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diwan
in order
to protect our Ismaili brothers in difficulty. Thus I left Rayy for Isfahan and
stopped 
en route
at a caravansaray in Kashan. Finding myself alone in my small
room, I was in the middle of wondering how I get close to the Grand Vizir when
the door opened and who should enter but Khayyam, the great Khayyam whom
heaven sent to me there to facilitate my mission.’
Omar was dumbstruck.
‘To think that Nizam al-Mulk asked me whether you were an Ismaili and I
replied that I did not think so!’
‘You did not lie. You did not know. Now you do.’
He broke off.
‘You have not offered me anything to eat?’
Omar opened the door, called the servant, ordered her to bring some dishes
and then continued his questioning:
‘And you have been wandering about for seven years dressed as a Sufi?’
‘I have wandered about much. When I left Isfahan I was pursued by agents of
Nizam who were after my life. I shook them off at Qom where some friends hid
me and then I continued my journey to Rayy where I met an Ismaili who
suggested that I go to Egypt, to the missionary school where he had studied. I
made a detour through Azerbaijan before going on to Damascus. I was planning
to travel to Cairo on the land route, but there was fighting between the Turks and
the Maghrebis around Jerusalem and I had to turn back and take the coastal route
through Beirut, Sidon, Tyre and Acre where I found a place on a boat. Upon my
arrival in Alexandria I was received as a high-ranking Emir. A reception
committee was waiting for me, headed by Abu Daud, the paramount chief of the
missionaries.’
The servant had come in and placed some bowls on the carpet. Hassan started
a prayer which he broke off when she left the room.
‘I spent two years in Cairo. There were several dozens of us at the missionary
school, but only a handful of us were destined to be active outside Fatimid
territory.’
He avoided giving out too many details. It is known however, from various
sources, that courses were held in two different places: the principles of the faith

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were revealed by the 
ulema
in the university of Al-Azhar, and missionary
propaganda was taught within the Caliphal palace. It was the chief missionary
himself, a high ranking official of the Fatimid court, who revealed to the
students the methods of persuasion, the art of developing a line of argument and
of addressing reason instead of aiming for the heart. It was also he who made
them memorise the secret code they had to use in their communications. At the
end of every session, the students came to kneel before the chief missionary who
passed over their heads a document bearing the signature of the Imam. Then
another, shorter, session would be held for the women.
‘In Egypt I received all the instruction I needed.’
‘Did you not tell me, one day, that you already knew everything at the age of
seventeen?’ Khayyam said mockingly.
‘By the age of seventeen I had accumulated information, then I learnt how to
believe. In Cairo I learnt how to convert.’
‘What do you say to those whom you are trying to convert?’
‘I tell them that faith is nothing without a master to teach it. When we
proclaim: “There is no God but God,” we immediately add “And Mohammed is
his Messenger.” Why? Because it would make no sense to state that there is only
one God if we do not quote the source, that is to say the name of the man who
brought us this truth. But this man, this Messenger, this Prophet, has been dead a
long time and how can we know that he existed and that he spoke as was
reported. I, who like you have read Plato and Aristotle, need proof.’
‘What sort of proof? Can one find proof for those things?’
‘For you Sunnites there is effectively no proof. You think that Mohammed
died without appointing an heir, that he just left the Muslims to their own
devices to be governed by the strongest and wiliest. That is absurd. We think that
the Messenger of God named a successor as a depository for his secrets: the
Imam Ali, his son-in-law, his cousin and almost his brother. In his turn, Ali
designated a successor. The line of legitimate Imams was thus perpetuated, and
through them, the proof of the message of Mohammed and of the existence of a
single God was passed down.’
‘I cannot see, in what you say, how you differ from other Shiites.’
‘The difference between my faith and that of my parents is great. They
always taught me that we must submit patiently to the power of our enemies
while waiting for the hidden Imam to return and establish the rule of justice on
earth and reward the true believers. My own conviction is that we must act
immediately to prepare by any means for the advent of our Imam in this country.

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I am the Precursor, he who will smooth the way in preparation for the Mahdi.
You surely are aware that the Prophet spoke of me?’
‘Of you, Hassan son of Ali Sabbah, native of Qom?’
‘Did he not say: ‘A man will come from Qom. He will call upon the people
to follow the straight path. Men will gather around him, like spearheads.
Tempestuous winds will not be able to scatter them, nor will they tire of war or
become weakened but they will rely upon God.”’
‘I do not know that quote even though I have read the certified collections of
tradition.’
‘You have read the collections which you want. The Shiites have other
collections.’
‘And they speak of you?’
‘Soon you will have no doubt about it.’

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