Tree of Pearls, Queen of Egypt

The Truth

 The Truth rukn al-din was escorted into Mu’ayyid al-Din’s private chambers and found the Minister, who had arrived, himself, but a few moments earlier, restlessly pacing the room with furrowed brow and an expression of the greatest distress on his face. Sahban sat silently by, waiting for the Minister to acknowledge his presence with a word. Mu’ayyid al-Din nodded at Rukn al-Din to be seated and, coming to an abrupt halt before him, finally spoke. “Oh Prince, fate shall now take its course!” Sahban leaned forward eagerly. “What mean you by this, my Lord?” Mu’ayyid al-Din turned upon him. “It shall take the course that you have long desired, and not the one for which I had hoped, nor Prince Rukn al-Din,” he cried bitterly. “My Lord, I beg you to explain these grave words,” Rukn al-Din said. “I was unable to persuade Hulagu to preserve the Abbasid Caliphate. He is intent upon its destruction.” “Its destruction?” Rukn al-Din cried, aghast. “Does he intend to kill every last Abbasid?” “This is indeed what his tone and manner implied, though his words affirmed the opposite.” The revelation was like music to Sahban’s ears, and he chuckled softly to himself, as does one who cannot believe his sudden good fortune . “You laugh because you consider not the consequences,” Mu’ayyid al-Din sternly upbraided him. “If the Abbasid Caliphate ceases to be, Islam itself shall vanish from these lands.” “Nonsense!” Sahban declared. “We shall reconstitute the Caliphate.” “You are a fool and a knave!” Mu’ayyid al-Din cried impatiently. “If you hope to restore the Fatimid state, you hope for the impossible and would resurrect the dead.” Sahban fell into a sullen silence at this stinging rebuke, but he continued to  | tree of pearls, queen of egypt gloat in his heart over what he perceived to be a great Shi‘ite victory. Meanwhile, Mu’ayyid al-Din turned his attention back to Rukn al-Din. “You have kept your silence, Rukn al-Din,” he remarked. “I would have your opinion.” “If this tyrant truly intends to destroy the Abbasid line, he shall cause a breach in the Empire of Islam that shall be most difficult to repair. But why, then, did you tell the Caliph that Hulagu intends to spare him?” he added. “This was Hulagu’s pledge to me,” Mu’ayyid al-Din moodily replied. “I do not trust him, however, for his eyes spoke otherwise. He has given me his ensigns and has urged me to hang them from the doors of homes that I would protect, and particularly those of the Shi‘ite quarters of the city. His men will respect them as tokens of amnesty. Does this not prove his true intentions?” he demanded, as if to himself. “In any case, we must prepare for the worst.” He walked to the far end of the room and returned with a number of yellow banners on each of which a red dagger had been painted. He gave one to Rukn al-Din. “Take this. You may have need of it.” He then gave the rest to Sahban. “Hang these at the entrance of our people’s quarters in Karkh and Qadhimiyya. Be discreet, so that none shall notice what you do.” Rukn al-Din folded the banner that Mu’ayyid al-Din had given him and reluctantly tucked it underneath his cloak. The thought of using it was repugnant to him, for he was a valiant and battle-hardened warrior whose doughty sword spoke for him and his men. But he was also a pragmatist and knew the importance of giving every situation its due. He took his leave soon thereafter, lost in a welter of turbulent thoughts. ‘Abid brought him his horse, and he mounted with no particular destination in mind. Then it occurred to him that he would do well to seek out Sallafa for one last and decisive interview. On the way to her residence, he carefully reconsidered his own ambitions in light of Mu’ayyid al-Din’s awful revelation of Hulagu’s true intentions. Such is the nature of all men and women in all times and places. Those fine words that describe the virtues and that flow so easily from the pens of poets—generosity, kindness, unity, courage, charity, and so forth—are most often nothing but so many different terms that revolve around a single...