Today is Saturday; 13th of the Iranian month of Mordad 1397 solar hijri; corresponding to 21st of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa’dah 1439 lunar hijri; and August 4, 2018, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.

752 lunar years ago, on this day in 687 AH, physician and Shafei jurisprudent, Ala od-Din Abu'l-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi ad-Dimashqi, popular as Ibn an-Nafees, passed away at the age of 77 in Egypt. He is famous for being the first to describe the pulmonary circulation of the blood, three centuries before the European scientist, Miguel Sereto. Born in Damascus, he attended the famous medical college Bimaristan-e Noori, and apart from medicine, he learned jurisprudence, literature and theology. At the age of 23 he moved to Egypt, where he worked at the an-Nassri Hospital, and later as the chief of physicians at the al-Mansuriyya Hospital. His magnum opus is "ash-Shamil fi't-Tibb", which was planned to be an encyclopedia of 300 volumes, but was left incomplete as a result of his death. His book on ophthalmology is also an original work. Another of his famous books is "Kitab al-Mukhtar fi’l-Aghziya" on the effects of diet on health. His commentaries include one on the ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates' book, and several volumes on the Iranian Islamic genius Abu Ali Ibn Sina's "al-Qanoun fi’t-Tibb” (The Canon of Medicine). He also wrote a commentary on Hunayn Ibn Ishaq's book.

440 solar years ago, on this day in 1578 AD at the Battle of al-Qasr al-Kabir, the Moroccans, supported by the Ottomans, defeated the Portuguese invaders and saved the country from Christian occupation. King Sebastian of Portugal was killed in the battle, along with 8,000 of his troops, while 15,000 Portuguese troops were captured. Only 100 Portuguese survivors managed to escape to the coast, while almost the whole nobility was killed. The body of the 24-year old King Sebastian was never found. The ailing Sultan of Morocco, Abdul-Malik also died during the battle, but from natural causes since the effort of riding was too much for him, but the news of his death was announced only after total victory in the 4-hour battle. He was succeeded by his brother, Ahmad al-Mansur.

298 solar years ago, on this day in 1720 AD, Qamar od-Din Khan Asef Jah I Nizam ul-Mulk, while on his way to the Deccan or southern India to assert independence from the Moghal Empire, defeated Alam Ali Khan at Balapur, following his victory earlier on June 22 near Burhanpur over Dilawar Ali Khan. At this, Seyyed Hussain Ali Khan of Barha – younger of the two ‘kingmaker’ Seyyed Brothers at the Moghal court – started from Delhi to confront him but was assassinated by Haider Khan in October 1720. The elder, Seyyed Hassan Ali Khan, set out to avenge his brother`s murder, but was defeated at Hassanpur near Palwal (in today’s Haryana) on November 15-16 in the same year, and later poisoned to death on 12 October 1722. The Seyyed Brothers, who changed four Moghal emperors, had reduced the high status enjoyed at the court by the Turkic and the Iranian noblemen. These nobles rallied around Nizam ul-Mulk, as a result of which the Seyyed Brothers removed him from Delhi by appointing him Subedar or governor-general of Malwa in 1719. Nizam ul-Mulk, who earlier from 1713 to 1717 had been Subedar of the Deccan, sensed danger to his life, and took the initiative by marching unannounced from Bhopal towards the south, capturing the forts of Asirgarh and Burhanpur on his way. After defeating Mubarez Khan at the Battle of Shakarkheda in Berar, in 1724 he chose Aurangabad  and later Hyderabad as the capital of his independent Persianized state that was to last for 224 years till 1948 when it was forcibly merged in the Indian Union through military action. Born in Agra in 1671 to Ghazi od-Din Khan Feroze Jung, son of the migrant scholar and general Khwaja Abed titled Qilich Khan of Samarqand, Nizam ul-Mulk traced his ancestry to the Iranian mystic, Shahab od-Din Suhrawardi – a descendent of Mohammad ibn Abu Bakr, the loyal disciple of Prophet Mohammad’s (SAWA) 1^st Infallible Heir, Imam Ali (AS). An able general, an efficient administrator, and an accomplished poet in Persian with two Diwans to his credit, he ruled for 24 years till his death in 1748, returning briefly to Delhi in 1739 during the invasion by the Iranian Emperor Nader Shah, who following the Mughal defeat in the Battle of Karnal offered him the empire of India in place of Mohammad Shah – an offer he declined. The Asef Jahi state, though reduced in size by British seizure of lands for over two centuries, was the size of France when taken over by India.

227 solar years ago, on this day in 1791 AD, the Treaty of Sistova was signed, ending the 4-year Austro-Turkish War (1787–91) between the Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires. It was signed in Sistova in present-day Bulgaria. Austria had been pushed back in the first year of the war, then conquered Belgrade and gained another victory near Calafat in 1790. Its ally Russia had also been very successful against the Turks, but Austria was threatened with invasion by Prussia. The Turks ceded only the town of Orşova and two small places on the Croatian frontier, as per the treaty that brought down the curtain on two centuries of hostilities between the two powers. Austria renounced any expansion at the expense of the Ottoman Empire and did not participate in the Russian-led wars against the Ottomans during the 19th and 20th centuries.

226 solar years ago, on this day in 1792 AD, British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was born. He was influenced by the French revolution, but thereafter indulged in sedition by inciting the Greeks to rebel against the Ottoman Empire. The result was a wide scale killing of Muslims as well as ethnic cleansing and conversion of mosques into churches. Being homeless for a while he died in 1822 30 after his boat sank in the Mediterranean. Among his famous poems, mention can be made of “The Spirit of Solitude”.

213 solar years ago, on this day in 1805 AD, Irish physicist and astronomer, William Rowan Hamilton, was born in Dublin. He made important contributions to mechanics, optics, and algebra, discovering new mathematical concepts and techniques. His best known contribution to mathematical physics is reformulation of “Newtonian Mechanics”, now called “Hamiltonian Mechanics”. This work has proven central to the modern study of classical field theories such as electromagnetism, and to the development of quantum mechanics. In pure mathematics, he is known as the inventor of quaternions. Hamilton had immense talent at a very early age, with a penchant for learning languages of other nations. At the age of seven he made considerable progress in Hebrew, and before he was thirteen he had acquired, under the care of his uncle – a linguist – many other languages including the classical and modern European languages, as well as Persian, Arabic, Hindustani, Sanskrit, Marathi and Malay. He often read Persian and Arabic in his spare time, and this enabled him to borrow from the works of Islamic scientists in such fields as algebra, astronomy and mechanics. He died in his hometown Dublin at the age of 60.

194 solar years ago, on this day in 1824 AD, the Ottoman army routed the Greek rebels in the Battle of Kos – an island only four km off the Turkey’s coast, but was deceitfully given to Greece by its British occupiers after the end of the Second World War.

175 lunar years ago, on this day in 1264 AH, a year after his ascension to the Peacock Throne, the 16-year old Naser od-Din Shah Qajar appointed his chief tutor Vazir-e Nizam (army commander) Mirza Mohammad Taqi Khan as Prime Minister (Shakhs-e Awwal-e Iran), with the supplementary titles of Amir-e Kabir and Atabak. “Amir-e Kabir” came to be known as his common designation, while “Atabak” was used for the first time since the Seljuq period in view of the tutorial relationship between the minister and his young master. Amir Kabir, who rose from humble origin because of his great talents, had earlier served the country in diplomatic capacity with distinction during the prolonged negotiations in Erzurum in what is now Turkey for delineation of the long Iran-Ottoman border. As Prime Minister, his achievements included the vaccination of Iranians against smallpox; economic development of the fertile Khuzestan Province; foundation in Tehran of the Dar ol-Fonoun Academy (for teaching medicine, surgery, pharmacology, natural history, mathematics, geology, and natural sciences to train the civilian and military staff); cancellation of the one-sided treaties with the Russians and the British; launching of a newspaper; crackdown on the seditious Babi-Bahai plot against Islam and the country; and execution of the heretic Mohammad Ali Bab. The intrigues of local agents of foreign powers because of the loss of their vested interests made them poison the ears of the hardly 20-year old Shah to dismiss this efficient servant of state from his post in 1268 AH after hardly four years as Prime Minister. He was exiled to Kashan where on the orders of Naser od-Din Shah he was killed while in the “hammam” (bathhouse) of the famous garden-pavilion of Feen.

143 solar years ago, on this day in 1875 AD, Danish fairy tale author, and poet, Hans Christian Andersen, who is noted for his children’s stories, died at the age of 70. He is considered as one of the best authors of fairly tales in the world and he has penned famous stories such as “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” and “The Red Shoes”. In all, he wrote 150 stories for children. The birthday of this Danish author on April 2 is marked as the Global Day of Children’s Books.

88 solar years ago, on this day in 1930 AD, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Sistani was born in the holy city of Mashhad, Khorasan, northeastern Iran, in a family of religious scholars. During the Safavid period, his ancestor Seyyed Mohammad was appointed by Shah Sultan Hussain to the office of Sheikh ol-Islam in Sistan province, where he settled, and hence became known as "Sistani". Grand Ayatollah Sistani began his religious education as a child, first in Mashhad and later in Qom. In 1951, Sistani traveled to Iraq to study in the famous seminary of the holy city of Najaf, and in 1960, at the young age of 30 years, attained Ijtehad. In 1992, following the deaths in quick succession of Grand Ayatollah Abu’l-Qassem Khoei and Grand Ayatollah Sabzevari, he became the leading authority of Iraq. During the years of Saddam’s repressive rule, he survived the violent Ba'thist repression and persecution that resulted in the martyrdom of several ulema. Since the overthrow of the Ba'th Party, Grand Ayatollah Sistani has played an increasingly prominent role in regional religious and political affairs and he has been called the "most influential" figure in today’s Iraq. He has a large worldwide following.

31 solar years ago, on this day in 1987 AD, prominent scholar and poet, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Akbar Borqa’ie, passed away at the age of 88 in his hometown holy Qom. A product of the Islamic Seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, in addition to writing poetry under the penname of “Kashef”, he was socially active during World War by organizing the Association for Helping the War-Stricken. After the war he addressed sessions of the World Congress for Peace in Paris and Vienna. On his return home, he was persecuted by the Pahlavi regime and banished to remote parts of the country. He authored several books such as “Manifestation of Truth” on the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), “Dawn of Brightness” on the reasons of Imam Hasan’s (AS) Treaty, “Focal Point of Sensibilities” on the movement of Imam Husain (AS), the Martyr of Karbala, and the 3-volume “Guide of the Intellectuals”.

30 solar years ago, on this day in 1988 AD, prominent Pakistani Islamic scholar, Allamah Seyyed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini, was martyred at Peshawar in Northern Pakistan by sectarian terrorists. Born in a virtuous and academic family, he started learning Islamic sciences as of a young age. After a while, he left for Iraq and Iran to complete his higher studies. He became familiar with the thoughts of the Father of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, late Imam Khomeini (RA). During the Islamic Revolution, he was in Iran, and actively supported the struggle of the Iranian people against the Pahlavi despotic regime. As a result, he was expelled to Pakistan by the Shah’s regime. In Pakistan, he taught Islamic sciences and strove to improve the status of the disadvantaged people. In 1984, he was elected to lead the organization: “Tehrik-e Nefaz-e Fiqh-e Jafaria”, which means the movement to implement the Ja’fari School of Jurisprudence. Thereafter, he continued his efforts to establish unity between Shi’ites and Sunnis in Pakistan and made utmost efforts to save the rights of the followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt in Pakistan. These efforts of Allamah Arif Hussain al-Hussaini, enraged the enemies of Pakistani people’s solidarity, and they martyred him on this day.

12 solar years ago, on this day in 2006 AD, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Muslims chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to the US" marched through the streets of Baghdad's biggest Shi’a district in a massive show of support for Lebanon’s legendry anti-terrorist movement, the Hezbollah, in its resistance against the aggression of the illegal Zionist entity. This alarmed the US and it moved some 3,700 of its occupation soldiers of the 172^nd Stryker Brigade into Baghdad from the northern city of Mosul.

AS/ME