‘Terken Khatoun asked me today if her 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 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.’