“Malek osh-Sho’ara” Mirza Mohammad Taqi Bahar

On April 21, 1951 AD, the celebrated Iranian poet and author, Mirza Mohammad Taqi Bahar, who held the title “Malek osh-Sho’ara” or Poet Laureate, passed away at the age of 64. He was born in the holy city of Mashhad and displayed his sublime talent in writing poems as of a young age.
To enhance his knowledge of Persian and Arabic, he attended the classes of Adib Nishapouri, a classical poet and scholar. It is said Bahar knew by heart a very good portion of the Holy Qur'an at a very early age.
According to Bahar himself, at seven he read the “Shahnamah” and fully grasped the meaning of Ferdowsi's epic poems. He composed his first poem at age 8, at which time he also chose the penname “Bahar” (Spring). At 14, he was fluent in Arabic, and later mastered French. At 18, at the onset of the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, he resigned his court position of Poet Laureate and joined the constitutional movement for limiting the powers of the monarchy.
He clandestinely published the newspaper “Khorasan”, in collaboration with Hossein Ardebili, and the journals “Nou-Bahar” (New Spring), and “Tazeh-Bahar” (Fresh Spring), both in collaboration with his cousin Sheikh Ahmad. He wrote articles in these newspapers exhorting the readers to strive to bring about a parliamentary system of government.
After victory of the Constitutionalists, he was elected as Member of Parliament for successive terms. When Reza Khan Pahlavi seized power with British help, he was imprisoned and exiled. Following release in 1934, he served as Professor of Persian Literature at the newly founded Tehran University, where he dedicated most of his time to writing and editing books on Persian Literature and History.
In 1945, he served for a short period as Minister of Culture and Education. Notable amongst the works written and edited by Bahar are: “Tarikh-e Sistan” (History of Sistan), “Tarikh-e Mokhtasar-e Ahzab-e Siyasi” (A Concise History of Political Parties), “Jawame' ol-Hekayaat” (Anthology of Stories), and two volumes of verse, consisting of his own poems.

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Iran-Iraq War and U.N

"Iranian Help Suspected in Secret Libyan Chemical Weapons Arsenal." It is no secret that Libya had a chemical weapons program, as did the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to a Defense Information Agency report (cited in Anthony H. Cordesman and Adam C. Seitz, Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction: The
Birth of a Regional Nuclear Arms Race? [Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2009], 140), Iran initiated a chemical weapon development program in 1983 "in response to Iraqi use of riot control and toxic chemical agents." In April 1984, the Islamic Republic's U.N. representative, Farhang Rajai-Khorassani stated, ''We are capable of manufacturing chemical weapons. If the Iraqis repeat their crime, we may consider using them. But we think that to resort to retaliation can only be justified when all other means of preventing Iraq are exhausted and still Iraq repeats its crime.'' The next year, the American government, citing its intelligence agencies' monitoring of purchases of chemical components used to make chemical weapons as well as monitored radio transmissions, expressed concern that the Islamic Republic was making a major effort in producing chemical weapons (New York Times, April 25, 1985). During the final year of the war, Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi declared that "sophisticated offensive chemical weapons" and long-range missiles had been deployed along the front. In the estimation of one observer, this was "pure propaganda" (Ronen Bergman, The Secret War with Iran [Free Press, 2008], 304).

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Shaykh Saduq (Journey of an Islamic Intellectual)

Mohammed bin Ali bin al-Hussein bin Musa bin Babawayh; Abu Ja’far As-Saduq* al-Qummi –i.e. of Qum-; the master Sheikh and the head of the narrators.

His father was the respectful Sheikh Abu al-Hasan Ali bin al-Hussein bin Musa bin Babawayh: the master Sheikh of Qum in his time. He was also the most precedent, the master jurisprudent, and the most trustful of the ulema of his time.Birth and Early LifeSheikh As-Saduq was born in Qum. Although it was impossible to define the very year in which he was born, it is well known that he was born after the death of Mohammed bin Othman al-Omari (the second representative), which was in the year 305 A.H. That was the opening year of the representation of Abu al-Qasim al-Hussein bin Rawh (the third representative), who died in 326 A.H.As confirmation of this estimation, we provide the words of Sheikh As-Saduq himself in his book titled Kamal ud-Din wa Tamam un-Ni’ma:Abu Ja'far Mohammed bin Ali al-Aswad related to us:
After the death of Mohammed bin Othman al-Omari, Ali bin al-Hussein bin Musa bin Babawayh (i.e. As-Saduq’s father) asked me to tell Abu al-Qasim Ar-Rawhi –i.e. bin Rawh- to ask our master Sahib uz-Zaman to pray to Allah for giving him a male baby.Abu al-Qasim informed that he asked the Imam, who rejected. Three days later, Abu al-Qasim informed that the Imam (a) had prayed to Allah for Ali bin al-Hussein and he would be given a blessed male baby who would be the means by which Allah, Exalted is He, would benefit (many people). Moreover, many boys would come after that baby.
(Abu Ja’far Mohammed bin Ali al-Aswad said) After a period, Ali bin al-Hussein was given Mohammed (i.e. As-Saduq) followed by many other boys.

Another Narrative)
Sheikh At-Tusi said that some people narrated from Abu Ja’far Mohammed bin Ali bin al-Hussein bin Musa bin Babawayh and Abu Abdullah al-Hussein bin Ali bin Musa bin Babawayh (his brother) that Abu Ja’far Mohammed bin Ali al-Aswad related to us:
After the death of Mohammed bin Othman al-Omari, Ali bin al-Hussein bin Musa bin Babawayh (i.e. As-Saduq’s father) asked me to tell Abu al-Qasim Ar-Rawhi to ask our master Sahib uz-Zaman (a) to pray to Allah for giving him a male baby.
Abu al-Qasim informed that he asked the Imam, who rejected. Three days later, Abu al-Qasim informed that the Imam (a) had prayed to Allah for Ali bin al-Hussein and he would be given a blessed male baby who would be the means by which Allah, Exalted is He, would benefit (many people). Moreover, many boys would come after that baby.
(Abu Ja’far Mohammed bin Ali al-Aswad said) I asked him to pray to Allah to give me a male baby, but he did not answer. He said: This is impossible.
After a period, Ali bin al-Hussein was given Mohammed (i.e. As-Saduq) followed by many other boys. For me, I was not given anything.
Abu Ja’far bin Babawayh commented: As he noticed me attending the classes of our master Mohammed bin al-Hussein bin al-Waleed frequently while I was interested in recording and retaining the items of knowledge, Abu Ja’far Mohammed bin Ali al-Aswad used to say to me, ‘It is not strange for you to have such an insistent desire for learning since you came to this world by the supplication of the Imam (a).
Ar-Rawandi, in his al-Kharaa’ij, related the like of the previous narrative, yet brief. Besides, At-Tabirsi, in his book titled A’lam ul-Wara, Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, in his Tabssirat ul-Wali, and Sayyid Ali bin Abdul-Karim An-Najafi, in his Muntakhab ul-Anwar il-Mudhee’a, referred to the same narrative.
Imaduddin Mohammed bin Ali At-Tusi, in his Thaqib ul-Manaqib, referred to a part of that narrative.
In his reference to the biography of Ali bin al-Hussein bin Musa; As-Saduq’s father, An-Nejashi said that the man was in Iraq when he met Abu al-Qasim al-Hussein bin Rawh, Allah may have mercy be upon him, and asked him many questions. After that, As-Saduq’s father corresponded with Abu al-Qasim at the hands of Ali bin Ja’far bin al-Aswad and asked him to deliver a paper to Imam al-Mahdi, Allah may hasten his return, in which he asked for a male baby.
The answer was, ‘We have prayed to Allah for you and you will be given two virtuous male babies.’
Hence, Abu Ja’far and Abu Abdullah, whose mother was a bondwoman, were born.
From the previous we can conclude that Sheikh As-Saduq, Allah may have mercy be upon him, had come to this world out of the prayer of Imam al-Hujja (a) after the death of Mohammed bin Othman al-Omari; after the year 305 A.H., when his father Sheikh Ali bin al-Hussein traveled to Iraq and met Abu al-Qasim al-Hussein bin Rawh and asked him some questions… etc. Hence, Sheikh As-Saduq was born in about 306 A.H.
Sheikh As-Saduq used to take pride in such a birth and say, ‘I was born due to the prayer of Imam al-Mahdi (a).’
Sheikh As-Saduq grew up in the laps of virtue; his father used to feed him with the knowledge, shower him with the abundance of his knowledge and moralities, and circulate on him the lights of his purity, God-fearing, piety, and ascetics. All these contributed in the scholastic perfection and growth of Sheikh As-Saduq who lived under the wing of his father for more than twenty years during which he drank these knowledges and took from the great flow of his father’s information, moralities, and conducts. In addition, he grew up in the city of Qum which was swarming with the scholars and narrators, such as the master of the scholars of Qum Mohammed bin al-Hasan bin Ahmed bin al-Waleed and Hamza bin Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Ja’far bin Mohammed bin Zaid bin Ali as well as many others whose sessions and lectures were frequently attended by Sheikh As-Saduq.
After a short while, Sheikh As-Saduq became that great figure by whom people were benefiting. He also became such a distinctive sign of retaining and intelligence. He exceeded his companions in fields of virtue and knowledge and became such an unparalleled person.
Furthermore, the political circumstances of that period played a significant role in crystallizing the personality of Sheikh As-Saduq who lived in the reign of the Buyid in Iraq and Persia (321-447 A.H.), the Fatimids in Northern Africa (296-567 A.H.), and the Hamdanian State in Mousel –Northern Iraq- and Syria (333-394 A.H.)
It is well known that all these states were declaring their loyalty to the leadership of the Prophet’s household. In other words, they were Shia.
Scholastic Journeys
Not only was the intention of Sheikh As-Saduq to suffice with receiving knowledge from the master scholars of his town, but also it rose higher to encourage him to travel and emigrate far away from his hometown for seeking studies and knowledge. In the beginning, he traveled to the city of Ray to answer the summons of Rukn ad-Dawla al-Buwayhi (the Buyid), who died in 366 A.H. There, Sheikh As-Saduq met the scholars of that city, such like Sheikh Abu al-Hasan Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Ali bin Asad al-Asadi whose famous nickname is Abu Jurada al-Barda’i. That was in 347 A.H. He also met Ya’qoub bin Yousuf bin Ya’qoub, Ahmed bin Mohammed bin As-Saqr As-Sa’igh al-Adl (the decent), Abu Ali Ahmed bin al-Hasan al-Qattan and many others.
He then traveled to the city of Khurasan for the visitation of the Holy Shrine of Imam Ar-Ridha (a) in 352 A.H. After that, he returned to the city of Ray.
In 367 A.H., he made his second journey to the Holy Shrine of Imam Ar-Ridha (a). During his third journey which was made in 368 A.H., he passed by the cities of Istrabad and Jurjan where he attended the lectures of Sheikh Abu al-Hasan Mohammed bin al-Qasim Alistrabadi—the famous exegesist (of the Holy Quran) and orator. He also attended the classes of Sheikh Abu Mohammed al-Qasim bin Mohammed Alistrabadi, Sheikh Abu Mohammed Abdous bin Ali bin al-Abbas al-Jurjani, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Ali Alistrabadi.
In his journey back from the visitation of the Holy Shrine of Imam Ar-Ridha (a) Sheikh As-Saduq passed by the city of Nisapur and resided there for a period.
About this residence, he said:
“After I had satisfied my wishes for the visitation of Imam Ali bin Musa Ar-Ridha (a) I was back in Nisapur where I resided. I found that the majority of the Shia there, who were frequently referring to me, were perplexed by the Invisibility –Ghaybah- and doubted the matter of al-Qa’im (a). They therefore left the right course of the submission (to Allah) to join the path of personal opinions and analogy. Hence, I exerted all my efforts for guiding them to the right and taking them back to the path of correctitude by means of the relevant narratives of the Prophet and the Imams, peace be upon them.”
In Nisapur, Sheikh As-Saduq related the lessons of most of the scholars of that city, such like Sheikh Abu Ali al-Hussein bin Ahmed al-Bayhaqi, Sheikh Abdul-Wahid bin Mohammed bin Abdous An-Nisapuri, Sheikh Abu Mansour Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Bakr al-Khuzi, Sheikh Abu Saeed Mohammed bin al-Fadhl bin Mohammed bin Ishaq al-Muthekkir An-Nisapuri, Sheikh Abu at-Tayyib al-Hussein bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Ar-Razi and many others.
As he passed by the cities of Marwalruth and Sarakhs, Sheikh As-Saduq attended the classes of Sheikh Mohammed bin Ali al-Marwalruthi, Sheikh Abu Yousuf bin Abdullah bin Abdul-Malik, and Sheikh Abu Nasr Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Tamim As-Sarakhsi.
In the years 352 and 355 A.H., Sheikh As-Saduq was in Baghdad where he learnt from Sheikh Abu al-Hasan Ali bin Thabit Ad-Dawalibi, Sheikh Abu Mohammed al-Hasan bin Mohammed bin Yahya al-Husseini al-Alawi; Ibn Tahir, and Sheikh Ibrahim bin Harun al-Hiti as well as many others.
In 354 A.H., Sheikh As-Saduq had the honor to pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah. In his way, he passed by Kufa and learnt from the master scholars there, such like Sheikh Mohammed bin Bakran An-Naqqash, Sheikh Ahmed bin Ibrahim bin Harun al-Fami, Sheikh al-Hasan bin Mohammed bin Saeed al-Hashimi, Sheikh Abu al-Hasan Ali bin Easa al-Mujawir, Sheikh Abu Tharr Yahya bin Zaid bin al-Abbas bin al-Waleed al-Bezzaz, Sheikh Abu al-Qasim al-Hasan bin Mohammed As-Sakuni al-Kufi and many others.
He also traveled to many cities such as Hamadan, Ilaq, Balkh, Samarqand, Faraghana and others.
In such journeys, Sheikh as-Saduq attended the lessons of many scholars in the cities that he passed by.
Scholastic State and Scholars’ Opinions
Sheikh As-Saduq, Allah may promote his position, was one of the master scholars of Shiism, great intellectuals, and well-versed men of knowledge. He was such a grand mastermind, abundant knowledgeable, and well informed. In his time, he was one of the most distinguishable scholars to whom everyone referred in questions concerning the rulings of the Sharia and was the sign upon whom everyone acted in the religious problems.
Sheikh At-Tusi; the master scholar of the sect mentioned Sheikh As-Saduq with the following words:
Mohammed bin Ali bin al-Hussein bin Musa bin Babawayh al-Qummi is the lofty master. His surname is Abu Ja’far. He was so admirable, good narrator of hadith, skillful knowing of men, and bright criticizer of narrations. Besides, he was such distinct relater and encyclopedic that no one of the people of Qum could attain his rank. He had written about three hundred books.
An-Nejashi referred to Sheikh As-Saduq with the following wording:
Abu Ja’far al-Qummi who resided in Ray was our Sheikh and master jurisprudent. He was the representative of the sect (of Shiism) in Khurasan.
In his Me’aalim ul-Ulemaa, Ibn Shahrashoub said the following about Sheikh As-Saduq:
He was the best of the scholars of Qum. He wrote about three hundred books.
In As-Saraa’ir, Ibn Idris referred to Sheikh As-Saduq with the following wording:
He was trustworthy, highly reverent, well versed in narrations, good criticizer of the reports, well knowing of men, and well memorizer. He was the master of our Sheikh al-Mufid Mohammed bin Mohammed bin An-Nu’man.
Sheikh Hussein bin Abdus-Samad al-Harithi —father of Sheikh al-Bahaa’i— said about Sheikh As-Saduq:
He was highly reverent, high-ranking scholar among the upper class as well as the ordinary people, good narrator of hadith, well knowing of jurisprudence and men, good discerning of the mental and analytical sciences, and good criticizer of reports. He was also the master scholar, jurisprudent, and chief of the Saved Sect (Shia) in Khurasan and Iraq of the non-Arabs; (i.e. Persia).
In the fields of narration and abundance of knowledge, he was so distinct over all those who lived in his time.
The previous models have been few wordings of praise and extolment that were said about Sheikh As-Saduq. To know more about this respectful personality, it is recommendable to refer to the numerous reference books that recorded the biography of him some of which we have just excerpted.
Teachers and Students
Because of the many journeys that Sheikh As-Saduq made to various countries for the purpose of seeking studies, he could read, listen, deliver lectures, and gain the license of many scholars and masters of the countries that he passed by in the various fields of knowledge.
A good look in his numerous books, such as al-Amali, Men La Yahdhuruh ul-Faqih, At-Tawhid, Thawab ul-A’maal and many others, proves that he rested upon many of the Shiite and Sunni master scholars in the field of narrations. He also depended upon such scholars in the fields of hadith regarding a great variety of sciences and fields. The famous names of the master scholars upon whom Sheikh As-Saduq depended in relation of the reports are innumerable.
For avoiding lengthiness, we ask the dear reader to refer to the numerous books of biography so as to have an idea about the teachers of Sheikh As-Saduq.
The students and the narrators on the authority of Sheikh As-Saduq are also too many to be mentioned in this book. Reference books of biography referred to some famous names such as the lofty Sheikh Mohammed bin Mohammed bin An-Nu’man At-Tal’akbari whose nickname is Sheikh al-Mufid, the trustworthy Sheikh Ali bin Ahmed bin al-Abbas (father of Sheikh An-Nejashi), Sheikh Abu al-Hasan Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Ali bin Shathan al-Qummi, Sayyid al-Murtedha Alam ul-Huda, and many others that we could not mention their names in details. To have more information about such names, it is recommendable to refer to the many books that discussed this topic and from which we excerpted this brief biography.
His Works
Sheikh As-Saduq dealt with a great variety of arts and sciences. He wrote many books; more than three hundred ones. Unfortunately, most of these books were lost. We, hereby, refer to some of them:
1. Ali’tiqadat
2. al-Amali
3. Thawab ul-A’maal
4. al-Khissal
5. Sifat ush-Shia
6. Iqab ul-A’maal
7. Ilal ush-Sharaayi
8. Uyounu Akhbar ir-Reza
9. Fadhaa’il ul-Ash’hur ith-Thalatha
10. Fadhaa’il ush-Shi’a
11. Kamal ud-Din wa Tamam un-Ni’ma
12. Mussadaqat ul-Ikhwan
13. Me’aani al-Akhbar
14. al-Muqannaa’ fi al-Fiqh
15. Men La Yahdhuruh al-Faqih
16. al-Mawaaizh
17. al-Hidayatu fi al-Fiqh
Furthermore, there are tens of books most of which were lost, as we have previously mentioned. To have more information about such books, it is recommendable to refer to the books that mentioned the biography of Sheikh As-Saduq.
His Death
Sheikh As-Saduq died in 381 A.H. He was more than seventy years old. He was buried in the city of Ray near the tomb of Abdul-Azheem al-Hasani, Allah be pleased with him.
Today, his tomb is one of the famous shrines whom are frequently visited by people who seek blessings there.
In nearly 1238 A. H., Sultan Fat’h Ali Shah the Qajar reconstructed that holy shrine after the spread of the news of the good charismata that had been seen there.
Al-Khawansari, in his Ar-Rawdhat, al-Mamuqani, in his Tanqeeh ul-Maqaal, and other scholars mentioned a number of charismata of Sheikh As-Saduq (after his death) occurred in his blessed shrine. In the year 1238 A.H., a fissure occurred to the shrine due to the heavy rain. When some people entered inside the shrine for chasing the source of that fissure, they could reach the gutter in which Sheikh As-Saduq was buried. They found that his dead body was laid out while the genitals were covered. It was very sound and handsome. On the nails of the body, they could notice the signs of dye, while on the limbs, there were old threads of the torn coffin.
As this event was rumored in the city of Tehran, Sultan Fat’h Ali… ordered to reform that fissure and reconstruct that shrine.

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Sheikh Saadi Sherazi (Sheikh Mosleh al-Din)

Known by his pen-name as Saʿdī‚ Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī was one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. He is not only famous in Persian-speaking countries‚ but he has also been quoted in western sources.His best known works are Bostan (The Orchard) completed in 1257 and Gulistan (The Rose Garden) in 1258.When he reappeared in his native Shiraz he was an elderly man.
Shiraz, under Atabak Abubakr Sa'd ibn Zangy (1231-60) was enjoying an era of relative tranquility. Saadi was not only welcomed to the city but was respected highly by the ruler and enumerated among the greats of the province. In response, Saadi took his nom de plume from the name of the local prince, Sa'd ibn Zangi, and composed some of his most delightful panegyrics as an initial gesture of gratitude in praise of the ruling house and placed them at the beginning of his Bostan. He seems to have spent the rest of his life in Shiraz.His best known works are the Bostan (The Orchard) and the Golestan (The Rose Garden). The Bostan is entirely in verse (epic metre) and consists of stories aptly illustrating the standard virtues recommended to Muslims (justice, liberality, modesty, contentment) as well as of reflections on the behaviour of dervishes and their ecstatic practices. The Golestan is mainly in prose and contains stories and personal anecdotes. The text is interspersed with a variety of short poems, containing aphorisms, advice, and humorous reflections. Saadi demonstrates a profound awareness of the absurdity of human existence. The fate of those who depend on the changeable moods of kings is contrasted with the freedom of the dervishes.

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Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Fazel Lankarani

Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Fazel Lankarani was born in 1931 in the Holy city of Qum. His father, the late Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani was a great teacher and scholar in the Islamic Seminary of Qum. His dear mother, was a pure and noble woman of Sayed descent.At the age of 13, after the completion of primary school, he began studying Islamic studies in the seminary of Qum, where due to his great ability and aptitude, he was able to finish the preliminary stages of Islamic studies within six years.From the beginning of the political and social struggle and defiance of Ayatullah Khomeini against the oppression, corruption and tyrannical government of the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran, Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani was one of the helpers and supporters of Ayatullah Khomeini. Step by step in every movement that the defenders of Islam took, Ayatullah Lankarani was there and played an active role. One of his important moves was to be involved with the Jami'ah Mudarasin, a group that consists of the teachers in the Hawza 'Ilmiyyah of Qum in which they were busy spreading the word of Islam and the Islamic Revolution among the masses. More than this, it was they who announced the Marja'iyat and Leadership of Ayatullah Khomeini...Many times during this difficult period, Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani was jailed, and finally, as if the Shah could no longer take the 'Ulama and their standing up for the truth, he was forced to exile him to an area known as Bandar Lange. After staying there for 4 months, we was moved to the city of Yazd, where he was forced to reside for a period of 18 months.After the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani continued to play an important role along side the leader, Ayatullah Khomeini, May his spirit be sanctified, and even today, under the leadership of Ayatullah Khameni'i, he is still fully supportive and active.

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Founder of Iran’s National Bibliography Society (Mohsen Saba)

Today is Wednesday; 23rd of the Iranian month of Farvardin 1391 solar hijri; corresponding to 19th of the Islamic month of Jamadi al-Awwal 1433 lunar hijri; and April 11, 2012, of the Christian Gregorian Calendar.  20 solar years ago, on this day in 1992, the contemporary Iranian lecturer and author, Mohsen Saba, passed away. On completion of preliminary studies at Dar ul-Fonoun School, he left for France and after receiving a PhD in Law he returned to Iran and was appointed university lecturer. He was the founder of Iran’s National Bibliography Society and The National Archive Committee, affiliated to the UNESCO. He has left behind numerous important compilations.

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Attar of Nishapur Commemoration Day

Born c. 1145 C.E. Nishapur                                                                        Died c. 1220 C.E. Nishapur

Commemorating one of Iran’s most renowned mystic poets; a group of university lecturers and scholars of Persian literature gathered in the culture art and communications research center of the Iranian culture ministry to mark the world Attar Day.Fariduddin Attar Neishabouri or the Attar of Nishapur was a Persian Muslim poet, theoretician of Sufism and hagiographer of the 11th and 12th century, who left an everlasting influence on Persian poetry and Sufism.He was also a skillful doctor. Attar was a pen-name which he took for his occupation. Attar means herbalist or perfumist and during his lifetime in Persia, much of 1220 Attar was killed at the age of 70 in a brutal attack by the Mongols during the invasion of Iran.He was buried near Neishabour, in north east Iran.Every year numerous ceremonies are held by Attar lovers across Iran on his birthday. Their aim is to preserve Attar’s legacy by discussing his life and works. Throughout his life Attar became a source of inspiration for many scholars and mystic poets.Medicine and drugs were based on herbs. Therefore, by profession he was similar to a modern-day town doctor and pharmacist.InThere are dozens of books attributed to Attar Neishabouri but the question whether all the works that have been ascribed to him are really from his pen has not been solved. In his writings Attar has only mentioned the names of seven books which he had written including his most outstanding book Manteq-o-Tayr in which he refers to seven valleys of love that a mystic will have to travel in order to reach to reach perfection. Perhaps the most imminent figure inspired by Attar’s school of thought was the world renowned Iranian poet Rumi who praised Attar.Rumi quoted:” Attar has roamed through the seven cities of love while we have barely turned down the first street.”For several centuries the works of Attar have affected the literature of a wide region of Persian speaking countries.

Born c. 1145 C.E. Nishapur
Died c. 1220 C.E. Nishapur
Honored in Islam
Influences Ferdowsi, Sanai, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Hallaj, Abusa'id Abolkhayr, Bayazid Bastami

Influenced Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, Nava'i and many other later Sufi Poets
Tradition/Genre Mystic poetry
Major work(s):
Memorial of the Saints
The Conference of the Birds
Biography
Information about Attar's life is rare. He is mentioned by only two of his contemporaries, `Awfi and Tusi. However, all sources confirm that he was from Nishapur, a major city of medieval Khorasan (now located in the northeast of Iran), and according to `Awfi, he was a poet of the Seljuq period. It seems that he was not well known as a poet in his own lifetime, except at his home town, and his greatness as a mystic, a poet, and a master of narrative was not discovered until the 15th century.
`Attar was probably the son of a prosperous chemist, receiving an excellent education in various fields. While his works say little else about his life, they tell us that he practiced the profession of pharmacy and personally attended to a very large number of customers. The people he helped in the pharmacy used to confide their troubles in `Attar and this affected him deeply. Eventually, he abandoned his pharmacy store and traveled widely - to Baghdad, Basra, Kufa, Mecca, Medina, Damascus, Khwarizm, Turkistan, and India, meeting with Sufi Shaykhs - and returned promoting Sufi ideas.
`Attar's initiation into Sufi practices is subject to much speculation and fabrication. Of all the famous Sufi Shaykhs supposed to have been his teachers, only one - Majd ud-Din Baghdadi - comes within the bounds of possibility. The only certainty in this regard is `Attar's own statement that he once met him.
In any case it can be taken for granted that from childhood onward `Attar, encouraged by his father, was interested in the Sufis and their sayings and way of life, and regarded their saints as his spiritual guides.
`Attar reached an age of over 70 and died a violent death in the massacre which the Mongols inflicted on Nishapur in April 1221. Today, his mausoleum is located in Nishapur. It was built by Ali-Shir Nava'i in the 16th century.
Like many aspects of his life, his death, too, is blended with legends and speculation.
Influence on Rumi
`Attar is one of the most famous mystic poets of Iran. His works were the inspiration of Rumi and many other mystic poets. `Attar, along with Sanai were two of the greatest influences on Rumi in his Sufi views. Rumi has mentioned both of them with the highest esteem several times in his poetry. Rumi praises `Attar as follows:
Attar has roamed through the seven cities of love while we have barely turned down the first street.
As a pharmacist
`Attar was a pen-name which he took for his occupation. `Attar means herbalist, druggist, perfumist or alchemist, and during his lifetime in Persia, much of medicine and drugs were based on herbs. Therefore, by profession he was similar to a modern-day town doctor and pharmacist.
In popular culture
Several musical artists have albums or songs which share the name of his most famous work, Conference of the Birds, as well as the themes of enlightenment contained therein. Notably, jazz bassist David Holland's album, which was written as a metaphor for his own enlightenment, and Om's Conference of the Birds, which deals with extremely esoteric themes often connected with metaphors of flight, inward vision, destruction of self, and oneness with the cosmos.

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Close This Popup Window More Info about JavaScript JavaScript's use in applications outside web pages for example in PDF documents, site specific browsers and desktop widgets is also significant. Newer and faster Javascript VMs and frameworks built upon them (notably Node.js) have also increased the popularity of Javascript for server side web apps. 2 Related Posts: Related Posts for blogger JavaScript uses syntax influenced by that of C.

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Iraqi chemical weapons program and Marivan City

10 April 1988
Marivan lies close to the border of Iran-Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan). Because of official border market of Bashmaq which is between Kurdish region of Iraq and Iran, Marivan serves a destination for shoppers in neighbor provinces.
Lake Zarivar lies in the west of Marivan. Because of beautiful and preserved nature of Marivan, it has been always one of the most attractive places for tourist both in local and global scales.
The native language of the city is the central dialect of Kurdish (Sorani) with a minority of Hawrami dialect. The religion of the people is Shafi'i Sunni.On March 16, 1988, the Halabja massacre occurred. The Iraqi army hit residential areas with sarin gas and the roads leading out of the city with mustard gas the day after. Most of the victims died within minutes after bombing and those who survived and tried to leave the city the following day were injured when passed contaminated roads. Civilians in residential areas in western Iran such as Noodsheh, Ghaleji, and Marivan were bombarded with nerve gas as well. The efforts of local health care centers played a significant role in decreasing the number of mortalities.

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Ostad Ameer Hussien Yazdgerdi

24 March 1986 (04 Farvardin 1365)
He Died on day mentioned above, he wrote many points on historic books. He was a great Person.

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Evacuation of Soviet Union from Iran

With this crucial supply route now open to the Soviet Union, the Persian Corridor would provide a massive flow of supplies (over 5 million tons of materiel) to the Soviets primarily, but also the British in the Middle East. The new Shah signed a Treaty of Alliance with Britain and the Soviet Union in January 1942, under which Iran provided nonmilitary assistance to the Allied war effort. Article Five of this treaty, although not entirely trusted by the Iranian leader, committed the Allies to leaving Iran "not more than six months after the cessation of hostilities". In September 1943, Iran declared war on Germany, thus qualifying for membership in the United Nations. At the Tehran Conference in November of that year, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin reaffirmed their commitment to Iran's independence and territorial integrity and displayed a willingness to extend economic assistance to Iran. The effects of the war, however, were very disruptive for Iran. Food and other essential items were scarce. Severe inflation imposed great hardship on the lower and middle classes.
In summer of 1943, Abwehr's Operation Francois was an attempt to use the dissident Qashqai people in Iran to sabotage British and American supplies bound for the Soviet Union.
Also in 1943, Operation Long Jump was an unsuccessful German plot to assassinate the "Big Three" Allied leaders, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt, at the Tehran Conference.During the three years of occupation, Stalin had expanded Soviet political influence in Azerbaijan and the Kurdish area in northwestern Iran, as well as in Iran founding the communist Tudeh Party of Iran. On 12 December 1945, after weeks of violent clashes a Soviet-backed separatist People's Republic of Azerbaijan was founded. The Kurdish People's Republic was also established in late 1945. Iranian government troops sent to reestablish control were blocked by Soviet Red Army units.
When the deadline for withdrawal arrived on 2 March 1946, six months after the end of World War II hostilities, the British began to withdraw, but Moscow refused, "citing threats to Soviet security."
Soviet troops did not withdraw from Iran proper until May, 1946 following Iran's official complaint to the newly-formed United Nations Security Council, which became the first complaint filed by a country in the U.N.'s history, and a test for the UN's effectiveness in resolving global issues in the aftermath of World War II. However, the UNSC took no direct steps in pressuring the Soviets to withdraw

The United States exerted intense pressure on the Soviet Union in stages to force the withdrawal of the Red Army from Iran and reduce Soviet influence. Following an official US protest, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2, on January 30, 1946; the Soviets replied on March 24, 1946 and pledged immediate withdrawal, but in fact remained for a few more weeks.
In a second stage through the spring, the US supported the Iranian complaint against Soviet actions lodged with the Security Council in Resolution 3 and Resolution 5.
In a third stage in mid December 1946, the US supported the shah’s government to send the Iranian army to re-occupied Mahabad and Azerbaijan.[3] The leaders of the Azerbaijan enclave in Iran fled to the Azerbaijan SSR, and the leaders of the Kurdish Republic were tried and sentenced to death. They were hanged in Chwarchira Square in the center of Mahabad in 1947.
A fourth stage was initiated in 1947 and centered on the issue of Soviet designs on Iran's northern oil resources. Following the election that year of a new Majlis, the newly elected deputies were reluctant to ratify the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement, which had been concluded under duress in March 1946 and had granted the Soviets 51% ownership and de facto control. On September 11, 1947, US ambassador George V. Allen publicly decried intimidation and coercion used by foreign governments to secure commercial concessions in Iran, and promised full US support for Iran to freely decide about its own natural resources. With this unequivocal encouragement, the Majlis refused to ratify the Soviet oil agreement on October 22, 1947; the vote was 102 to 2

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The Grand Alliance in London (13 Jan 1941)

Several European countries joined the Western Allies at different times during World War 2. In total 19 European countries joined the Allies from 1939 to 1945.The very first European countries to join the Allies and which were the original Allies were Poland, United Kingdom and France. The alliances between these three original allies pre-date WWII. After WWII other countries joined the Allies: Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands (these four countries joined as "governments in exile"), Greece, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. Later on during the war other European countries joined the Western Allied Forces: Italy, Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, San Marino, Albania, Hungary and Finland which was the last European country to join the Allies during the war in 1945 as co-belligerent.The USA joined the Western Allies in 1941 after the attack to Pearl Harbour.
The Grand Alliance in London (13 Jan 1941)
Allies-France, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway (Italy after 1944), Greece, Russia
Axis-Germany, Italy (Before 1944), Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland (Before 1944), Albania, Austria and the Czech Republic were dissolved into greater Germany

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Sheikh Fazlollah Noori Died on 31 July 1909

An Attack was made on Ayatollah Sheik Fazlullah Nouri on 9 Dey 1287 Hijri Shamsi

(30 December 1908)

Sheikh Fazlollah Noori was a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric in Iran during the late 19th and early 20th century opposed the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and was executed for treason as a result. Today, he is considered a martyr (shahid) in the fight against democracy by Islamic conservatives in Iran.[citation needed]Sheik Fazlullah was born in 1843. After finishing primary education, he left Iran for Najaf and left for Samara to enjoy Mirza Shirazi's excellence. He went to Iran in 1883 and took resident in Tehran. He believed in the Sharia. He believed that Muslims need and Islamic parliament based on Koran and Mohammad's experience.Noori was one of the most vigorous opponents of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, a movement to remove foreign influence from Iran, limit the power of the Shah and establish a national consultative assembly that would give the people a voice in the affairs of state. The movement was led principally by merchants, intellectuals and some clerics. Noori initially gave restrained support to the uprising, but he soon became an extreme critic and enemy of the constitutionalists. He authored pamphlets and incited mobs against constitutionalism and constitutionalists preaching that they would bring vice to Iran. He issued a fatwa declaring all members of the new parliament and government "apostates", "atheists," "secret Babis," and koffar al-harbi (warlike pagans) whose blood ought to be shed by the faithful.
Noori allied himself with the new Shah, Mohammad Ali Shah, who with the assistance of Russian troops staged a coup against the Majlis (parliament) in 1907. In 1909, however, constitutionalists marched onto Tehran (the capital of Iran). Noori was arrested, tried and found guilty of `sowing corruption and sedition on earth,` and in July 1909, Noori was hanged as a traitor.

Sheikh Fazlollah Noori Died on 31 July 1909

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Amir Kabir (Mirza Taqi Khan) Ameer Kabeer

Mirza Taqi Farahani was born in 1807 in Farahan, Iran, entitled Ataback-e Azam (The Chief Minister), Amir Nezaam (The Prince of the State), and Amir Kabir (The Great Prince), is one of the greatest politicians in the recent two centuries of Iran. He initiated reforms that marked the effective beginning of the modernisation of Iran.
At an early age Mirza Taqi learned to read and write despite his humble origins. Because of his natural gift and talent, he mastered the required knowledge and skills when still very young. He joined the provincial bureaucracy as a scribe and, by his abilities, rapidly advanced within the hierarchy of the administration. In 1829, as a junior member of an Iranian mission to St. Petersburg, he observed the power of Russia, Iran's great neighbour. He concluded that important and fundamental reforms were needed if Iran was to survive as a sovereign state. As a minister in Azerbaijan he witnessed the inadequacies of Iranian provincial administration, and during tenure in Ottoman Turkey he studied their progress toward modernisation. Upon his return to Iran in 1847, Mirza Taqi was appointed by Mohammad Shah of Qajar Dynasty to the court of the crown prince, Naser o-Din, in Azerbaijan.
With the death of Mohammad Shah in 1848, Mirza Taqi was largely responsible for ensuring the crown prince's succession to the throne. Out of gratitude, the young monarch appointed him Chief Minister and gave him the hand of his own sister in marriage. At this time Mirza Taqi took the title of Amir Kabir. He gained his Premiership at a time when the affairs of the country were completely ruined and its internal system was totally torn down. Iran was virtually bankrupt, its central government was weak, and its provinces were almost autonomous. During the next two and a half years the Amir initiated important reforms in virtually all sectors of society.
Government expenditure was slashed, and a distinction was made between the privy and public purses. The instruments of central administration were overhauled, and the Amir assumed responsibility for all areas of the bureaucracy. Foreign interference in Iran's domestic affairs was curtailed, and foreign trade was encouraged. Public works such as the bazaar in Tehran were undertaken. A new secular college, the Dar ol-Fonun (The Skills House), was established for training a new cadre of administrators and acquainting them with modern techniques. Among his other accomplishments was the foundation of a newspaper called "Vaqaye Etefaqieh" (The Happened Events).
Many exploits in political affairs as well as in the relationships with the neighbouring and other foreign countries were made; he also attended to the order of Iranian Embassies across the world. The ambassadors of great lands in Iran were behaved in a way as expected from the Premier of an independent and self-governing government.
With a firm, doubtless, strong, and steady will, Amir Kabir continued his reformations and exploitations, and all alone, resisted the most selfish, tyrannous and despotic king of the Qajar Dynasty along with his corrupt relatives, courtiers, and flatterers, among whom some had been excluded from the government. They regarded the Amir as a social upstart and a threat to their interests, and they formed a coalition against him, in which the queen mother was active. She convinced the young Shah that the Amir wanted to usurp the throne.
In October 1851 the Shah dismissed him and exiled him to Kashan, where he was murdered on the Shah's orders on 8 January 1852 (18 Dey 1230 Iranian Calendar or Jalali Calendar) . Historians and those who are acquainted with Amir Kabir and have studied his life and manners appreciate and regard him as a great and remarkable man.

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The Day 23 December in History

The Life of Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
23 December 1878 He invented Gramophone
Thomas Edison invented his tin-foil phonograph, Edison's phonograph was followed by Alexander Graham Bell's graphophone. In 1887 Emile Berliner invented the gramophone and records.
He was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called him "addled," his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Thomas Edison said many years later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had some one to live for, some one I must not disappoint." At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and for chemical experiments.
• Biography
Born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio; the seventh and last child of Samuel and Nancy Edison. When he was seven his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan and Edison lived there until he struck out on his own at the age of sixteen. He had very little formal education as a child, attending school only for a few months. He was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, but was always a very curious child and taught himself much by reading on his own. This belief in self-improvement remained throughout his life.

Plastic Made On 23 Dec 1932

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids that are moldable. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, but many are partially natural.
Early plastics were bio-derived materials such as egg and blood proteins, which are organic polymers. Treated cattle horns were used as windows for lanterns in the Middle Ages. Materials that mimicked the properties of horns were developed by treating milk-proteins (casein) with lye. In the 1800s the development of plastics accelerated with Charles Goodyear's discovery of vulcanization as a route to thermoset materials derived from natural rubber. Many storied materials were reported as industrial chemistry was developed in the 1800s. In the early 1900s, Bakelite, the first fully synthetic thermoset was reported by Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland. After the First World War, improvements in chemical technology led to an explosion in new forms of plastics. Among the earliest examples in the wave of new polymers were polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The development of plastics has come from the use of natural plastic materials (e.g., chewing gum, shellac) to the use of chemically modified natural materials (e.g., rubber, nitrocellulose, collagen, galalite) and finally to completely synthetic molecules (e.g., bakelite, epoxy, polyvinyl chloride).

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Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian Author, Essayist and Philosopher

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on 28 August 1828 into a long line of Russian nobility. He was the fourth child of Countess Maria Volkonsky (who Tolstoy does not remember, as she died after giving birth to his sister Mariya in 1830) and Count Nicolay Ilyich Tolstoy (1797-1837) a Lieutenant Colonel who was awarded the order of St. Vladimir for his service. At the age of sixteen he had fathered a son with a servant girl, Leo’s half-brother Mishenka. When Count Tolstoy resigned from his last post with the Military Orphanage, a marriage was arranged between him and Maria Volkonsky. After her death the Count’s distant cousin Tatyana Aleksandrovna Yergolskaya ‘Aunt Tatyana’, who already lived with them helped him in running the household, raising the children and overseeing their tutoring. Leo’s paternal grandfather Count Ilya Andreyevich Tolstoy (d.1820) had been an overly generous and trusting man; by the time Leo was born the Tolstoy fortunes had dwindled and the newlyweds settled at the Volkonsky family estate ‘Yasnaya Polyana’ (meaning ‘Clear Glade’) located in Tula Region, Shchekino District of central Russia. Leo’s maternal great grandfather Prince Nikolas Sergeyevich Volkonsky had established it in the early 1800s; upon his death his daughter Countess Volkonsky inherited it. It is now preserved as a State Memorial and National Preserve.The ruminations were prompted by his friend Paul Biryukov asking him for his assistance in penning his biography. His literary executor Chertkov would write The Last Days of Leo Tolstoy (1911). For as the last days of Tolstoy were playing out, he still at times agonised over his self-worth and regretted his actions from decades earlier. Having renounced his ancestral claim to his estate and all of his worldly goods, all in his family but his youngest daughter Alexandra scorned him. He was intent on starting a new life and did so on 28 October 1910, making it as far as the stationmaster’s home at the Astapovo train station. Leo Tolstoy died there of pneumonia on 20 November 1910. Although he wanted no ceremony or ritual, thousands showed up to pay their respects. He was buried in a simple wooden coffin near Nikolay’s ‘place of the little green stick’ by the ravine in the Stary Zakaz Wood on the Yasnya Polyana estate; returned to that place of idylls where Nikolay told him one could find the secret to happiness and the end to all suffering.

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Iranian Poet and Painter Sohrab Sepehri 1928 To 1979

Sohrab Sepehri (October 7, 1928 - April 21, 1980) was a notable modern Persian poet and a painter. He was born in Kashan in Isfahan province.
He is the most popular figure of Iranian modern poetry. His literary style is simple and verses are written in a way very close to spoken language. Some of his poems have either meter or a mild melody while some others have no meter and no rhyme. His most popular poems, however, belong to the former category.
A selection of his poems has been put to music by the celebrated musician Shahram Nazeri, in an al bum called “Dar Golestaneh”. His poems have also been featured in a few Iranian movies, for instance in ‘Where is the house of myfriend?’ by the critically acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.
In his poems he talks about the relationship between nature and human spirit. They mainly turn around the idea of re-discovering and returning to the roots and appreciating its beauty and serenity instead of giving in to the down-ward spiral of modern life’s preoccupations. He died in Tehran of leukemia at the age of 51.
This website contains my rendition of a selection of his poems, including the English version of The Footsteps of Water. Footsteps of Water is a long poem that was first published as a separate work. Note that the illustrations in this website, with some obvious exceptions, are selected from Sohrab's paintings.

Birth of Iranian Poet Sohrab Sepehri 

Death of Iranian Poet Sohrab Sepehri  

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