Today is Sunday; 6th of the Iranian month of Esfand 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 8th of the Islamic month of Jamadi as-Sani 1439 lunar hijri; and February 25, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1390 solar years ago, on this day in 628 AD, the 22nd and last great emperor of the Sassanid Empire of Iran, Khosrau II, after a reign of 38 years was dethroned and imprisoned by his own son Qobad II (Kavadh), who three days later tortured him to death. Grandson of the wise, just and benevolent ruler, Khosrau I (Anushirvan), he styled himself Parviz (Victorious) but lacked the traits of virtue of his grandfather. Khosrau II had ascended the throne after revolting against his father, Hormizd IV, whom he deposed, blinded and killed. His downfall came shortly after he had haughtily torn the letter of invitation to Islam from the Almighty's Last and Greatest Messenger to mankind, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and threatened to attack Hijaz from Iranian-controlled Yemen, following the reversal of his fortunes in the 26-year long Roman-Iranian War. Although in art and literature, Khosrau Parviz has been immortalized for his romance with the beautiful Armenian Christian princess, Shirin, who eventually became his chief wife, he faced fluctuating fortunes as ruler. Within a year of his accession he was ousted by the rebellious general, Bahram Chubin, fled via Syria to Constantinople, and regained the throne of Ctesiphon in 591 with help from Emperor Maurice of Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire). In 602, the murder of Maurice and usurpation of power by Phocas, provided him the pretext to attack the Roman Empire, and in the next decade while Islam was publicly proclaimed for the first time in Mecca, Iranian armies led by the Generals, Shahrbaraz and Shahin, overran Syria, Palestine, Egypt and almost the whole of Anatolia (modern Turkey) right up to the walls of Constantinople (Istanbul). The victories of the Zoroastrian Persians over the Christian Romans gladdened the hearts of the Arab infidels and made them mock Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Muslims, at which God revealed “Surah Roum”, giving tidings of the eventual triumph of the monotheists – indeed one of the eternal miracles of the holy Qur'an. In 622 – a decade after Heraclius had removed Phocas to become the new Roman Emperor, and coinciding with the Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medina – the fortunes of Khosrau II began to decline with defeats in Anatolia, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Georgia, Armenia, and Iraq; resulting in the rebellion of the nobles that ended his rule.

1390 solar years ago, on this day in 628 AD, Qobad II, on ascending the Sassanid throne after deposing his father, Khosrau II Pervez, with the help of refractory nobles, immediately ordered the execution of all his brothers and half-brothers, including heir-apparent, Mardanshah, son of the Armenian princess, Shirin. Named Shirvieh at birth, the new emperor, whose mother was Maria, (daughter of Roman Emperor Maurice), entered into truce with Emperor Heraclius on humiliating terms by handing over all the territorial gains of his father, in addition to paying unwarranted war indemnity. This incompetent ruler died after only six months in power under mysterious circumstances, and was succeeded by his 8-year old son, Ardashir III, who was deposed and killed 8 months later by the usurper General Shahrbaraz – only to be killed himself 40 days later. The rot that started with Khosrau’s ouster in 628 thus saw 7 more emperors rising to and falling from the throne of Ctesiphon in the space of only 4 years. The last of them, Yazdegerd III, who assumed power in 632 was destined to face the Muslim Arab invasion in 636 that within a decade brought down the curtain on the 425-year rule of the Sassanid Dynasty and saw the almost mass acceptance of Islam by the Iranians, thereby resulting in the birth of Islamic Iran that has since played a vital role in the flowering of the great Islamic civilization.

669 lunar years ago, on this day in 769 AH, the acclaimed Persian poet Mahmoud ibn Amir Yameen od-Din, popularly known as Ibn Yameen Faryumadi, passed away at the age of 84. He was born in Faryumad near Sabzevar in Khorasan, northeastern Iran. He is said to have been the court poet of the Shi’ite Muslim Sarbedar dynasty. Over 5,000 of his poems, mainly aphorisms, have been preserved, including qasidas and mathnawis of a philosophical and mystical nature.

425 lunar years ago, on this day in 1014 AH, Prince Saleem succeeded his father, Akbar the Great, as the Fourth Grand Mughal Emperor of the northern subcontinent and eastern Afghanistan with the title, Noor od-Din Jahangir. He ruled for 23 years, mostly with the assistance of his Iranian wife, Noor Jahan, and maintained excellent relations with Shah Abbas the Great of Safavid Iran. Jahangir was also a poet and writer in both Persian and his native Chaghtai Turkic. The bleak record of his rule, however, was martyrdom of the famous Iranian Islamic scholar in Agra, Qazi Seyyed Noorollah Shoushtari, the author of such famous books as “Majalis al-Momineen” and “Ahqaq al-Haq”. He was under the influence of alcohol when he signed the decree drafted by jealous court mullahs. Later he rued his decision and with the help of his wife, he executed the plotters for the murder of Qazi Shoushtari, who is famous in India amongst the followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt as Shaheed Thalleth (Third Martyr).

369 solar years ago, on this day in 1649 AD, Iran’s Safavid Empire retook the strategic border city of Qandahar in what is now Afghanistan from the Mughal Empire of the Subcontinent. Qandahar was the bone of contention between the two otherwise friendly empires, and was mostly under Iranian rule. Upon hearing of the Mughal debacle in Balkh, Shah Abbas II resolved to liberate Qandahar. He set up camp in Herat and in December 1648, marched towards Qandahar and besieged it. In two months the fort and its surroundings capitulated and were handed over to Iran’s suzerainty by its governor Daulat Khan after 11 years of Mughal occupation. Shahjahan immediately ordered a counterattack under his son Prince Aurangzeb, who was defeated by the Iranians and withdrew. In 1952 the Iranians beat back another invasion by Aurangzeb. The next year Shahjahan sent his elder son Prince Darashikoh with a huge force that also failed to break the defences of the Iranians and retreated after a 7-month siege. The last futile attempt by the Mughals against Qandahar was in 1555. Qandahar was lost by Iran to the Hotaki Pashtuns in 1721, liberated by Nader Shah in 1738 and seized in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Abdali Durrani, the founder of Afghanistan.

261 lunar years ago, on this day in 1178 AH, the Hadith scholar, Abdul-Karim Ibn Ahmad al-Halabi, passed away. He was from Aleppo as his surname suggests, and though he went blind, he wasn’t demoralized and remained a prominent scholar. He has left behind numerous compilations, including “Ad’iyat as-Safar” or supplications to God for safety while on journey.

119 lunar years ago, on this day 1320 AH the Iranian Gnostic, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Gonabadi, known as “Sheikh Bohloul” was born in Gonabad, Khorasan, to the local mujtahid, Shaikh Nizam od-Din Khazai of Arab ancestry. He memorized the holy Qur'an at the tender age of 8. He finished his preliminary Islamic studies under his father, and then for higher studies enrolled at the seminary in holy Qom, where his teachers were the Grand Ayatollah Akhund Khorasani, Mullah Ali Ma’sumi and Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Shehab od-Din Mar’ashi Najafi. Later he studied in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, under Grand Ayatollah Abu’l Hasan Isfahani. This last illustrious teacher told him to use his talents to participate in the resistance movement against the anti-Islamic policies of the British-installed Pahlavi potentate Reza Khan. On return to Iran, he became a powerful voice against anti-Islamic policies of the regime. An unusually gifted scholar and a famous orator, behind his small stature, simple dress and modest manners, there was a talented, eloquent and pious individual, who never hesitated in speaking the truth as well as defending it. In 1935, during the Gowharshad Mosque Uprising of the people of Mashhad in protest to “Kashf-e Hijab” or the forced unveiling of Muslim women, he led the movement. The regime’s forces desecrated the holy precincts of the mosque by martyring and wounding some 5,000 people, besides arresting a large number of others. He spent 13 long years of his life in prison, and was released in a miraculous way. After his release, he travelled to Egypt and Syria, and spent some years there, before returning to Iran. He was very active in the run up to the Islamic Revolution. Sheikh Bohloul was a poet as well, and composed over 200,000 couplets in Persian and Arabic.

98 solar years ago, on this day in 1920 AD, French archaeologist, Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy, died at the age of 75. In 1884-86 he undertook major excavations at the historical site of Susa (modern Shush, Iran) uncovering the palaces of the ancient Persian emperors, Darius I the Great and Artaxerxes II. He was helped by a French physician at the Qajarid court in Tehran to reopen the 1852 excavations done by W.K. Loftus. Dieulafoy's exploration resulted in revealing part of the palace and other structures, and in settling the topographical details of the city. He also recovered unique and beautiful features of art and architecture, including the pillars with capitals of bulls' heads, three great porticoes and the hall of columns, the frieze of lions, and that of archers now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

64 solar years ago, on this day in 1954 AD, Syrian freedom seekers launched their campaign to rid the country of the inefficient and foreign backed rule of President Adib Shishekli. All strata of the society participated in this campaign to bring about the downfall of the Shishekli regime and formation of a united national government under President Hashem al-Atasi.

62 lunar years ago, on this day in 1377 AH, the prominent Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Abdul-Hussein Sharaf od-Din Ameli, passed away in Lebanon at the age of 87. He was born of Lebanese parents in the Iraqi holy city of Kazemain. On completion of his studies in holy Najaf he returned to Jabal Amel in Lebanon and in addition to Islamic welfare and academic activities, campaigned against French colonial rule. He was forced to seek refuge in Egypt, where he came into contact with Shaikh Saleem al-Bishri the Dean of Egypt’s famous seat of Islamic learning, al-Azhar (founded by the Fatemid Shi’ite Dynasty in honour of the Prophet’s Infallible Daughter, Hazrat Zahra (SA) – hence “Azhar”). The two had a lively discussion on key issues of faith, especially the prime position in Islam of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). On the return to Lebanon of Seyyed Sharaf od-Din, the discussion continued in the form of exchange of letters, and in the end Shaikh Bishri admitted the truthfulness of the school of Ahl al-Bayt. The result is the excellent book titled “al-Muraja’at”, which has been translated into major world languages, including English as The Right Path. The Dean of al-Azhar, as a gesture of Islamic solidarity, issued the historic fatwa of endorsing Ja’fari or Shi’ite Fiqh, as one of the five jurisprudential schools of Islam.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, the western Iranian cities of Koh Dasht, Pol-e Dokhtar, Saqqez, Mahabad, Khorramabad and Borourjerd were savagely bombarded by the air force of the US-backed repressive Ba’th minority regime of Saddam, resulting in the martyrdom of over 50 civilians and injuries to 400 others, besides the destruction of the cities’ infrastructure. The bombardment followed the defeat of the Ba’thist forces during the Khaibar Operations in the Majnoon Islands sector. The UN and world countries not just silently watched this aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, but actively supported Saddam and his war machine.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, the brave Iranian commander, Hamid Bakeri, who played a crucial role in the victory of the Muslim combatants of Iran against the invading Ba’thist forces, achieved martyrdom on the war fronts.

32 solar years ago, on this day in 1986 AD, the 21-year dictatorial rule of Filipino President, Ferdinand Marcos, ended with his fleeing the country along with his family. Elected president in 1965, he started his repressive rule with US support and usage of military forces. In 1973, he proclaimed himself permanent president much to the resentment of the people, who felt no choice but to start their political and armed struggle that climaxed in the popular uprising of the 1980s and the overthrow of Marcos’ dictatorship. Muslims account for nearly 20 percent of the Filipino population and are mostly concentrated in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago that used to be independent sultanates before the arrival of the Portuguese and forced conversion of the Philippines to the Roman Catholic sect of Christianity.

27 solar years ago, on this day in 1991 AD, Warsaw Pact member states met in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, to formally announce dissolution of the ailing pact, founded by the Eastern Bloc countries in May 14, 1955, under the leadership of the Soviet Union in order to collectively thwart any attack by the West. Made up of the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Albania, it was a counterbalance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The goodwill dissolution gesture after the end of the Cold War was not reciprocated by the West, whose military arm, NATO, not only continues its unwarranted existence but has pursued a policy of eastward expansion in the absence of Warsaw Pact.

24 solar years ago, on this day in 1994 AD, American-Zionist solider of German Jewish parentage, Baruch Goldstein, opened fire on rows of Palestinian Muslims praying in congregation at the shrine of Prophet Abraham (AS) in the city of al-Khalil in the West Bank of River Jordan. As a result of this cowardly act of terrorism 29 people were martyred and scores of others wounded. This incident (of February 25) occurred in the blessed month of Ramadhan and led to the anger of the civilized world. As a result, the Arab compromisers had no other choice but to postpone their dubious negotiations with the illegal Zionist entity.

9 solar years ago, on this day in 2009 AD, Iranian and Russian technicians conducted a test run of Iran's first nuclear power plant near Bushehr on the Persian Gulf – a major step toward launching full operations at the facility. Iran, as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has peaceful nuclear programme under supervision of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

AS/MG