“Sir, I haven’t come here to engage in religious disputes with you. I have brought you the order of His Excellency, my master the emir Arslan Tash, and I await your response.”
“Why are you being evasive, friend? Don’t you care whether you’re fighting for a true prophet or not?”
“I’m not fighting for any prophet. I simply serve His Majesty.”
“Those are exactly the words of the men who fought in the service of other rulers against the Prophet. Which is why they met with destruction.”
Abu Jafar stubbornly looked at the ground. He remained silent.
Hasan turned toward Yusuf and Suleiman. They stood as if bolted to the foot of the steps, gazing at him with gleaming eyes. He descended partway down the steps toward them, reached inside his cloak, and pulled out a bracelet.
“Do you recognize this bracelet, Suleiman?”
Suleiman went as white as a sheet. Froth gathered at the corners of his mouth. In a voice quavering with mindless bliss, he murmured, “I do, master.”
“Go and return it to its owner.”
Suleiman’s knees went weak. Hasan reached inside his cloak again. This time he brought forth a pellet, which he handed Suleiman.
“Swallow it,” he ordered.
Then he turned to Yusuf.
“Would you be happy, Yusuf, if I sent you along with Suleiman?”
“Oh… Sayyiduna.”
Yusuf’s eyes shone with happiness. Hasan handed him a pellet too.
The emir’s emissaries watched this scene with growing trepidation. Soon they noticed both youths getting a remote, absent look in their eyes, as though they were looking at a completely foreign world that was invisible to the others.
Abu Jafar asked timidly, “What does all this mean, sir?”
“You’ll see. I’m telling you, open your eyes. Because what is about to happen has never before happened in the history of mankind.”
Then he solemnly straightened up and spoke in a deep voice.
“Yusuf! Zuleika is waiting for you in paradise. Do you see that tower? Run to the top of it and jump off. You’ll fall into her embrace.”
Yusuf’s face shone with happiness. From the moment he swallowed the pellet, he was at peace again as he had not been for a long time. A marvelous, blissful peace. Everything was exactly as it had been when he and his two friends had originally set out for paradise. As soon as he registered Hasan’s command, he turned on his heels and raced toward the tower with the dovecotes.
Then, amidst a tomblike silence, Hasan turned to face Suleiman.
“Do you have your dagger with you, Suleiman?”
“Here it is, Sayyiduna.”
The three emissaries instinctively reached for their sabers. But Hasan shook his head and smiled at them.
“Take the bracelet! Thrust the dagger into your heart, and in just a moment you’ll be able to return it to its owner.”
Suleiman clutched with wild joy at the bracelet. He held it to his chest, while with the other hand he plunged the dagger into his heart. Still radiant with happiness, with a sigh of relief he collapsed to the ground at the foot of the steps.
The three emissaries and everyone else who was standing close by froze in horror.
Pale and with a tired smile, Hasan pointed toward the body.
“Go take a close look,” he told the emissaries.
After some hesitation, they obeyed. The dagger was planted up to the hilt in the youth’s body. A thin stream of blood soaked his white clothing. Even in death his face was still radiant with bliss.
Abu Jafar drew his hand across his eyes.
“O all-merciful Allah!” he moaned.
Hasan nodded to a eunuch to spread a coat over the body. Then he turned and pointed toward the tower.
“Look up there!”
Out of breath, Yusuf had just then reached the top of the tower. His heart was pounding in his chest. Dumbfounded, the guards on the tower platform remained motionless. He raced up onto the battlements. Below he saw a sea of palaces, towers and cupolas, all in the most vivid colors.
“I’m an eagle. At last, I’m an eagle again,” he whispered.
He waved his arms and actually felt that he’d grown wings. With a powerful leap he soared into the abyss.
His heavy body crashed to the ground with a dull thud.
The horses standing nearby neighed wildly and backed off. They jostled with each other and caused disorder in the ranks. Their riders had a hard time calming them down.
“Go on over and have a look at the body,” Hasan told the emissaries.
“We’ve seen enough,” Abu Jafar replied. His voice was still as faint as before.
“Well then, Abu Jafar. Report what you’ve seen here as my response to your master. And be sure to tell him this: though your army may number thirty thousand men, no two of them are the equal of these. As for the threat of the grand vizier, tell him I know something very important about him that he’ll only find out six or possibly even twelve days from now. When that happens, make sure he remembers me and my message… Farewell!”
He ordered the emissaries’ horses brought out. Abu Jafar and his aides bowed low. Hasan dismissed the assembled troops. His guards carried off the bodies. Then, with his entourage, he returned to his tower.
Overwhelmed by this horrible spectacle, the men returned to their duties. For quite a while no one found words to express his thoughts and feelings. Only gradually did the Ismailis’ tongues loosen.
“It’s true! Sayyiduna is master over life and death for his subjects. He has the power to send whomever he wants to paradise.”
“If he ordered you, would you stab yourself?”
“I’d do it.”
Their eyes gleamed feverishly with a horrible fear and a passion to prove themselves to Sayyiduna, to the other Ismailis and the whole world.
“Did you see how their emissaries went pale? How timid Abu Jafar suddenly got?”
“There isn’t a ruler who’s a match for Sayyiduna.”
“Did you hear him refer to himself as the new prophet?”
“Didn’t we know that already?”
“But in that case how can he serve the Egyptian caliph?”
“Maybe it’s the other way around.”
The fedayeen instinctively gathered in their usual place atop the wall. They stared at each other, pale-faced, none of them daring to speak first.
Finally Obeida broke the silence.
“Suleiman and Yusuf are lost to us now,” he said. “We’ll never see them in this world again.”
Naim’s eyes teared up.
“Do you know that for sure?”
“Didn’t you see the eunuchs carry their bodies away?”
“Are they in paradise now?”
Obeida gave a cautious smirk.
“They sure seemed to be convinced of it.”
“And you aren’t?” ibn Vakas asked.
“Sayyiduna said so. I can’t doubt it.”
“It would be a crime to doubt,” Jafar added seriously.
“It feels like everything is empty now that we’ve lost them,” ibn Vakas said disconsolately. “First ibn Tahir left us, and now them.”
“What’s happened to ibn Tahir? What’s keeping him? Is he in paradise now too?” Naim asked.
“Only Allah and Sayyiduna can say,” ibn Vakas replied.
“It would be so good to see him again,” Naim said.
“I’m afraid he’s taken the same path as his traveling companions,” Obeida suggested.
“The strangest thing, Your Excellency,” Captain Abu Jafar told the emir Arslan Tash on returning from Alamut to camp, “is not that the youths carried out their master’s order so quickly. After all, what other choice did they have with such a cruel commander? What amazed us most—horrified us, even—was the unthinking joy with which they leapt at death. If Your Excellency could have seen how blissfully their eyes shone when he announced they would be going straight to paradise when they died! Not even the shadow of a doubt could have troubled their hearts. Their faith that they would return to the paradise they had already been in once before must have been more solid than the cliffs beneath Alamut. My aides can confirm all of this for you.”