Today is Monday; 24th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 27th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1439 lunar hijri; and May 14, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

1088 lunar years ago, on this day in 351 AH, Hassan ibn Mohammad al-Muhallabi, the literary patron and able vizier of the founder of the Iranian Buwaiyhid Dynasty of Iran-Iraq-Oman, Moiz od-Dowla Daylami, passed away in Oman during a military expedition at the age of 65. The Buwaiyhids were devout followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Hassan was one of the last members to achieve renown from the famous clan of the Muhallabids that traced its lineage back nine generations to the army commander Muhallab ibn Abu Sufra, who despite being the son of Abu Sufra – the loyal Omani supporter of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) – changed sides, along with his opportunistic sons, as per the political situation between the Omayyads, the Zubayrids, and later the Abbasids, and suffered ignominious ends. Hassan al-Muhallabi, who was master of both the Arabic and Persian languages, started life as an administrator in Ahvaz, who on catching the attention of the Buwaiyhid vizier, Abu Ja’far Saimuri, became attached to the court of Moez od-Dowla, and later on his patron’s death succeeded him as vizier. He was an accomplished poet as well.

1073 lunar years ago, on this day in 366 AH, Naseer od-Din Sabuktigin, a former Turkic slave, was made governor of Ghazni by his ex-owner and governor of Khorasan, Alptigin – himself an emancipated Turkic slave of the Iranian Samanid dynasty of Bukhara. Amir Nuh II Samani confirmed his appointment. Born in Barskon in what is today Kyrgyzstan, as a 12-year old, he was taken prisoner by a warring tribe and sold to a merchant named Haji Nasr, from whom he was purchased by Alptigin and became fully Persianized. When Alptigin rebelled against the Samanids, capturing Zabulistan and Ghazna, he made Sebuktigin a general and gave his daughter in marriage to him. Sabuktigin, on the death of Alptigin, served his two successors Ishaq and Balkatigin, before seizing the rule of Ghazna. Soon, on the decline of Samanid power, he became virtually independent. He expanded his realm after defeating Jayapala to take territory till the Neelum River in Kashmir and the Indus River in what is now Pakistan. In the north he took Balkh and in the west Helmand from the Samanids. On his death, after a 20-year rule, his younger son Ismail took over, but was soon removed by his elder son, Mahmoud, who expanded the realm and took the title of Sultan. Of unsound religious belief, Sabuktigin repressed both Shi’a and Sunni Muslims, and committed the unpardonable sin of destroying the holy shrine in Mashhad of Imam Reza (AS), the Prophet’s 8^th Infallible Heir.

949 lunar years ago, on this day in 490 AH, prominent Islamic scholar, Abu’l-Hassan Ali Ibn Zaid Bayhaqi, popular as “Ibn Funduq” and "Fareed-e Khorasan", was born in the city of Bayhaq in northeastern Iran, which later became Sabzevar. An expert in hadith, theology, literature, mathematics, and philosophy, his most important book is "Ma'arej Nahj al-Balagha", a commentary on the famous compilation of the eloquent sermons, letters, and maxims of Imam Ali (AS), the First Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). In Persian he authored “Tarikh-e Bayhaq” giving geographical and dynastic details of the region. Among his books, mention can also be made of “Lubaab al-Ansaab” on genealogy of notable figures. He passed away in the year 565 AH.

613 lunar years ago, on this day in 826 AH, Shafei jurist and judge, Wali od-Din Ahmad bin Abdur-Rahim al-Misri Ibn Iraqi, passed away at the age of 54 in Egypt. He was buried beside his father, Zain od-Din Iraqi. He studied and taught in Damascus, Bayt ol-Moqaddas, Cairo, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. He wrote many books.

443 solar years ago, on this day in 1575 AD, the Portuguese occupied Angola in southwest Africa which was part of the African Empire of Guinea. For four centuries they looted the natural resources and oppressed the black people, until the independence movement forced them to leave in 1975. Angola covers an area of more than 1.2 million square km, and shares borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Namibia. Its capital is Luanda.

437 solar years ago, on this day in 1576 AD, Haidar Ali Mirza, declared himself the 3^rd emperor of the Safavid Dynasty of Iran in Qazvin, immediately after his father Shah Tahmasp I died after a reign of 54 years. He was, however, killed during the same day because of dissension among the powerful Qizilbash clans, some of whom favoured his imprisoned brother Ismail Mirza as the next Shah. Born in 1554, he was attached to his father and had the support of the Ustalju and Shaykhavand clans, as well as the Georgians, since his mother was a Georgian lady. The Rumlu, Afshar, and Qajar clans, however, favored Ismail Mirza, who twenty years earlier had been incarcerated in the Qahqaheh fortress for plotting to seize the throne from his father. Ismail was brought out and declared the Shah. It was a fatal mistake for which his supporters paid dearly, since Ismail II, known in Iranian history as “murtad” or the apostate, indulged in fratricide and killing of the Qizilbash chiefs, until he was killed himself after only 15-months as ruler and replaced by his ailing brother Khodabandah –  the father of Shah Abbas the Great. Haydar’s tutor was the great scholar, Mir Mohammad Momin Astarabadi who sensing the gravity of the situation left Iran for the holy cities of Iraq and thence to the Deccan in southern India, where he became Prime Minister of the Qotb-Shahi Dynasty of Iranian origin of Golkandah and helped found the city of Haiderabad.

222 solar years ago, on this day in 1796 AD, Edward Jenner administered the first smallpox inoculation to the eight-year-old James Phipps, the son of his gardener, with material from the sores of dairymaid Sarah Nelmes who had a mild case of cowpox. A few weeks later, on July 1, he subsequently tested the boy's resistance, and fortunately, the immunization was successful. This tested a conventional wisdom he had heard that those who had survived cowpox seemed to be immune to the deadly smallpox disease. By 1798 he had 23 cases, which he recorded in “An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae”. Jenner's work was rapidly taken up in Europe and America.

207 solar years ago, on this day in 1811 AD, Paraguay in South America gained independence from Spanish rule and became a republic. Ever since it has seen autocratic regimes rise and fall in coups and countercoups. In 1989, for the first time free presidential elections were held. Landlocked Paraguay shares borders with Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina. Its capital is Asuncion.

173 lunar years ago, on this day in 1266 AH, the British agent, Mohammad Ali Bab was executed by a firing squad in Tabriz at the age of 31 on being found guilty of “spreading corruption on earth” for his blasphemous claim to be the imam, then a prophet and finally the divine manifestation (mazhar-e ilahi) with a new creed in replacement of Islam. Born in Shiraz to an unknown father and initiated into the deviant Shaykhi cult, he stirred up sedition by first styling himself “Bab” or gateway to the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS), then the Awaited Imam himself, later the incarnation of the Prophets Elijah and John the Baptist and eventually the godhead. After repeated renunciations of his beliefs whenever he was arrested, he always reverted to his devilish designs to mislead the people, prompting Prime Minister Mirza Mohammad Taqi Khan Amir Kabir, who strove to make Iran free of the Anglo-Russian plots, to order his arrest and trial. After execution his body was thrown into the ditch near the barracks where it was eaten up by dogs.

151 solar years ago, on this day in 1867 AD, the French orientalist, Joseph Reinaud, died at the age of 74. He was an expert in Arabic language and literature, and used to lecture on this subject. He wrote a valuable research on the Muslim Arab invasions of France, in addition to the history of the crusades. He also edited and in part translated the History of Abu’l-Fida into French. To him goes the credit of a useful edition of the interesting records of early Arab interaction with China following the advent of Islam.

139 solar years ago, in 1879 AD, the first group of 463 Indian indentured labourers arrived in Fiji. Today Indians comprise around 38 percent of this Pacific Archipelago's population of around 900,000, of whom some 10 percent are Muslims. The indentured labour system started in 1826 and continued till 1920, with tens of thousands of Indians transported to various colonies of European powers to provide cheap labour for the plantations in diverse places such as the French Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mauritius, the British colonies of West Indies in the Caribbean Sea, South Africa, and Dutch-controlled Surinam. The contract was for five years, renewable for further five year terms, with pay of eight rupees per month and rations provided. This was actually bonded labour and the Indians were seldom repatriated as per the contracts, whose terms were rarely met by the greedy colonialists. They settled in the lands where they went for work, and this explains the millions of people of ethnic Indian origin living in the countries of the Caribbean Basin, Fiji, South Africa, and other places.

112 lunar years ago, on this day in 1327 AH, the Gnostic Ayatollah Mirza Habibollah Mujtahid Khorasani, passed away at the age of 61 near his hometown, holy Mashhad. He was a product of the Islamic seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, and after returning to Iran settled in Mashhad where he handled religious affairs and groomed students. He was an excellent poet, as is evident by his poems on gnosis.

111 solar years ago, on this day 1907 AD, Ayub Khan, Pakistan’s second president, was born in British India in Rehana village in the Hazara region of the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa). An ethnic Pashtun of the Tareen tribe, from 1958 to 1969, he was the first of a long line of military rulers. A product of Britain's Sandhurst military academy, he saw action during World War 2. After independence he served the Pakistan army. On seizure of power he styled himself field-marshal. He died in 1974.

70 solar years ago, on this day in 1948 AD, the most scandalous event of the 20^thcentury occurred with the illegitimate birth in Palestine of the Zionist entity called Israel. Prior to seizing power, the illegal Zionist migrants of Europe had resorted to all sorts of racist and terrorist acts against the sons of the soil, with British connivance to drive into exile some 700,000 Palestinian Muslims and Christians on this day. Since then, the Zionist entity has imposed several wars on Arab states and seized their territory, in addition to terrorizing Palestinians and denying them their birthrights. With the help of the US, Britain, and France, Israel has acquired a nuclear arsenal of atomic warheads, and indulges in almost daily threats of attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran. Today, Palestinians and Muslims throughout the world hold rallies to show their determination for liberation of the Islamic land from the clutches of the European Jews and the eventual end of Israel.

63 solar years ago, on this day in 1955 AD, the Warsaw Pact was signed by eight East European communist countries in the Polish Capital, Warsaw, as part of the strategy to counter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, (NATO). The signatories were Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Romania. These countries pledged to refrain from threats and force in their relations and to defend any member state in case of attack. With the end of Cold War, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved in 1991, but unfortunately the US and West European powers have not disbanded NATO but expanded it as part of their hegemonic policy to terrorize the world.

45 solar years ago, on this day in 1973 AD, scholar and poet, Hakim Ilahi Qomshei, passed away at the age of 72. A product of the Isfahan seminary, he was an expert in the field of jurisprudence, philosophy, literature, and logic. He lectured at Tehran University where he completed his doctorate by writing the thesis “Towhid-e Hoshmandan”, or Monotheism of the Intellectuals. As a master of Persian prose and a style, his works, interspersed with the verses of classical Persian poets, convey philosophical and religious texts for the common man in a fluent and easy-to-understand language. He translated the holy Qur’an into modern Persian, and undertook a free translation of the prayer manual “Mafatih al-Jenaan” and the “Sahifat-as-Sajjadiyah”– the collection of supplications of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS). He has also left behind a divan of Persian poetry.

34 solar years ago, on this day in 1984 AD, Iranian researcher, poet, and author, Habib Yaghmaai, passed away at the age of 83. He was an authority on Persian Literature and Islamic studies. He published the magazine “Yaghma” as of 1948 for a period of 31 years. He was a poet as well, and has left behind a large number of books, including commentaries on the works of the celebrated Persian poet, Shaikh Sa’di of Shiraz.

33 solar years ago, on this day in 1985 AD, Seyyed Ali Naqi Faiz ol-Islam passed away at the age of 80. He translated into modern Persian along with valuable notes and explanations the famous book “Nahj al-Balagha” which is a collection of the Letters, Sermons and Aphorisms of the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS).

22 solar years ago, on this day in 1996 AD, the Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railway was launched, as part of the historical Silk Road, connecting the landlocked Central Asian states with the outside world, through Iran, thereby giving boost to the region's economy.

AS/ME