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Think also on the nature of the paradise Muhammad in his ignorance promises
his followers
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Why do you not speak? Da ud ibn Zubayr demanded. You let this man slander
and distort everything in which we believe.
Hush, Jalal ad-Din said again.
rivers of water and milk, honey and wine, and men reclining on silken
couches and being served served in all ways, including pandering to their
fleshly lusts (as if souls could have such concerns!) by females created
especially for the purpose. Paul paused, needing a moment to draw in another
indignant breath. Such carnal indulgences nay, excesses have no place in
heaven, excellent khan.
No? What does, then? Telerikh asked.
Awe transfigured the monk s thin, ascetic face as he looked within himself at
the afterlife he envisioned. Heaven, excellent khan, does not consist of
banquets and wenches: those are for gluttons and sinners in this life, and
lead to hell in the next. No: paradise is spiritual in nature, with the soul
knowing the eternal joy of closeness and unity with God, peace of spirit and
absence of all care. That is the true meaning of heaven.
Amen, Theodore intoned piously. All three Christians made the sign of the
cross over their breasts.
That is the true meaning of heaven, you say? Telerikh s blunt-featured face
was impassive as his gaze swung toward Jalal ad-Din. Now you may speak as you
will, man of the caliph. Has this
Christian told accurately of the world to come in his faith and in yours?
He has, magnificent khan. Jalal ad-Din spread his hands and smiled at the
Bulgar lord. I leave it to you, sir, to pick the paradise you would sooner
inhabit.
Telerikh looked thoughtful. The Christian clerics expressions went from
confident to concerned to horrified as they gradually began to wonder, as
Jalal ad-Din had already, just what sort of heaven a barbarian prince might
enjoy.
Da ud ibn Zubayr gently thumped Jalal ad-Din on the back. I abase myself
before you, sir, he said, flowery in apology as Arabs so often were. You saw
further than I. Jalal ad-Din bowed on his bench, warmed by the praise.
His voice urgent, the priest Niketas spoke up: Excellent khan, you need to
consider one thing more before you make your choice.
Eh? And what might that be? Telerikh sounded distracted. Jalal ad-Din hoped
he was; the delights of the Muslim paradise were worth being distracted about.
Paul s version, on the other hand, struck him as a boring way to spend
eternity. But the khan, worse luck, was not altogether ready to abandon
Christianity on account of that. Jalal ad-Din saw him focus his attention on
Niketas. Go on, priest.
Thank you, excellent khan. Niketas bowed low. Think on this, then: in
Christendom the most holy Pope is the leader of all things spiritual, true,
but there are many secular rulers, each to his own state: the Lombard dukes,
the king of the Franks, the Saxon and Angle kings in Britain, the various
Irish princes, every one a free man. But Islam knows only once prince, the
caliph, who reigns over all Muslims. If you decide to worship Muhammad, where
is there room for you as ruler of your own
Bulgaria?
No one worships Muhammad, Jalal ad-Din said tartly. He is a prophet, not a
god. Worship
Allah, who alone deserves it.
His correction of the minor point did not distract Telerikh from the major
one. Is what the
Christian says true? the khan demanded. Do you expect me to bend the knee to
your khan as well as your god? Why should I freely give Abd ar-Rahman what he
has never won in battle?
Jalal ad-Din thought furiously, all the while damning Niketas. Priest,
celibate the man might be, but he still thought like a Greek, like a Roman
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Emperor of Constantinople, sowing distrust among his foes so they defeated
themselves when his own strength did not suffice to beat them.
Well, Arab, what have you to say? Telerikh asked again.
Jalal ad-Din felt sweat trickle into his beard. He knew he had let silence
stretch too long. At last, picking his words carefully, he answered,
Magnificent khan, what Niketas says is not true. Aye, the caliph Abd
ar-Rahman, peace be unto him, rules all the land of Islam. But he does so by
right of conquest and right of descent, just as you rule the Bulgars. Were
you, were your people, to become
Muslim without warfare, he would have no more claim on you than any brother in
Islam has on another.
He hoped he was right, and that the jurists would not make a liar of him once
he got back to
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