Today is Saturday; 25th of the Iranian month of Ordibehesht 1400 solar hijri; corresponding to 3rd of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1442 lunar hijri; and May 15, 2021, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1434 lunar years ago, on this day in 8 AH, the Battle of Hunayn occurred in the valley of the same name between Mecca and Ta’ef, when Arab infidels of the Hawazen and Thaqeef tribes attacked Muslims, following the peaceful surrender of Mecca to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Proud of their military might, the pagan Arabs resolved to strike and kill the Prophet to prevent the spread of the monotheistic teachings of Islam. The Muslims, for their part, were deceived by the apparently large number of converts to the faith by the Meccan Arabs, only a fortnight ago. But when the infidel Arabs ambushed the army of Islam, almost all the neo-Muslim forces, including the Muhajer and the Ansars fled, deserting the Prophet, except for his valiant cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), his another cousin Abu Sufyan ibn Hareth ibn Abdul-Muttaleb, his uncle Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttaleb, and a few others. The valour of Imam Ali (AS) saved the day, while the loud voice of Abbas in urging the fleeing Muslims to return brought back no more than a hundred Muslims to the battlefield. The Prophet, beseeching God Almighty for help, ordered the fight-back. Imam Ali (AS) launched an attack, with his flashing blade Zulfeqar making short work of the fearsome Arab standard-bearer Abu Jaroul and some 40 other warlords, which forced the infidels to retreat, thereby resulting in a decisive defeat for the pagan Arabs. The holy Qur’an has referred to this event in ayahs 25-26 of Surah Towba, which read:
"Allah has certainly helped you in many situations, and on the Day of Hunayn, when your great number impressed you, but it did not avail you in any way, and the earth became narrow for you in spite of its expanse, whereupon you turned your backs [to flee].
"Then Allah sent down His composure upon His Prophet and upon the faithful, and He sent down hosts you did not see, and He punished the faithless, and that is the requital of the faithless.”
1194 lunar years ago, on this day in 247 AH, the Godless tyrant Mutawakkil, who styled himself the 10th caliph of the usurper Abbasid regime, was murdered while drunk and asleep, by his own son, Muntasir, with the help of Turkic guards, at the age of 39 after a reign of 14 years. Named Ja’far on birth to Qaratis, a Greek concubine of Mu’tasim, he became caliph on the suspicious death of his brother Watheq – whose body lay in negligence with mice eating away his eyes, while Mutawakkil held festivities for several days. Immediately he unleashed a reign of terror, especially on the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He persecuted the Prophet’s progeny, instructed judges to always give the verdict against them, forbade them to ride horses in Egypt, forcibly brought the Prophet’s 10th Infallible Heir, Imam Ali an-Naqi (AS), to Samarra from Medina to be placed under house arrest, and blasphemously destroyed the holy shrine of Imam Husain (AS) in Karbala, several times. The reason for his murder was his usual habit of cursing the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) that finally broke the patience of his elder son, Muntasir, who left the assembly of drunkards in rage under the taunts of his father and soon got rid of him. The Commander of the Faithful had prophesied him as "most infidel” of Abbasid rulers.
1022 solar years ago, on this day in 999 AD, following dethroning and blinding of the Iranian Samanid king of Central Asia, Mansur II, by his rebellious governor, Fayeq-e-Khasah and Turkic slave general, Bektuzun, the two entered into an agreement with the rising power of Sultan Mahmud the Turkic king of Ghazna, to divide the land of Khorasan between them, by retaining control of Merv and Naishapour, while ceding Herat and Balkh to Mahmoud.
847 solar years ago, on this day in 1174 AD, Nour od-Din Zangi, the powerful ruler of the Turkic dynasty of Syria, northern Iraq and southeastern Anatolia, founded by his father Atabeg Emad od-Din, after breaking away from the Iran-based Seljuqid Empire, died while preparing to invade Egypt to bring under control his rebellious Kurdish general, Salah od-Din, who had seized the Land of the Nile for himself from the Ismaili Shi’ite Fatemid Dynasty.
624 solar years ago, on this day in 1397 AD, the 4th king of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, who was posthumously called Sejong the Great, was born in an era when the Islamic calendar served as a basis for calendar reform owing to its superior accuracy over the Chinese-based calendars. The Joseon Dynasty used a Korean translation of the Huihui Lifa, which itself was a Chinese translation of the Islamic astronomy works of the Iranian Muslim scholar of Bukhara, Jamal od-Din Mohammad ibn Ṭaher ibn Mohammad az‐Zaydi al‐Bukhari (known in Chinese as Zhamaluding). Sejong, who ruled from 1418 to 1450, was against Chinese influences in language, culture and religion, and introduced "Hangul”, the native phonetic 28-alphabet system for the Korean language.
609 lunar years ago, on this day in 833 AH, the Iranian historian and geographer, Shehhab od-Din Abdullah ibn Lotfollah, known popularly as Hafez Abrou, passed away in Zanjan, northwestern Iran. His history of the Timurid Dynasty titled "Zubdat at-Tawarikh-e Baysunquri” is dedicated to Prince Baysunqur Mirza. He also translated into Persian a geographical work from Arabic, titled "Masalek al-Mamalek wa Suwar al-Aqalim”, with focus on the various regions of Iran.
379 solar years ago, on this day in 1642 AD, Shah Abbas II was crowned the 7th Safavid Emperor of Iran at the age of 10 years in Kashan, three days after the death of his father Shah Safi.
373 solar years ago, on this day in 1648 AD, the first of the treaties of the Peace of Westphalia was signed between Prussia, Austria, France, and Sweden in Munster and Osnabruck, thereby ending the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Netherlands. The last of these treaties was signed on October 24.
245 solar years ago, on this day in 1776 AD, the first steam boat was built. Seventy years following the discovery of steam power by a French engineer, Denis Papin, a steam boat was built by Marquis Claude de Jouffroy d’Abbans. The usage of steam power in ships marked a major development in the navigation industry.
171 solar years ago, on this day in 1850 AD, the Bloody Island Massacre took place in Lake County, California, in which over a hundred women, children, and elderly of the Pomo Amerindians were slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry, led by Nathaniel Lyon, while all able bodied men were on a hunting trip.
162 solar years ago, on this day in 1859 AD, French scientist and physicist, Pierre Curie, was born in Paris. His talent in mathematics and physics made him conduct extensive research in these fields. In the year 1898, he managed to discover Radium with the assistance of his wife, Madame Curie. Pierre Curie died in the year 1906.
127 lunar years ago, on this day in 1315 AH, the prominent Iranian scholar, Ayatollah Mirza Hussain Mar’ashi Shahrestani, passed away in Karbala at the age of 60 and was laid to rest in the mausoleum of Imam Husain (AS). He wrote on a wide variety of topics, and among his most important books, mention can be made of "Lubab al-Ijtehad”, and "Tazkerat an-Nafs”.
28 solar years ago, on this day in 1993 AD, the UN General Assembly designated May 15 as "International Day of Families” to emphasize the importance to the family unit. The Day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.
Ordibehesht 25 is commemorated every year in the Islamic Republic of Iran as Ferdowsi National Day, in honour of the great Iranian poet, Abu’l-Qasim Hassan Firdowsi, whose "Shahnamah” remains to this day as the finest example of Persian epic poetry.