The Islam Quintet

by Tariq Ali

  ‘How did it come to pass that of all of them I alone am still alive?’

  He repeated this phrase over and over again. He did not know how or when he fell asleep or when the cursed dawn announced a new day.

  Since the moment Ibn Basit had told him that he had seen a force of several hundred Christian soldiers outside al-Hudayl, Zuhayr had almost killed his mare by riding without stop till he reached the approaches to the village. Deep lines marked his face, descending from the side of his eyes to the edge of his lips. His eyes, usually black and shining, seemed colourless and dull in their deep hollows. Two months of fighting had aged him a great deal. It was a clear night as Zuhayr galloped through the gorse, his thoughts not on his men, but on his family and his home.

  ‘Peace be upon you, Zuhayr bin Umar!’ cried a voice.

  Zuhayr reined in his horse. It was a messenger-spy from Abu Zaid.

  ‘I am in a hurry, brother.’

  ‘I wanted to warn you before you reached al-Hudayl. There is nothing left, Zuhayr bin Umar. The Christians are in their cups and telling anyone in Gharnata who will listen to them. They are senseless tonight.’

  ‘Peace be upon you, my friend,’ said Zuhayr looking blankly into the distance. ‘I will go and see for myself.’

  Within fifteen minutes he had reached al-Zindiq’s cave, half-hoping, half-praying that the old man would be there to calm his fears. It was deserted. Al-Zindiq’s manuscripts and paper were lying there, neatly tied into bundles, as if the old man were preparing to leave forever. Zuhayr rested for a few minutes and gave the horse some water. Then he rode on. He pulled in the horse as he rounded a spur of hillside and looked upward in the familiar direction. The pale light of dawn shone upon charred remains. He rode in a trance towards the house. The worst was true. When he saw the ruins from a distance, his first thought was of revenge. ‘I will seek them out and kill them one by one. I swear on my brother’s head before Allah that I will avenge this crime.’

  As he rode into the courtyard he saw his father’s head mounted on a pike stuck firmly in the ground. Zuhayr jumped off the horse and removed the pike. Gently he looked his father in the face. He took the head to the stream and washed the blood off the hair and face. Then he took it to the graveyard and began to dig the earth with his bare hands. In his frenzy he did not notice a spade lying a few feet away. After he had buried his father, he walked back into the courtyard and saw, for the first time, the Dwarf swaying gently with Yazid in his arms. For a second Zuhayr’s heart leaped into his mouth. Was Yazid alive, after all? Then he saw his brother’s still face, bloody at the edges.

  ‘Dwarf! Dwarf! Are you alive? Wake up, man!’

  Startled, the Dwarf opened his eyes. His arms were as stiff as Yazid’s body cradled within them. On seeing Zuhayr, the Dwarf began to wail. Zuhayr embraced the cook and gently took Yazid’s body from him. He kissed his dead brother’s cheeks.

  ‘I have buried my father’s head. Let us bathe Yazid and put him to rest.’

  Gently, they undressed the body and bathed it in the stream. Then they lifted Yazid and took him to the family graveyard. It was when he was under the ground and after they had refilled the grave with freshly dug earth that Zuhayr, who had displayed superhuman calm, broke down and screamed. The unblocked anguish released the tears. It was as if rain had fallen on Yazid’s grave.

  The two men embraced each other and sat down on the grassy knoll, near the new graves.

  ‘I want to know everything, Dwarf. Every single detail. Anything that you can recall I must know.’

  ‘If only I were dead and Yazid alive. Why should I be still alive?’

  ‘I am happy that anyone survives. Tell me what happened.’

  The Dwarf began his account and did not pause till he reached the stage where he had let go of Yazid. Then he began to wail and pull out his hair. Zuhayr stroked his face.

  ‘I know, I know, but it is over.’

  ‘That is not the worst of it. He had left the cover slightly open and I heard them grab him and begin their questions. How proud you would have been if you had heard him reply to their captain, that prince of evil who was intent on murdering us all from the very beginning.’

  After the Dwarf had finished his story, Zuhayr sat with his head between his hands for a long time.

  ‘Everything is finished here. They have eclipsed our moon forever. Let us go away. It is no longer safe.’

  The Dwarf shook his head.

  ‘I was born in this village. My son fell here, defending your palace. I, too, wish to die here, and I feel that it will not be long. You are still young, but I have no desire to live any longer. Leave me alone and let me die in peace.’

  ‘Dwarf, I was born here as well. Too many have died here already. Why add to their number? Besides I have a task which only you can accomplish. I need you.’

  ‘While I am here, I am at your service.’

  ‘I will take you to the coast and put you on a boat destined for Tanja. From there, make your way to Fes and seek out Ibn Daud and my sister. I will write a letter to her and you can tell her whatever she wishes to know.’

  At this the Dwarf began to weep once again.

  ‘Have pity on me, Zuhayr bin Umar. How can I face the Lady Hind? With which mouth should I say that I let her Yazid die? It is cruel to send me to her. Let me go to the Lady Kulthum in Ishbiliya. You should go to Fes and live there. They will not let you live on this peninsula.’

  ‘I know my sister Hind very well. More so than even she understands. It is only you she will want to hear, Dwarf. She will feel the need for someone from the house to remain at her side. Otherwise she will go insane. Will you not do this as a last favour for the Banu Hudayl?’

  The Dwarf knew he was defeated.

  ‘My father said that there were a few bags of gold always kept in the vaults. We had better take them with us. I will use them to fight our wars, and you take one for the journey and to set yourself up in Fes.’

  Once the five leather bags containing gold coins had been uncovered, Zuhayr saddled his horse and rounded up another for the Dwarf. He adjusted the stirrups to accommodate the man’s short legs. As they rode away from the house and left the village behind them, Zuhayr broke his silence.

  ‘Let us not stop and look at it again, Dwarf. Let us remember it as it used to be. Remember?’

  The cook did not reply. He did not speak till they reached the coastal town of al-Gezira. They found a boat which was departing early the next morning and booked a passage on it for the Dwarf. After a brief search they found a comfortable funduq, which provided them with a room and two beds. As they went to bed, the Dwarf spoke for the first time since they had left the forecourt of the house in al-Hudayl.

  ‘I will never forget the fire or the groans and screams. Nor can I forget the look on the face of Yazid after the savages had killed him. That is why I cannot remember the more distant past.’

  ‘I know, but that is the only past I want to remember.’

  Zuhayr began to write his letter to Hind. He gave her an account of his duel with Don Alonso and its tragic consequences. He described the destruction of the village and the house and he appealed to her never to return:

  How lucky you were to find a man as worthy of you and as farsighted as Ibn Daud. I think he knew a long time ago that we would lose our battle against time. The old man who brings this to you is full of remorse for the crime of being alive. Look after him well.

  I have been thinking of you a great deal over the last few days and I wish we had spoken more to each other when we lived in the same house. I will confess to you that one part of me wanted to come to Fes with the old man. To see you and Ibn Daud. To watch you bear children, and to be their uncle. To begin a new life away from the tortures and deaths which have taken over this peninsula. And yet there is another part of me which says that I cannot desert my comrades in the midst of these horrors. They rely on me. Mother and you always thought that I was weak-willed, readily convinced of anything and
incapable of firmness. You were probably right, but I think I have changed a great deal. Because the others depend on me I have to wear a mask, and this mask has become so much a part of me that it is difficult to tell which is my real face.

  I will return to the al-Pujarras, where we control dozens of villages and where we live as we used to before the Reconquest. Abu Zaid al-Ma’ari, an old man you would like very much, is convinced that they will not let us live here for much longer. He says that it is not the conversion of our souls which they desire, but our wealth, and that the only way they can take over our lands is by obliterating us forever. If he is correct then we are doomed to extinction whatever we do. In the meanwhile we will carry on fighting. I am sending you all the papers of our old al-Zindiq. Look after them well and let me know what Ibn Daud thinks of their contents.

  If you want to reach me, and I insist you let me know when your first child is born, the best way is to send a message to our uncle in Gharnata. And one more thing, Hind. I know that from now till I die, I will weep for my dead brother and our parents every day. No mask I wear can change that in me.

  Your brother,

  Zuhayr.

  The Dwarf had not been able to sleep for more than a couple of hours. When dawn finally came he rose and left the room for his ablutions. When he returned, Zuhayr was sitting up in bed, looking at the morning light coming through the window.

  ‘Peace be upon you, old friend.’

  The Dwarf looked at him in horror. Overnight, Zuhayr’s hair had turned white. Nothing was said. Zuhayr had noticed the box containing Yazid’s chess pieces amongst the Dwarfs belongings.

  ‘He left them with me when he went up to see if he could find the Lady Zubayda.’ The Dwarf began to weep. ‘I thought the Lady Hind might like them for her children.’

  Zuhayr smiled, biting back the tears.

  An hour later, the Dwarf had embarked on a merchant vessel. Zuhayr was on the shore, waving farewell.

  ‘Allah protect you, Zuhayr al-Fahl!’ the Dwarf shouted in his old voice.

  ‘He never does,’ Zuhayr told himself.

  EPILOGUE

  TWENTY YEARS LATER, THE victor of al-Hudayl, now at the height of his powers and universally regarded as one of the most experienced military leaders of the Catholic kingdom of Spain, disembarked from his battleship on a shore thousands of miles away from his native land. He strapped on the old helmet which he had never changed, though he had been presented with two made from pure silver. In addition, he now wore a beard, whose redness was the cause of many a ribald jest. His two aides, now captains in their own right, had accompanied him on this mission.

  The expedition travelled for many weeks through marshes and thick forests. When he reached his destination, the captain was greeted by ambassadors of the local ruler, attired in robes of the most unexpected colours. Gifts were exchanged. Then he was escorted to the palace of the king.

  The city was built on water. Not even in his dreams had the captain imagined it could be anything like this. Boats ferried people from one part of the city to another.

  ‘Do you know what they call this remarkable place?’ he asked, to test his aide, as the boat carrying them docked at the palace.

  ‘Tenochtitlan is the name of the city and Moctezuma is the king.’

  ‘Much wealth went into its construction,’ said the captain.

  ‘They are a very rich nation, Captain Cortes,’ came the reply.

  The captain smiled.

  Glossary

  Abu Father

  Ama Nurse

  al-Andalus Moorish Spain

  al-Hama Alhama

  al-Hamra the Alhambra

  al-Jazira Algeciras

  al-Mariya Almeria

  al-Qahira Cairo

  bab gate

  Balansiya Valencia

  Dimashk Damascus

  faqih religious scholars or experts

  funduq hostels for travelling merchants

  Gharnata Granada

  hadith sayings of the Prophet Mohammed

  hammam public baths

  Iblis devil; leader of the fallen angels

  Ishbiliya Seville

  Iskanderiya Alexandria

  jihad holy war

  Kashtalla Castile

  khutba Friday sermon

  madresseh religious schools

  Malaka Malaga

  maristan hospital/asylum for the sick and the insane

  qadi magistrate

  Qurtuba Cordoba

  riwaq students’ quarters

  Rumi Roman

  Sarakusta Zaragoza

  Tanja Tangier

  Tulaytula Toledo

  Ummi Mother

  zajal popular strophic poems composed impromptu in the colloquial Arabic of al-Andalus and handed down orally since the tenth century

  The Book of Saladin

  Book Two of the Islam Quintet

  Tariq Ali

  For

  Robin Blackburn

  Contents

  Explanatory Note

  CAIRO

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  DAMASCUS

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  JERUSALEM

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY-ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  THIRTY-THREE

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THIRTY-SIX

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  LETTERS TO IBN MAYMUN

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  THIRTY-NINE

  FORTY

  FORTY-ONE

  FORTY-TWO

  Glossary

  The Near East in the late twelfth century

  Explanatory Note

  ANY FICTIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF the life of a historical figure poses a problem for the writer. Should actual historical evidence be disregarded in the interests of a good story? I think not. In fact the more one explores the imagined inner life of the characters, the more important it becomes to remain loyal to historical facts and events, even in the case of the Crusades, where Christian and Muslim chroniclers often provided different interpretations of what actually happened.

  The fall of Jerusalem to the First Crusade in 1099 stunned the world of Islam, which was at the peak of its achievements. Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad were large cities with a combined population of over two million—advanced urban civilisation at a time when the citizens of London and Paris numbered less than fifty thousand in each case. The Caliph in Baghdad was shaken by the ease with which the barbarian tide had overwhelmed the armies of Islam. It was to be a long occupation.

  Salah al-Din (Saladin to Western ears) was the Kurdish warrior who regained Jerusalem in 1187. The principal male characters of this story are based on historical personages. They include Salah al-Din himself, his brothers, father, uncle and nephews. Ibn Maymun is the great Jewish physician-philosopher, Maimonides. The narrator and Shadhi are my creations, for whom I accept full responsibility.

  The women—Jamila, Halima and all the others—have all been imagined. Women are a subject on which medieval history is usually silent. Salah al-Din, we are told, had sixteen sons, but nothing has been written about their sisters or mothers.

  The Caliph was the spiritual and temporal ruler during the early days of Islam. He was elected by acclamation by the early Companions of the Prophet. Fac
tional disputes within Islam led to rival claims, and the birth of the Shiite tendency split the political heirs of Mohammed. The Sunni Muslims acknowledged the Caliph in Baghdad, but civil war and Shiite successes led to the establishment of a Fatimid Caliph in Cairo, while the Sunni faction displaced by the Abbasids reached its zenith by establishing a Caliphate in Cordoba in Muslim Spain.

  Salah al-Din’s victory in Egypt led to the dissolution of the Fatimid dynasty and brought the entire Arab region under the nominal sovereignty of the Caliph of Baghdad. Salah al-Din was appointed Sultan (King) of Syria and Egypt and became the most powerful leader of the medieval Arab world. The Caliphate in Baghdad was finally destroyed by Mongol armies in 1258, and ceased to exist until its revival in Ottoman Turkey.

  Tariq Ali

  June 1998

  CAIRO

  ONE

  On the recommendation of Ibn Maymun, I become the Sultan’s trusted scribe

  I HAVE NOT THOUGHT of our old home for many years. It is a long time now since the fire. My house, my wife, my daughter, my two-year-old grandson—all trapped inside like caged animals. If fate had not willed otherwise, I too would have been reduced to ashes. How often have I wished that I could have been there to share the agony.

  These are painful memories. I keep them submerged. Yet today, as I begin to write this story, the image of that domed room where everything once began is strong in me again. The caves of our memory are extraordinary. Things that are long forgotten remain hidden in dark corners, suddenly to emerge into the light. I can see everything now. It comes to my mind clearly, as if time itself had stopped still.

  It was a cold night of the Cairo winter, in the year 1181 according to the Christian calendar. The mewing of cats was the only noise from the street outside. Rabbi Musa ibn Maymun, an old friend of our family as well as its self-appointed physician, had arrived at my house on his way back from attending to the Kadi al-Fadil, who had been indisposed for several days.

  We had finished eating and were sipping our mint tea in silence, surrounded by thick, multi-coloured woollen rugs, strewn with cushions covered in silk and satin. A large round brazier, filled with charcoal, glowed in the centre of the room, giving off gentle waves of heat. Reclining on the floor, we could see the reflection of the fire in the dome above, making it appear as if the night sky itself were alight.