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sahib-khabar
and I am sure that your proposal will delight him. He conceded to me that he had
come from Rayy to Isfahan with the firm hope of being employed by you.’
‘An ambitious man,’ Nazim murmured between his teeth. ‘But that is my
fate. When I find a trustworthy man, he lacks ambition and scorns the apparatus
of power; and when a man appears ready to jump at the first office I offer him,
his haste unnerves me.’
He seemed tired and resigned.
‘By what name is this man known?’
‘Hassan, son of Ali Sabbah. I must warn you, however, that he was born in
Qom.’
‘A Shiite missionary? That does not worry me, even though I am hostile to
all heresies and all deviations. Some of my best collaborators are sectarians of
Ali, my best soldiers are Armenians and my treasurers are Jews, but that does
not mean that I withhold my trust and protection from them. The only ones I
distrust are the Ismailis. I do not suppose that your friend belongs to that sect?’
‘I do not know. However, Hassan has come here with me. He is waiting
outside. With your permission I will summon him and you will be able to
question him.’
Omar disappeared for a few seconds and came back accompanied by his
friend, who did not appear in the least intimidated. However, Khayyam could
make out two muscles in Hassan’s beard which were flexing and shaking.
‘I present Hassan Sabbah. Never has such a tightly-wound turban held such
knowledge.’
Nizam smiled.
‘Here I am surrounded by the learned. Is it not said that the prince who
frequents and keeps the company of scholars is the best of princes?’

---

It was Hassan who retorted:
‘It is also said that the scholar who keeps the company of princes is the worst
of scholars.’
An unaffected but brief laugh drew them together. Nizam was already
knitting his brows. He wanted the inevitable series of proverbs which preceded
any Persian conversation to be over quickly, in order to make clear to Hassan
what he expected of him. Curiously enough, from the very first words they
found themselves in collusion. It now only remained for Omar to slip away.
Thus Hassan Sabbah very quickly became the indispensable collaborator of
the Grand Vizir. He had succeeded in setting up an elaborate network of agents
disguised as merchants, dervishes and pilgrims, who criss-crossed the Seljuk
empire, not letting any palace, house or bazaar out of their earshot. Plots,
rumours and scandals were all reported, exposed and thwarted in either a
discreet or an exemplary manner.
At first, Nizam was overjoyed at having the fearsome machinery under his
control. He elicited some satisfaction from the Sultan, who had previously been
reticent. Had not his father, Alp Arslan, recommended that he abhor this type of
politics? ‘When you have planted spies everywhere,’ he had warned, ‘your true
friends will not be on their guard since they know that they are loyal. But the
felons will be on the look-out. They will want to bribe the informers. Gradually
you will start receiving reports which are unfavourable to your true friends and
favourable to your enemies. Good or bad words are like arrows, when you fire
many there is always one which hits its target. Your heart will then be hardened
against your friends, the felons will take their place at your side, and what will
be left of your power?’
It needed a woman from the harem to be caught in the act of poisoning
someone to make the Sultan stop doubting the usefulness of his chief of spies
and overnight he made him his confidant. However, it was Nizam who took
umbrage at the friendship which sprang up between Hassan and Malikshah. The
two men were young, and they would happily chat together at the expense of the
old Vizir, particularly on Fridays, the day of the 
shölen
, the traditional banquet
held by the Sultan for his court.
The first part of the festivities was strictly formal and restrained. Nizam was
seated to the right of Malikshah. They were encircled by men of letters and
intellectuals and discussions took place on the most varied of subjects from the
comparative merits of Indian or Yemenite swords to the various works of

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Aristotle. The Sultan fleetingly showed a passion for this sort of sparring, then
he faded out and his eye started to wander. The Vizir understood that it was time
to leave, and the noble guests followed him. They were instantly replaced by
musicians and dancers, jugs of wine were tipped and the drinking bout, which
would be restrained or wild accordingly to the humour of the prince, would
continue into the morning hours. To a couple of chords from the rebec, the lute
or the 
târ
, singers improvised on their favourite theme – that of Nizam al-Mulk.
The Sultan, who was incapable of doing without his Grand Vizir, avenged
himself by laughing freely. One just had to see the infantile frenzy with which he
clapped, to know that one day he would manage to hit out at ‘his father’.
Hassan was adept at feeding the sovereign’s every sign of resentment toward
his Vizir. Upon what did the Vizir pride himself? His wisdom, his learning? But
Hassan could make short shrift of both these qualities. The Vizir’s capacity to
defend the throne and the empire? Hassan very quickly had shown himself
equally competent. The Vizir’s constancy? There was nothing simpler than to
affect loyalty, which anyhow never rings truer than in the mouths of liars.
Above all, Hassan knew how to cultivate Malikshah’s proverbial avarice. He
constantly spoke to him of the Vizir’s expenses, and brought to his attention the
new robes of the Vizir and his associates. Nizam liked power and its apparatus,
but Hassan liked only power and was rigorous in its pursuit.
When he felt that Malikshah was totally won over and ready for his 
eminence
grise
to be delivered the death blow, Hassan created the incident. The scene
unfolded in the throne room, one Saturday. The Sultan had woken up at mid-day
with an annoying headache. He was in a foul temper, and became exasperated
upon learning that sixy thousand golden dinars had just been distributed to the
soldiers of the Vizir’s Armenian guard. The information had to have come from
Hassan and his network. Nizam patiently explained that in order to avoid any
hint of insubordination he had to feed the troops and fatten them up a little, and
that if the troops reached the point of rebellion the state would have to spend that
amount ten times over. Throwing gold around by the armful, retorted Malikshah,
meant that they would end up not being able to pay salaries and then the real
rebellions would begin. A good government surely had to know how to keep its
gold for the difficult times?
One of Nizam’s twelve sons, who was present during the scene, thought it
clever to intervene:
‘During the early days of Islam, when the Caliph Omar was accused of
spending all the gold that had been amassed during the conquests, Omar asked

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his detractors: “Is this gold not the bounty of the Almighty who lavished it upon
us? If you believe God is incapable of granting any more, then spend none of it.
As for me, I have faith in the infinite generosity of the Creator and will not keep
in my coffer a single coin which I could spend for the welfare of the Muslims.”’
Malikshah, however, had no intention of following this example. He was
mulling over an idea of whose merits Hassan had convinced him. He ordered:
‘I demand to be presented with a detailed summary of everything which goes
into my Treasury and the precise way that it is spent. When can I have it?’
Nizam seemed overwhelmed.
‘I can provide this summary, but it will take time.’
‘How long, 
khawaja
?’
He had not said 
ata
but 
khawaja
– a very respectful title, but in this context
so distant that it sounded very much like a repudiation or a prelude to disgrace.
Distraught, Nizam explained:
‘An emissary will have to be sent to every emir to carry out long calculations.
By the grace of God, the empire is immense, and thus it would be difficult to
draw up this report in less than two years.’
Hassan, however, approached solemnly:
‘I promise our master that if he provides me with the means, if he orders all
the papers of the 
diwan
to be put into my hands, I will present him a completed
report in forty days time.’
The Vizir wanted to respond, but Malikshah had already arisen. He strode
towards the door and raised his voice:
‘Very well, Hassan will be installed in the 
diwan
. The whole secretariat will
be under his orders. No one will enter without his permission. In forty days time
I will conclude the matter.’

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