His birth itself was a stroke of destiny.

His parents married in the face of opposition from a personage no less than the greatest Safavid King of Iran, Shah Abbas. He was their first child, and when he was born his parents' joy knew no bounds.

The astrologers, however, played spoilsport. The child was promised for great things, they said, but for that it was essential to follow a stipulation: The child couldn't meet his father till he was twelve years old.

Galling as it might have been, 👇🏻