Wikipedia's first sentence called it “imam of the zaidi state in yemen who held the imamate in 1261-1262”. Today it says “imam of the zaidi state in yemen who held the imamate in 1261–1262”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2015
Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji (died 1296) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who held the imamate in 1261-1262. At this time, most of Yemen was under the control of the Rasulid Dynasty which was Sunni Muslim and based in the lowland. In the northern parts of the highland, members of the Zaidi elite tried to maintain a position. One of them was Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji, a 16th-generation descendant of the Twelver imam Hasan bin Ali (d. 669). Yahya performed the da'wa (summoning for the imamate) in 1261. The majority of the population in Hadur and surrounding districts acknowledged him. However, the Rasulids were on the alert and sent the redoubtable emir Alam ad-Din Sinjar al-Sha'bi with a force, "springing upon him like a cat." The Zaidis were unable to withstand the incursion and Yahya's followers scattered to distant places. Alam ad-Din then returned to San'a . Imam Yahya traveled to the land of Banu Fahim; however, the locals took him in custody and turned him over to Alam ad-Din. The emir blinded him in October 1262. His reign as imam is sometimes counted until 1271, though there seem to be no records of his activities in the intervening years. His death is recorded in 1296. Eagle, 'Al-Hadi Yahya b. al-Husayn b. al-Qasim', New Arabian Studies 2 . The line of descent is al-Hasan bin Ali - Zaid - al-Hasan - al-Qasim - Abd ar-Rahman - Ja'far - Muhammad - Ali - al-Husayn - Muhammad - Abdallah - al-Hasan - Abdallah - Muhammad - Ahmad - Muhammad - Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji.
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 578193866.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji (died 1296) was an imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen who held the imamate in 1261–1262. At this time, most of Yemen was under the control of the Rasulid Dynasty which was Sunni Muslim and based in the lowland. In the northern parts of the highland, members of the Zaidi elite tried to maintain a position. One of them was Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji, a 16th-generation descendant of the Twelver imam Hasan bin Ali (d. 669). Yahya performed the da'wa (summoning for the imamate) in 1261. The majority of the population in Hadur and surrounding districts acknowledged him. However, the Rasulids were on the alert and sent the redoubtable emir Alam ad-Din Sinjar al-Sha'bi with a force, "springing upon him like a cat." The Zaidis were unable to withstand the incursion and Yahya's followers scattered to distant places. Alam ad-Din then returned to San'a . Imam Yahya traveled to the land of Banu Fahim; however, the locals took him in custody and turned him over to Alam ad-Din. The emir blinded him in October 1262. His reign as imam is sometimes counted until 1271, though there seem to be no records of his activities in the intervening years. His death is recorded in 1296. Eagle, 'Al-Hadi Yahya b. al-Husayn b. al-Qasim', New Arabian Studies 2 . The line of descent is al-Hasan bin Ali - Zaid - al-Hasan - al-Qasim - Abd ar-Rahman - Ja'far - Muhammad - Ali - al-Husayn - Muhammad - Abdallah - al-Hasan - Abdallah - Muhammad - Ahmad - Muhammad - Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 944787513. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “imam of the zaidi state in yemen who held the imamate in 1261-1262”. Today it says “imam of the zaidi state in yemen who held the imamate in 1261–1262”. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2015, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
imam of the zaidi state in yemen who held the imamate in 1261-1262
Now
imam of the zaidi state in yemen who held the imamate in 1261–1262
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
