Today is Monday; 10th of the Iranian month of Khordad 1395 solar hijri; corresponding to 23rd of the Islamic month of Sha’ban 1437 lunar hijri; and May 30, 2016, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.
1424 lunar years ago, on this day in 13 AH, in the Battle of the Bridge in Iraq, the Sasanian forces led by Bahman Jaduyeh defeated the Arabs under the command of Abu Ubayd in the only major Persian victory against Muslims. The Arab Muslims had already taken Hira on the banks of the River Euphrates after defeating the Christian Arab allies of the Sassanians. Abu Ubaid encountered the main Iranian army near what is now Kufa. The two forces faced each other on opposing banks of the River Euphrates. As it was crossed by a bridge, the battle came to known as "Harb al-Jisr” in Arabic. Abu Ubaid took the initiative and crossed the river. According to accounts, the sight of the elephants in the Persian army frightened the Arab’s horses. An elephant apparently tore Abu Ubaid from his horse with its trunk and trampled him under foot. At this, and the inability of the Arab troops to push back the Persians who had formed a rigged line close to the bridge, the Arabs panicked and fled. This was, however, a temporary setback. In the subsequent battles the Sassanians were defeated, and the Iranian people accepted Islam almost en masse.
1133 lunar years ago, on this day in 304 AH, Seyyed Hassan al-Utrush, known as "Nasser li’l-Haq” (or Defender of Faith) passed away at the age of 75, after an eventful life and a 3-year reign as reviver of the Alawid state of Tabaristan in what is now the Caspian Sea Provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan in northern Iran. His shrine in the city of Amol is still a site of pilgrimage. Born in Medina, he was fifth in line of descent from Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the great-grandson and 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). His mother was an Iranian lady from Khorasan. When Hasan ibn Zayd, a descendant of the Prophet’s elder grandson, Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (AS), was invited by the people of the Caspian coast of Iran to set up his rule over Tabaristan, Hassan al-Utrush joined him, but after falling out with his successor, Mohammad ibn Zayd, he left for the east where he allied himself with the ruler of Khorasan, Mohammad ibn Abdullah al-Khujistani. Soon, however, Khujistani imprisoned and scourged him, as a result of which he lost his hearing and received the sobriquet "al-Utrush” or "the Deaf”. On release from prison, he returned to Tabaristan, but had to flee to Rayy when Mohammad ibn Zayd lost the battle and his life near Gorgan against the Samanids of Bukhara, who ended the Alawid state and occupied the region for fourteen years. Hassan al-Utrush now engaged in Islamic missionary activities and his efforts led to the people of Gilan and the Daylamites to become Muslims. His efforts were crowned by success, as the mountain Daylamites and the Gilites east of the Sefid Roud River hailed him as their Leader. The Samanid ruler Ahmad ibn Isma’il sent an army to oppose the revival of the Alawid state of Tabaristan, but al-Utrush inflicted a crushing defeat upon the invaders at Burdidah on the River Burroud, west of Chalous. He made Amol his capital and extended his sway till Gorgan. The famous Iranian Islamic historian Abu Ja’far Tabari, has said about him: "The people had not seen anything like the justice of al-Utrush, his good conduct, and his fulfillment of the right”. Hassan al-Utrush wrote an exegesis of the holy Qur’an titled "Tafsir al-Kabir”, and his grand-daughter Fatema, who was married to Seyyed Hussain ibn Musa (fifth in line of descent from Imam Musa al-Kazem (AS), the 7th Infallible Heir of the Prophet), was the mother of the celebrated scholars of Baghdad, Seyyed Murtaza alam al-Huda and Seyyed Razi, the compiler of Nahj al-Balagha – the famous collection of the sermons, letters, and maxims of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS).
945 lunar years ago, on this day in 492 AH, the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas was captured by the European Crusaders from the Fatemid Ismaili Dynasty of Egypt-Syria and North Africa, after a siege of over 40 days. The invaders savagely massacred men, women and children, numbering more than 70,000 people, including Iranian Muslims settled there.
764 solar years ago, on this day in 1252 AD, Ferdinand III of Castile died at the age 53 after a reign of 35 years during which he occupied one by one the Spanish Muslim cities of Badajoz, Merida, Cazorla, Ubeda, the old capital Cordoba (Qurtuba), Huelva, Murcia, Cartagena and finally Seville (Ishbiliya) the greatest of Spanish Muslim cities. Some other regions he kept as vassal states under Muslim governors, while in areas directly under his rule, Christian rule was heavy-handed on the new Muslim subjects. This eventually led to the Mudejar Uprisings of 1264-66, which resulted in mass expulsions of Spanish Muslim populations from their homeland. Ferdinand III was buried in the Mosque turned Cathedral of Seville and his tomb is inscribed in four languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and an early version of Castilian Spanish.
704 lunar years ago, on this day in 733 AH, the hadith scholar and literary figure Sharaf od-Din Hussain ibn Abdullah Tayyebi, passed away. He wrote an Exegesis of the Holy Qur’an.
620 lunar years ago, on this day in 817 AH, the prominent Persian poet and literary figure, Noor od-Din Abdur-Rahman Jami was born in the city of Jam, in Khorasan, northeastern Iran. He went to Samarqand to learn Islamic sciences, literature and history, and visited several other lands, before settling in Herat. He has left behind a large number of works in prose and verse, including "Baharestan”. Jami, who passed away in 898 AH at the age of 81, has also composed beautiful odes in praise of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Ahl al-Bayt.
593 solar years ago, on this day in 1423 AD, Austrian mathematician and astronomer, Georg von Peurbach, was near Linz. He studied the Islamic scientist, Ibn Haytham’s book "On the Configuration of the World”, and replaced the Greek scientist Ptolemy’s chords in the table of sines with the Islamic Arabic numerals that were introduced 250 years earlier in place of Roman numerals and which today are in use in the whole world (e.g. 1,2,3,4,5 etc).
585 solar years ago, on this day in 1431 AD, during the Hundred Years War the 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France. The Roman Catholic Church marks this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc, the French national heroine, known as Jeanne d’Arc. Also called the Maid of Orleans, she started her uprising for the liberation of parts of French territory from the occupation of England. She led the French army to several important victories, paving the way for the coronation of Charles VII. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais for charges of insubordination and heterodoxy, and burned as a heretic.
(Courtesy: IRIB English Radio – http://parstoday.com/en)