Today is Saturday; 4th of the Iranian month of Azar 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 6th of the Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal 1439 lunar hijri; and November 25, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

840 solar years ago, on this day in 1177 AD, the Battle of Montgisard led to the defeat of the Kurdish ruler of Egypt-Syria, Salah od-Din Ayyoubi, at the hands of the 16-year-old leprosy-stricken King Baldwin IV of the illegal Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. Salah od-Din was completely routed, suffered massive casualties, and managed to flee to safety only with a fraction of his army. Ten years later in 1187, after assembling a large multi-ethnic Muslim army that included Khorasani sappers from Iran, he managed to decisively defeat the Crusaders, end the 88-year illegal existence of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, and liberate the Islamic holy city of Bayt al-Moqaddas. 

835 lunar years ago, on this day in 604 AH, the famous Persian poet and mystic, Jalal od-Din Mohammad Balkhi Rumi, was born to Iranian parents in Wakhsh, a town located on the river of the same name in Balkh, Greater Khorasan. Wakhsh is now in Tajikistan while Balkh is in Afghanistan. The most important influences upon him, besides his scholarly father Baha od-Din Walad who was connected to the spiritual lineage of the Iranian Gnostic Najm od-Din Kubra, were the Persian poets Attar Naishapuri and Sana’i Ghaznavi. He was hardly ten years when the family had to flee Khorasan towards Iraq because of the barbaric Mongol invasion. After a sojourn in Baghdad and travel to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, followed by a brief stay in Damascus, he settled in Konya in Anatolia which was under the Persianate Seljuq Sultanate of Roum – hence his title Rumi. At the age of 67, he passed away in Konya, where he produced his magnum opus the “Mathnawi”, and where his shrine has become a place of pilgrimage for Sufis. Known also as “Mowlavi” and “Mowlana”, his poems have been translated into many of the world's languages including English. His “Mathnawi” remains one of the literary glories of the Persian language. In addition to Persian literature, his poetry has influenced Urdu, Punjabi, Turkish, Pashto, Chaghatai, Bengali and Sindhi languages. In his poems he has paid homage to the unsurpassed merits of Imam Ali (AS), the divinely-decreed vicegerent of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

526 solar years ago, on this day in 1491 AD, a huge Christian mercenary force assembled from all over Europe under the command of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabel of Castile, started its siege of Granada (Gharnata), the last Muslim stronghold in Spain, during the ten-year war against the Nasrid Dynasty. On January 2, 1492, Amir Mohammad XII was tricked into surrendering, because of treason among his officials, coupled with the infighting that prevented the two most powerful Muslim empires of the region – the Mamluks of Egypt and the Ottomans – from sending any relief force to the aid of Spanish Muslims. About 200,000 Spanish Muslims were forced to migrate from their homeland to North Africa after the fall of Granada that ended 8 centuries of the glorious Muslim civilization in Spain.

455 solar years ago, on this day in 1562 AD, Spanish playwright, poet and novelist, Felix Lope de Vega, was born in Madrid. A key figure in the Spanish Golden Century of Baroque literature, his reputation in the world of Spanish literature is second only to that of Miguel de Cervantes, while the sheer volume of his literary output is unequalled.

350 solar years ago, on this day in 1667 AD, a deadly earthquake rocked the city of Shemakha in the Caucasus in Azarbaijan (122 km east southwest of Baku), in the Shirvan Khanate of the northwestern region of Iran’s Safavid Empire killing at least 80,000 people.

178 solar years ago, on this day in 1839 AD, a cyclone slammed the southeastern coast of India with high winds and a 40-foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave swept inland, taking with it 20,000 boats and ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths resulted from the disaster in the then thriving port, which is now a tiny village in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Earlier in 1789, a cyclone had hit the same port city, killing at least 20,000 people.

141 solar years ago, on this day in 1876 AD, in revenge for their defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn five months earlier, the United States troops savagely sacked the sleeping Cheyenne village of Dull Knife at the headwaters of the Powder River, killing and plundering unarmed Amerindian men, women, and children. The Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory was the most prominent action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, which in defence of their homeland annihilated the US 7^th Cavalry, including a force of 700 well-armed led by General George Armstrong Custer. The US has a bleak and bloody record of ethnic cleansing of the native Amerindian population.

137 solar years ago, on this day in 1880 AD, the root cause of Malaria was discovered by French physician, Charles Laveran. With this discovery, he paved the way for uprooting this ailment. Dr. Laveran was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1907.

99 solar years ago, on this day in 1918 AD, following the defeat of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, Poland re-emerged as a nation state in Europe after 123 years of occupation and division amongst the great neighbouring powers. In World War II, Poland was once again occupied by Germany, and after the end of Nazi domination in 1945 it went under the influence of the Soviet Union. In 1990, with the collapse of communism, it became an independent country. Poland covers an area of 312,683 sq km and is located in Eastern Europe. It shares borders with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. Its capital is Warsaw.

67 solar years ago, on this day in 1950 AD, while the oil movement was gaining ground, the oil commission of the Iranian parliament rejected the additional contract of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company prepared by the US and Britain to plunder Iran’s oil sources. The contract was strongly opposed by both the religious forces led by Ayatollah Seyyed Abu’l-Qassem Kashani, and the nationalist forces led by Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq. Finally, with popular support, these struggles bore fruit and Iran’s oil industry was nationalized on March 20, 1951.

52 solar years ago, on this day in 1965 AD, the philosopher, Hakeem Mohammad Hadi Farzaneh, passed away at the age of 81 in his hometown Shah-Reza near Isfahan, where he taught philosophy and Islamic sciences to students, after having mastered Islamic sciences in the seminary of Isfahan.

51 solar years ago, on this day in 1966 AD, the educationist, Mirza Jabbar Asgharzadeh Baghcheban, passed away in Tehran at the age of 80. Born in an Iranian Muslim family in Yerevan (capital of Armenia), he established the first Iranian kindergarten for the deaf in Tehran in 1924 and used the Persian equivalent of “Baghche Atfaal” for the German term ‘kindergarten,’ acquiring the surname Baghcheban. He established numerous Institutes and published many books about deaf children and on methods of teaching them. He is also the inventor of Persian language cued speech.

42 solar years ago, on this day in 1975 AD, Suriname in South America, announced complete independence from Holland after having gained autonomy in 1954. Suriname was occupied by the British towards the end of the 16th century, and in early 17th century it was exchanged with Holland for several Dutch possessions in North America. Suriname is a Republic with a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. It shares borders with Brazil, Guyana, and French Guiana. Over 30 percent of the population is Muslim.

36 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, the jurisprudent Ayatollah Mirza Ahmad Sarabi passed away. He started his religious studies at the age of 14 in Tabriz before enrolling at the seminary of holy Qom, where his teachers included Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Shahab od-Din Mar’ashi-Najafi, and Grand Ayatollah Mirza Jawad Aqa Malaki-Tabrizi. He then travelled to Iraq for studies at the famous seminary of holy Najaf, where he attained the status of Ijtehad. On his return to Iran, he involved himself in preaching and teaching with special focus on preachers travelling abroad for propagation of Islam. He also built several public utility buildings.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the prominent religious scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Faqih Imami passed away in his hometown Isfahan at the age of 60. A product of the seminary of holy Qom, his teachers included Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi, the famous exegete of the holy Qur’an Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabatabaie, and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). He returned to Isfahan to groom budding students and write books, such as “Miracles of the Holy Qur’an”, and “Leadership of the Islamic Republic”. His public services include establishment of the famous “az-Zahra Library” which is stacked with 60,000 books.

AS/MG