Today is Saturday; 16th of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1399 solar hijri; corresponding to 10th of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1441 lunar hijri; and April 4, 2020, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1052 solar years ago, on this day in 968 AD, the famous Arabic poet, statesman, and warrior, Harres bin Sa’eed, known as Abu Firas al-Hamdani, was killed in a battle in Sadad, 60 km south of Homs in Syria at the age of 36. He was a cousin and brother-in-law of the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo and northern Syria, Sayf od-Dowlah, and was one of commanders in the campaigns against the Byzantine Empire.
1019 lunar years ago, on this day in 422 AH, Arabic poet Abdullah Abdul-Baqi, passed away in Baghdad. He was a scholar as well, and an expert in Hadith and Islamic sciences.
736 solar years ago, on this day in 1284 AD, Alfonso X of Castile died at the age of 63. Born in the occupied Islamic city of Toledo in Spain, he had succeeded his father, Ferdinand III, to the throne in 1252. During his 32-year rule, although he was successful against Portugal, and managed to occupy the Muslim regions of Murcia and Cadiz, he suffered shattering defeats at the hands of Spanish Muslims when he tried to invade the Nasrid emirate of Granada. Twice his armies were defeated, especially in the Battle of Ecija in 1275, and he lost his sons in battle. The important work undertaken by him was the study and translation of Arabic scientific books into the Castilian and Latin languages, in order to acquire knowledge from Muslims and break out from the dark ages into which the Christian Church had plunged Europe.
687 lunar years ago,on this day in 754 AH, renowned Islamic scholar Seyyed Amid od-Din Abu’l-Fawaris ibn Mohammad ibn Ali al-A’arj, passed away. He was the son of the nephew of the celebrated scholar Allamah Hilli, and an expert in jurisprudence, theology, exegesis of the holy Qur’an, Hadith, and Arabic literature. He wrote several books on various Islamic sciences, including "Sharh Tahzib al-Osoul” and "Kanz al-Fawa’ed”.
403 solar years ago, on this day in 1617 AD, Scottish mathematician and occultist writer, John Napier, who originated the concept of logarithms as a mathematical device to aid in calculations, died at the age of 67.
341 lunar years ago, on this day in 1100 AH, Tartar Muslim commander of Crimea, Spem Giray, who was an ally of the Ottoman Empire, defeated a huge Russian army of 300,000 soldiers in what is now Ukraine. The Tartars, who for several centuries were a major power in the northern Black Sea region, were later conquered by the Russians, brutally suppressed and deported to other lands.
136 lunar years ago, on this day in 1305 AH, literary scholar Seyyed Ismail ibn Radhi ibn Ismail al-Hussaini ash-Shirazi, passed away in Iraq.
112 lunar years ago, on this day in 1329 AH, Azarbaijani philosopher and renowned poet of the Caucasus region, Mirza Ali Akbar Zain ol-Abedin Taherzadeh, known by his penname Saber, was born in the city of Shervan in what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan, which before the Russian occupation in the first half of 19th century was an integral part of Iran. He also made a fine verse translation of some passages of Ferdowsi’s "Shahnamah” into Azeri. Many of Saber’s poems are in admiration of the Prophet and the Infallible Imams.
101 solar years ago, on this day in 1919 AD, the Portuguese boy, Francisco Marto, who along with two other rural children had claimed to have seen the apparition of a ‘Radiantly Virtuous Veiled Lady’ with a rosary in her hand outside the village of Fatima in Portugal, reportedly died at the age of 11. The apparition is known as "Our Lady of Fatima” and "Our Lady of the Rosary”. Francisco, his sister Jacinta and cousin, Lucia Santos, spoke of seeing a lady "more radiant than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the rays of the sun.” The three were jailed by the local Christian authorities of the Catholic sect and threatened with painful death. They were reportedly released, although it cannot be confirmed whether or not they were the same children. Within a year of Francisco’s death, his sister Jacinta also died, while Lucia Santos was confined to convents as a nun until she died in 2005 at the age of 97. The Vatican acted as her spokesman by releasing what it called the "Three Secrets of Fatima”, though scholars suspect deliberate distortion of the whole event, and what was actually predicted or told to the children. First and foremost, nowhere in Christian texts has the Virgin Mary been ever called Fatima, or was associated with the rosary. As researchers point out, the name of the town in Portugal, "Fatima” is Arabic, and it was founded by the Muslim rulers of the Iberian Peninsula. The name "Fatema” is popular and venerated among Muslims because of it being the name of the daughter of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), who is also called "az-Zahra” (the Most Radiant). Another interesting fact that scholars note is the association of the Prophet’s daughter with the rosary or prayer beads, which she first made out of clay, and which subsequently became famous as "Tasbih Fatema” when her father taught her the glorification of the Lord Most High on the prayer beads. Hence Hazrat Fatema is known as the Lady of the Rosary. The most important factor to note is that in 1571 AD, Pope Pius V held a feast of what he called "Our Lady of Victory” in honour of the Virgin Mary, after the Christians had managed to hold back Turkish Muslim armies from overrunning Western Europe; but in the subsequent years, following fresh Turkish victories, Pope Gregory XIII changed the name of the feast to "Our Lady of Rosary” since victory was not possible against the Turks. It is not known what prompted the Pope to associate the word Rosary with Mary, or whether it was part of the Catholic propaganda to counter the trend among the growing number of Muslims in southeastern Europe to recite the Rosary of Hazrat Fatema (SA). Thus, the most likely answer for the apparition that the three children saw was of the Prophet’s daughter – perhaps prophesying the conversion of Europe to Islam.
76 solar years ago, on this day in 1944 AD during World War II, the first bombardment of the Hungarian capital Bucharest by Anglo-American forces killed over 3000 civilians and destroyed the infrastructure of the city.
75 solar years ago, on this day in 1945 AD during World War II, the Soviet Army took control of Hungary from the retreating German Nazi forces, thereby saving the people from a possible general massacre by the Allied forces of the Americans and the British.
71 solar years ago, on this day in 1949 AD, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed by member states of the Treaty of Brussels resulting in the setting up of the military alliance called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It was the product of the Cold War era to check the spread of communism and Soviet influence in Europe and the West.
60 solar years ago, on this day in 1960 AD, France agreed to grant independence to the Mali Federation, formed on this date a year before as a union of Senegal and the French Sudan, which is now the Republic of Mali.
52 solar years ago, on this day in 1968 AD, the Afro-American leader of the movement against racial discrimination, Martin Luther King, was assassinated by a gunman at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee, exactly a year after he delivered his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech in New York City’s Riverside Church.
41 solar years ago, on this day in 1979 AD, former President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfeqar Ali Bhutto, was executed by coup leader and self-styled president, General Zia ul-Haq, who ironically had been promoted as chief of staff of the armed forces over several senior officers by Bhutto himself.
39 solar years ago, on this day in 1981 AD, The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, in a heroic operation, attacked the H-3 Airbase and destroyed over 50 Iraqi aircraft during the 8-year war imposed by Saddam on the orders of the US.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)