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taqvim
for the month of 
Tir
is ready,’
Jahan said that evening.
Omar looked out into the distance:
‘I am going to prepare it for her during the night. The sky is clear and none of
the stars are hidden. It is time for me to go to the observatory.’
He readied himself to stand up, without hurry, when a servant came to
announce:
‘There is a dervish at the door. He is asking for hospitality for the night.’
‘Let him come in,’ said Omar. ‘Give him the small room under the stairway
and tell him to join us for the meal.’
Jahan covered her face ready for the entrance of the stranger, but the servant
came back alone.
‘He prefers to stay and pray in his room. Here is the message he gave me.’
Omar read it and blushed. He arose like an automaton. Jahan was worried:
‘Who is this man?’
‘I shall return.’
He tore the message into a thousand pieces, strode towards the little room and
shut the door behind him. There was a moment of waiting and then of
incredulity, an accolade followed by a reproach:
‘What have you come to Isfahan for? All Nizam al-Mulk’s agents are after
you.’
‘I have come to convert you.’
Omar stared at him. He wanted to make sure that Hassan still had all his wits
about him, but Hassan laughed, the same muffled laugh that Khayyam had
recognized in the caravansaray in Kashan.
‘You can be reassured that you are the last person I would think of
converting, but I need shelter. What better protector could there be than Omar
Khayyam, companion to the Sultan, friend to the Grand Vizir?’
‘Their hatred for you is greater than their friendship for me. You are welcome
under my roof, but do not think for a moment that my relations with them could
save you if your presence were suspected.’
‘Tomorrow I shall be far away.’
Omar appeared distrusting:
‘Have you come back for revenge?’
Hassan reacted as if his dignity had just been held up to ridicule.
‘I do not seek to avenge my miserable person, I desire to destroy Turkish
power.’

---

Omar looked at his friend: he had exchanged his black turban for another,
white but covered in sand, and his clothing was of coarse and threadbare wool.
‘You appear so sure of yourself! I can only see before me an outlaw, a hunted
man, hiding from house to house, whose whole equipment consists of this
bundle and this turban while yet thinking yourself the equal of an empire which
extends over all the orient from Damascus to Herat!’
‘You are speaking of what is. I speak of what will be. The New Order will
soon position itself against the Seljuk Empire. It will be intricately organized,
powerful and fearsome and will cause Sultan and vizirs to quake. Not so long
ago, when you and I were born, Isfahan belonged to a Persian Shiite dynasty
which imposed its law on the Caliph of Baghdad. Today the Persians are no
more than the servants of the Turks, and your friend Nizam al-Mulk is the vilest
servant of these intruders. How can you establish that what was true yesterday is
unthinkable for tomorrow?’
‘Times have changed, Hassan. The Turks are in power and the Persians have
been vanquished. Some, like Nizam, seek a compromise with the victors, and
others, like me, take refuge in books.’
‘And yet others fight. They are only a handful today, but tomorrow they will
be thousands, a great decisive and invincible army. I am the apostle of the New
Prediction. I will travel the country without respite. I will use persuasion as well
as force and, with the aid of the Almighty, I shall fight against corrupt power. I
am telling you, Omar, since you saved my life one day: the world will soon
witness events whose import will be understood by few men, but you will
understand. You will know what is happening, what is shaking this earth and
how the tumult will end.’
‘I do not wish to cast any doubt upon your convictions or your enthusiasm,
but I remember having seen you fight at the court of Malikshah with Nizam al-
Mulk over the favours of the Turkish Sultan.’
‘You are mistaken to suggest that I am such an ignoble person.’
‘I am not suggesting anything. I am simply mentioning some unpalatable
facts.’
‘They are due to your ignorance of my past. I cannot take offence at you for
judging things by their appearance, but you will see me differently when I have
told you my real history. I come from a traditional Shiite family. I was always
taught that the Ismailis were simply heretics until I met a missionary, who,
through a long discussion with me, shook my faith. When I decided not to speak
to him any more for fear of giving in to him, I fell so seriously ill that I thought it

---

was my last hour. I saw a sign, a sign from the Almighty, and I made an oath
that if I survived I would convert to the faith of the Ismailis. I recovered
overnight. None of my family could believe my sudden recovery.’
‘Naturally I kept my word and took the oath and at the end of two years I was
assigned a mission to get close to Nizam al-Mulk, to infiltrate his