Today is Monday; 11th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1396 solar hijri; corresponding to 4th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1438 lunar hijri; and May 1, 2017, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1412 lunar years ago, on this day in 26 AH, the valiant Standard-Bearer of the Immortal Epic of Karbala, Hazrat Abu’l-Fazl al-Abbas (AS), was born in Medina to the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). His mother was the virtuous lady Omm al-Baneen Fatema bint Hezaam of the al-Kilabiyya clan noted for its courage and bravery. Imam Ali (AS) had married her several years after the passing away of his beloved wife, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) the daughter of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Hazrat Abbas (AS), who was over two decades younger than his older brothers, the Prophet’s grandsons, Imam Hasan (AS) and Imam Husain (AS), was very much attached to them since childhood. Out of respect for their immaculate lineage, he never called them brothers, but would refer to them as Lords and Masters. He was in Karbala like a shadow beside Imam Husain (AS), and while trying to fetch water for the thirsty camp of the Imam, he sacrificed his life, by first losing both his hands, but never tasted a drop of water even when he succeeded in reaching the bank of the River Euphrates. His shrine till this day stands as a sentinel to the shrine of Imam Husain (AS), with pilgrims from all over the world seeking his intercession with God Almighty by addressing him as "Bab al-Murad” or the Gateway of Needs. His birthday is marked in the Islamic Republic of Iran as "Roz-e Janbazan” or the Day of the Valiant Veterans. We congratulate all listeners on the auspicious birth anniversary of Hazrat Abbas (AS), and will present a special feature on his life later in our programme.
998 lunar years ago, on this day in 440 AH, the Iranian mystic and poet, Abu-Saeed Abi’l-Khair, passed away at the age of 83 in his native Khorasan. He was an expert on the exegesis of the Holy Qur’an, in addition to hadith, and jurisprudence, and was very deeply devoted to the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt. The important details of his thoughts and life are known from the book "Asrar at-Tawhid” (Mysteries of Monotheism) written by his grandson, Mohammad Ibn Munawwar, after his death. He was also an accomplished poet, and mostly composed quatrains.
984 lunar years ago,  on this day in 454 AH, Mo’iz ibn Badees, the 4th ruler of the Zirid dynasty of Morocco died after a reign of 46 years during which he turned against his own benefactors the Fatemid Ismaili Shi’ite dynasty. In the first year of his reign, during the regency of his aunt, as many 20,000 Shi'ite Muslims were massacred at the fall and destruction of Mansuriya, the former seat of government of the Fatemids near Kairouan, Tunisia. Ibn Badees earned notoriety for his persecution, suppression and killing of followers of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt.
755 lunar years ago, on this day in 683 AH, the Iranian statesman, Shams od-Din Mohammad ibn Baha od-Din Mohammad ibn Mohammad Juwaini was martyred by the Mongol ruler, Arghun Khan on the alleged charges of poisoning of his father Abaqa Khan, who actually died of excessive drinking. A vizier and Sahib-Divan or Minister of Finance for 22 years under three Ilkhans – i.e. Hulagu, Abaqa and Ahmad Tekuder –both his grandfather Mohammad and his father Baha od-Din, had held the post of Sahib-Divan for Mohammad Jalal od-Din Khwarezmshah and Chingiz Khan's son Ogedei Khan respectively. Born in Juwain, near Naishapur in Khorasan, he was a skillful political and military leader, who is also known to have patronized arts and culture. His brother is the famous historian Ata Malik Juwaini, the author of "Tarikh-e Jahan-Gusha".
744 lunar years ago, on this day in 694 AH, Ghazan Khan, the 7th ruler of the Iran-based Ilkhanid Dynasty that included Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and parts of Turkey, Syria and Georgia, embraced the truth of Islam along with over 100,000 Mongols. He changed his name to Mahmoud and ruled for nine years during which he demolished the temples built by the Buddhist occupiers of the Muslim lands. He was the son of Arghun. His principal wife was Kokechin, a Mongol princess sent by Kublai Khan, and escorted to Iran from China by Marco Polo. Military conflicts during Ghazan's reign included war with the Egyptian Mamluks for control of Syria, and battles with the Mongol Chaghatai Khanate for control of Central Asia. A man of high culture, Ghazan spoke several languages, and reformed many elements of the Ilkhanid realm, especially in the matter of standardizing currency and fiscal policy.
689 solar years ago, on this day in 1328 AD, wars of Scottish Independence end, and by the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton the Kingdom of England recognizes the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.
473 solar years ago, on this day in 1544 AD, Hungary was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and for over some two centuries remained under their rule as the province of Majarestan.
317 solar years ago, on this day in 1700 AD, British poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright, who was made Poet Laureate in 1668, died at the age of 68 in London. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. His major works include "Astraea Redux" (in 1660), "The Wild Gallant" – a comedy composed in 1663, "The Indian Emperor" – a tragedy written in 1665 on the Spanish conquest of America and oppression of the native Amerindians, and "Aurganzeb" written in 1675. The last one is based loosely on the figures of Aurangzeb, the then-reigning Mughal Emperor of India; his brother, Murad Baksh; and their father, Shah Jahan (Emperor). The piece is the last drama that Dryden wrote in rhymed verse. It is considered his best heroic work.
310 solar years ago, on this day in 1707 AD, the Act of Union joined the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, although the union of the Scottish and English crowns had practically occurred on 24 March 1603, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I and the accession to the throne of England by Scotland’s James VI, as James I of the United Kingdom.
248 solar years ago, on this day in 1769 AD, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, and Prime Minister of Britain, famous for his defeat of France's Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in 1814, was born in Dublin. He joined the British Army in 1787. A colonel by 1796, he saw action in the Netherlands and in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam which the British treacherously imposed on Fath Ali Khan Tipu Sultan to depose and kill him in violation of the treaty with the Muslim kingdom of Mysore. Promoted Major-General, he won a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy at the Battle of Assaye in 1803, mainly because of the support provided to the British by the premier Muslim ruler of India, Nizam ul-Mulk Asef Jah of Haiderabad-Deccan. Later in his memoirs, he would recall the Battle of Assaye as more crucial, strategic and deadly than Waterloo. A blot on his career is the senseless destruction of the palaces of the Nizam-Shahi rulers inside the Ahmadnagar Fort. Wellesley rose to prominence as a general during the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom, with the titled Duke of Wellington. His battle record is exemplary; he ultimately participated in some 60 battles. After ending his active military career, he turned to politics and was twice British prime minister from 1828 to 1830 and for a little less than a month in 1834. He continued as one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement and remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army till his death at the age of 83 at Walmer Castle, Kent.
128 solar years ago, on this day in 1889 AD, upon the decision of The International Labour Congress, this day was named as the International Workers’ Day in commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, when the US police fired on 40,000 peaceful workers during a general strike for the 8-hour workday, killing several demonstrators and resulting in the deaths of several police officers, largely from the so-called ‘friendly’ fire. Later in 1889, a meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution, called for international demonstrations in May 1890 on the 1st anniversary of the Chicago massacre. This was followed by the May Day Riots of 1894. A decade later in 1904, the International Socialist Conference in Amsterdam called on Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions worldwide to demonstrate on May 1 for legal establishment of the 8-hour work day, for the demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace. Thus, May Day is marked officially in 80 countries and unofficially in many others, except for the US and Canada, which as the capitalist societies, are afraid of the workers’ demand for their natural rights. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, every year ceremonies are held on this day to appreciate the efforts of workers and hard-working labourers. Following the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Iranian officials have taken into consideration the honour and dignity of labourers in Islam and have paid special attention to this stratum of the society.
102 solar years ago, on this day in 1915 AD, during World War I, German forces defeated Russian forces in Poland. The failure of the Czarist army in World War I, coupled with economic poverty and the totalitarian monarchial system, were the most important reasons behind the Russian Revolution and its hijacking by the communists in October 1917.
39 solar years ago, on this day in 1978 AD, the Soviet Union's Armenian music composer and conductor, Araam Khachaturian, died at the age of around 75 in Moscow and was buried in Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia. Considered one of the leading musicians of the erstwhile USSR, he was born to parents who from near Ordubad in the former Iranian Khanate of Nakhichevan, and raised in Tbilisi, the multicultural capital of Georgia, which was for centuries part of Iran. He moved to Moscow in 1921 following the Sovietization of the Caucasus. Katchurian's first major work, the "Piano Concerto" (in 1936), popularized his name within and outside the Soviet Union. It was followed by the "Violin Concerto" (in 1940) and the "Cello Concerto" (in 1946). His other significant compositions include the "Masquerade Suite" (in 1941), the Anthem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (in 1944), three symphonies and around 25 film scores. Khachaturian is best known for his ballet music "Gayane" (in 1942) and "Spartacus" (in 1954). His most popular piece, the "Sabre Dance" from "Gayane", has been used extensively in popular culture and has been covered by a number of musicians worldwide.
15 solar years ago, on this day in in 2002 AD, the multilingual Bahraini-Indian writer and poet, Ibrahim Al-Arrayedh (??????? ????????) passed away in Manama in the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain at the age of 94. Generally considered to be one of Bahrain's greatest poets and a leader of the Bahraini literary movement in the 20th century, he born in Bombay, India. His father was a Bahraini pearl trader and his mother was an Iraqi, who died when he was only two months old. His first visit to Bahrain was in 1922, at the age of fourteen. He pursued his studies in India until the completion of secondary school, specializing in Persian and English languages, alongside Urdu. He later studied Urdu literature at the Aligarh Muslim University. On settling in Bahrain as an English teacher, he began to study Arabic and immersed himself in the works of prominent Arab poets. During World War 2, he returned to India and worked at the radio station. Ibrahim al-Arrayedh began writing poetry at the age of 18, and his first set of poems was published in Baghdad in 1931, when he was 23. Since he was a multi-linguist, he translated the works of poets between Persian, Hindi, Urdu, English, and Arabic. His poems were popular in Iraq, Syria and Egypt. Ibrahim al-Arrayedh was elected as Chairman of the Constituent Assembly in 1972 to draft Bahrain’s first constitution after independence from Britain. He was appointed as Ambassador at large in 1974 and later as ambassador extraordinary plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until the time of this death in 2002. Among his works are two poetic dramas, four critical studies of Arabic poetry, one poetry collection in Urdu and another in English. He also translated the famous Iranian astronomer-poet, Oman Khayyam’s "rubaiyyaat” (quatrains), from Persian into Arabic in 1966. Throughout his life, Al Arrayed lectured widely and travelled extensively to participate in conferences and debates in the field of poetry.
13 solar years ago, on this day in 2004 AD, Iranian author, Kiyoumars Saberi Foumani, passed away at the age of 63. His opposition to Pahlavi dictatorial rule led him to write political satirical poems. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he wrote articles on political and social topics, under the penname "Gol Aqa”, which later took the form of a highly popular satirical magazine. He has left behind a number of books.
13 solar years ago, on this day in 2004 AD, with the membership of ten more countries, the European Union turned into a 25-member commercial bloc. The new member states are from Central and Eastern Europe, namely: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Slovakia, as well as the two Mediterranean Sea island states of Malta, and Cyprus. There are, however, deep political, economic, and social disparities among the EU’s old and new member states. In 2007, Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, whose member states now number 27.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)