countless historical documents and books on subjects ranging from medicine to astronomy, was destroyed. It is said the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantity of books flung into the river. Death counts vary widely and cannot be easily substantiated, running into estimates ranging from 200,000 to a million. The Mongols looted and destroyed mosques, palaces, libraries, hospitals and buildings that had been the work of generations, since the founding of Baghdad five centuries ago. So terrible was the sack that Baghdad lay desolate for several generations. The incompetent Musta’sem, whose 16-year rule was confined to Iraq and some eastern parts of Syria, had neither raised an army to defend Baghdad nor did he attempt to negotiate with Hulagu, to whom two years earlier, he had supplied troops to conquer the Ismaili Nizari stronghold of Alamout (200 km west of modern Tehran). It seems the Abbasid ruler not just paid the price of assisting infidels against fellow Muslims, but also the far more serious treachery of his great-grandfather, the 34^th self-styled caliph, an-Naser-Billah, some 40 years ago, in inviting Chingiz to attack the empire of the Khwarezm Shah, because of personal dispute, some years before the Mongol invasion actually occurred. The curtain thus came down on 524 lunar years of the Abbasid caliphate founded by Abu'l-Abbas Saffah by hijacking the sentiments of the Arab and Iranian masses for the Ahl al-Bayt, thereby depriving once again the progeny of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) of their political right to rule the Islamic realm. The Abbasids exercised actual authority for only some 150 years, after which they became mere puppets in the hands of the Iranian and Turkic emirs, while independent dynasties cropped up in all the provinces, except for the heartland Iraq. The Abbasids never ruled Islamic Spain, where remnants of the Omayyads held power, while the Maghreb (Morocco) was lost during the early days of Haroun Rashid to Idris, a great-grandson of the Prophet's elder grandson, Imam Hasan Mojtaba (AS). Over a century later, all of North Africa, followed by Syria and the Hejaz, were taken over by the Fatemids, who also claimed descent from the Prophet.

631 solar years ago, on this day in 1386 AD, Ottoman Sultan Bayazid I conquered Sofia the capital of Bulgaria, but because of the attacks on the eastern frontier in Asia Minor by Amir Timur, he could not continue his campaign in Europe.

272 solar years ago, on this day in 1745 AD, Irish author, Jonathan Swift, died in his hometown Dublin at the age of 78. He made strenuous efforts for 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.

236 solar years ago, on this day in 1781 AD, the commander of English forces in the US, Charles Cornwallis, surrendered to the commander of US forces, George Washington, thereby ending the US war of independence that was started in 1775 by rebels in the 13 colonies known as New England.

233 solar years ago, on this day in 1784 AD, Leigh Hunt, English essayist, poet and political radical, was born. He wrote the famous poem "Abou Ben Adhem" on the Iranian prince of Balkh, Ibrahim bin Adham, who renounced palace pleasures and worldly life to become a mystic.

204 solar years ago, on this day in 1813 AD, the major battle between 155,000 French soldiers, under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the 300,000-strong joint forces of Sweden, Britain, Prussia, Russia, and Austria, ended with Napoleon's failure. This four-day battle broke out in the vicinity of the German city of Leipzig. The French forces, who were demoralized in the wake of their futile attack on Russia in 1812, were crushed by the well-prepared and equipped joint forces. The failure was a prelude to Napoleon's future failures and his deportation to Elba Island in 1814.

159 lunar years ago, on this day in 1280 AH, the scholar, Mirza Mohammad Taher Tonekabouni, was born in Kelardasht, Mazandaran Province. He came to Tehran for higher religious and later joined the Madrasa-e Sepah-Salar as lecturer. He entered in politics and was elected to the 1^st and later 4^th Majlis, He passed away in Tehran at the age of 80 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of the famous theologian, Shaikh Sadouq in Rayy.

73 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD, war broke out between the Japanese and US forces in the Philippines Archipelago during World War 2. The US forces, commanded by Douglas MacArthur, attacked Philippines and drove out the Japanese forces.

41 solar years ago, on this day in 1976 AD, one of the high-ranking officials of The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Ali Hassan Salameh, was martyred in Lebanon by Zionist agents in a car bombing.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1983 AD, Prime Minister Maurice Bishop of Grenada Island in the Caribbean Sea, was executed along with 4 cabinet ministers  by Bernard Coard, a member of his own government, days after his overthrow and house arrest. The coup prompted a US invasion, which is largely seen as part of an intricate American plot in view of Bishop’s bitter opposition to Washington’s hegemonic policies. The US, arrested 17 persons n for Bishop’s killing and the local courts sentenced them to death, the verdicts were never carried out. The death sentences were later commuted to life in prison, and in 2005 they were allowed to appeal to the London-based Privy Council. In 2009 Bernard Coard and the six others — Dave Bartholomew, Callistus Bernard, Leon Cornwall, Liam James, Ewart Layne and Selwyn Strachan — were released. Ten others convicted in the killings, including Coard's wife, were previously released. The bodies of Bishop and 10 men killed with him have never been found.

25 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, the Cambodian ruling party officially ended the 13-year communist rule of the country. The decision was made at the Congress of the Cambodian People's Party, which established a multiparty ruling system.

23 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, Ayatollah Shaikh Mohammad Baqer Kamrehi passed away at the age of 96 and was laid to rest in the courtyard of the mausoleum of Seyyed Abdul-Azim Hassani in Rayy, Tehran. Born in Khomein, he mastered theology, jurisprudence, exegesis of the holy Qur’an, Hadith, history, Arabic and Persian literature, and lexicography. He authored over fifty books in various fields, “God-Consciousness”, “Pillars of Faith”, “Pearls of Wisdom”, and “Role of Religion in Social Spheres”.

14 solar years ago, on this day in 2003 AD, the Bosnian Muslim politician and author, Alija Izetbegovic, died at the age of 78. He struggled against the Yugoslav communist regime since his youth and was imprisoned on several occasions. In 1989, he founded The Party of Democratic Action, which played a pivotal role in the independence of Bosnia in 1991. This Muslim politician was elected as the Bosnian president after the independence of this country. He played a vital role in defending the Bosnian people, throughout the attacks of Serbian army and Bosnian Serbs against Muslims. After the termination of war, he was elected twice to Bosnian presidential council. But, he voluntarily stepped down from power in 2000. In addition to political activities, he was also an Islamic thinker and author, writing a number of books, including "Islam between East and West", and "Islamic Declaration".

8 solar year ago, on this day in 2009 AD, some fifty Iranian citizens, including 5 senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC), 10 security personnel and the rest civilians, achieved martyrdom in Sistan-Baluchestan Province in a bomb blast triggered by the terrorist Jundullah outfit, operating from across the southeastern border in Pakistan and supported by the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Deputy Commander of IRGC ground forces, General Noor Ali Shooshtari, as well as a chief provincial IRGC commander, Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh were among the martyrs.

7 solar years ago, on this day in 2010 AD, the prominent Iranian bibliographer, Dr. Ali Naqi Monzavi, passed away at the age of 88. Son of the famous Islamic bibliographer, Ayatollah Sheikh Aqa Bozorg Tehrani, he studied both at the Islamic seminary and the university. After obtaining PhD in Islamic sciences from Tehran University in 1958 he started as a lecturer, but due to his activities against Shah's despotic regime, he was forced to leave Iran for Lebanon in 1967. He continued his academic studies and obtained another PhD in philosophy from Saint Joseph University in Beirut in 1971. He returned to Iran in 1976 and continued to compile, translate and edit books. He also cooperated with Ali Akbar Dehkhoda and Mohammad Moin in compilation of the Dehkhoda Lexicon. He has left behind several books, including "The Arabic to Persian Lexicon".

AS/ME