MY COMMENTS :
In the work, which is one of Amin Maalouf's cult novels, the events related to the lives of historical figures named Ömer Khayyam, Hasan Sabbah and Nizamülmülk are discussed in a fictional narrative.
The work, which begins with Ömer Khayyam's arrival in Samarkand, is primarily about his meeting with the judge named Ebu Tahir. Since the influence of the Seljuk State was expanding in this period, one day they went to greet Nizam al-Mulk and the vizier told him that they would meet in a year. On the way to the meeting, Ömer Hayyam met Hasan Sabbah on the road and they met without knowing that he was also going to Nizamülmülk. Hasan Sabbah, who made himself stand out with his intelligence, wanted to overthrow the vizier with the support of Melikşah after he quickly rose in the ranks of the state officials. However, as a result of the trick played by the vizier, he managed to save his head thanks to Omar Khayyam.
After this process, Sabbah, who captured the famous Alamut Castle and founded the sect known today as the Assassins, began to specifically train his disciples and increase his number of subjects. Taking advantage of the rift between Melikşah and the vizier as a result of the power struggle, Sabbah had Nizamülmülk killed by one of his famous assassins. Afterwards, Melikşah's death was caused by poisoning by Nizamiye soldiers who were loyal to Nizamülmülk. Later, although Sabbah had power in the region, Hasan Sabbah could not resist the Mongol invasions and was killed.
Omar Khayyam, from the very beginning, always made it his motto to stay away from the palace and politics as much as possible and focus on art and science. However, at some point, after the murder of Melikşah, he had to escape from the palace and the manuscript was kidnapped by Sabbah. The author, who portrays Omar Khayyam as the main character in the work and claims that his views on Islam are the ideal Islam, has the ability to persuade a reader who has not read the author's work, Ruba'is. However, it should be stated that Omer Khayyam had scientific theories that were far ahead of his time in many areas and that he had very advanced knowledge, especially in the fields of geometry and astrology. As can be seen in the following paragraphs, it can be said that the understanding of Islam described by the author contains important clues about the understanding of Islam that the West wants to see and dominate.
While the first parts of the work are about a historical novel about Iran and the Turkish states a thousand years ago, the second part is about how a fictional character who wrote this story obtained this information. To summarize briefly, the manuscript, which was initially found in the possession of some Iranian assassins after the death of Hasan Sabbah, was examined by Mr. Lesage, who characterizes the author, thanks to the Iranian Princess he fell in love with, and managed to lead to an important love story between them. However, due to the events that took place during the period of destruction of the Iranian government, the manuscript was last described as lost.
In the work, the author makes observations about many civilizations and their dynamics, and as expected, the civilization that he treated most harshly was the Turkish civilization. Although it is stated by the author that people of all races and beliefs were brought together in the Seljuk state, it has been claimed that the real people who ruled the country were never Turks. This was sometimes portrayed as a duty performed by Terken Hatun, Melikşah's mother, and sometimes as a duty performed by the vizier and Iranian origin Nizamülmülk. Moreover, the fact that the author, who also provides some information about the reign of Abdulhamid, does not touch upon any other issues other than the allegations of the sultan's cruelty and madness, clearly reveals his approach to the Turkish states. It is necessary to leave the comments about the administration of a civilization that created three world rulers by designing many races and understandings to live together, with the help of side figures, and the effectiveness of the Turkish rulers being almost ignored, to the readers of the work.
In addition to his view on the Turks, it should be known that the author's curiosity about Iran, that is, Persian civilization, is at the highest level. Moreover, it should be stated that some of the sociological findings he made in his work are valid even today for Turkey, Iran's Muslim neighbor. Since the elements written in the quotations section regarding this subject will strengthen the narrative, they will not be detailed here.
As a result, the work definitely deserves to be considered as one of the important novels of the new period, both with its fictional aspect and sociological findings. However, it should be noted that it would be wrong to use it as a resource for those who want to enrich themselves with historical information.
MY QUOTES(*) :
Is there anyone in the world who does not sin, tell me; Tell me, is it possible to live without committing any sins? If you are going to call me bad and do evil, Almighty God, tell me how different you are from me.
Nothing, what they know is nothing, what they want to know is nothing, look and see these ignorant people, they have set up on top of the world, if you are not one of them, they will call the man an infidel, ignore them, Khayyam, follow your own path.
I have always stayed away from the busybodies of bigots, but I have never said that One is two.
Was it poverty that brought me to your presence? The poor are not the ones who know how to be content with little. I don't expect anything from you other than respect. If you know how to respect an honest and free person.
There is no neighbor from the sea, no friend from the ruler.
This is the law of science; There is no such law in poetry, it does not deny anything that came before it and is not denied by those that came after it, it passes the centuries in peace. That's why I write rubai.
In the following months, Khayyam attempted to write a very serious work dealing with third-degree equations. In this algebra work, Khayyam used the Arabic term "thing" to indicate the unknown number; This word, which was mentioned as Xay in the scientific works of the Spanish, was shortened over time and reduced to only its first letter, and then x became the symbol of the unknown number all over the world.
Every day someone comes out and starts to say "it's mine" and to boast about their gold and silver. Just when his affairs are in the order he wishes, death comes out of the ambush: "I am mine."
Don't be surprised by anything, truth and people have two faces.
During their first encounter with Hasan Sabbah, Ömer Hayyam said to Hasan, who expressed his reservations because his name was Ömer, " I will neither change my path because of my name nor my name because of my path ."
Ömer Khayyam " That peaceful age is passing by, I drink wine to forget it. Is it bitter? I like it that way, and the taste of my life is bitter ."
A legend circulates in the books. This legend tells about three Iranian friends, each of whom left their mark on the beginning of the millennium we are in: Omar Khayyam, who observes the world, Nizamulmulk, who rules that world, and Hasan Sabbah, who spreads terror to the world. It is rumored that they studied together in Nishapur. Of course, this cannot be true, because he is 30 years older than Ömer and Hasan completed his education in Rey, maybe he also took some lessons in Qom, the city where he was born, but he definitely did not go to school or madrasah in Nishapur. Was the truth in the Samarkand Scroll? According to the chronicle that fills the margins, the three men met for the first time in Isfahan, at the Vizier's council, at the initiative of Khayyam, a blind toy in the hands of fate.
Tell him that the skills needed to govern are not the same as those needed to be in power. The good conduct of affairs requires one to forget oneself and concern oneself only with others, especially with those most in need; However, in order to come to power, one must be the most greedy of people, think of nothing but himself, and be ready to crush even his closest friends.
Hasan Sabbah “ I come from a traditional Shiite family. I was always taught that Ismailis are heretics. Until I met an Ismaili dai... This dervish argued with me for a long time and shook my faith. When I decided not to talk to him for fear of giving in, I fell into bed. I became so seriously ill that I thought my last hour had come. I saw this as a sign, a sign from my Almighty Lord, and I vowed that if I survived, I would embrace the Ismaili faith. Of course, I kept my promise, took the oath of allegiance to the sect, and two years later they gave me a mission: I would go to Nizamulmulk and infiltrate his Council to protect our Ismaili brothers in a difficult situation. I left Rey and headed towards Isfahan and stopped at the Kashan caravanserai on the way. When I was alone in my small room, I was thinking about how to get in touch with the Vizier, when the door opened. Who do you think came in? Khayyam, the great Khayyam whom Allah sent there to me to make my task easier .”
Abu Tahir, “ Do you remember how the person named Face-faced Softa (the leader of the group who accused Ömer Khayyam of being an atheist at the beginning of the book and tried to kill him at the entrance of Samarkand) attacked him as if he were breaking his chains against the slightest suspicion of atheism? Yes, this man has been an Ismaili for three years and today he preaches sins with the same fanaticism as he defended the true faith yesterday. I have visited the Inn many times. You knew Nasser Khan, may God have mercy on him, I remember his name in every prayer I say, you saw his bouts of violence or generosity, how he blew and roared and then how quickly his anger calmed down. Today, power is in the hands of his nephew Ahmet; He is an immature, indecisive, unruly young man, I was confused about how to approach him. Then I had Façalı Surat followed and one day I had Hasan Sabbah identified and caught. Thereupon the khan asked me to bring him to him and asked me to open his mouth and the bonds of his legs. He wanted to bring the man back to the path of truth. At the end of his speeches, he himself became an Ismaili. The ruler of Samarkand, the ruler of Transoxiana, the heir of the Karakhanid dynasty, joined the heretics. Of course, he avoided explaining this and continued to act as if he was committed to the Way of Truth, but nothing was ever the same again. The Khan's advisors were replaced by Ismailis. The guard commanders who captured Sabbah were killed one after another. My guards were replaced by Facial Face's men. What else could I do? I set out with the first pilgrim caravan and ran to explain the situation to those who hold the sword of Islam, Nizamülmülk and Melikşah .”
Hasan was teaching his disciples: “ It is not enough to kill our enemies. We are not murderers, we are officials executing a sentence. We must carry out our actions in public places, in public, to set an example. Thus, when we kill one person, we spread terror to a hundred thousand people. However, it is not enough to execute and terrorize; it is also necessary to know how to die; Because by killing, we instill fear in our enemies and deter them from doing things against us, and by dying in the most courageous way, we gain the admiration of the crowd. And people from these crowds come and join us. Dying is more important than killing. We kill to defend ourselves, but we die to convince people and win. "Winning people is a goal, defending oneself is just a means ."
At the top of the hierarchy was Hasan Sabbah, the Sheikh, the Imam, the owner of all kinds of secrets. In his immediate circle there were a handful of propagandist dervishes, or dais, three of whom were the assistants of the Thing. One from Eastern Iran, Khorasan, Kuhistan and Transoxiana; the other from Western Iran and Iraq; The third was responsible for Syria. One step below them were the cadres of the movement, the refiks. Because they received the necessary training, they had the authority to command a castle or manage a city or state organization. The most talented ones were made into dai when the time came. Further down the hierarchy were the lesiks, that is, those affiliated with the organization. These were rank-and-file disciples with no special aptitude for knowledge or acts of violence. Among them were many shepherds from around Alamut, as well as many women and elderly people. Then it was the turn of the creators, those who responded, those who responded to the offer, that is, those who were candidates for membership in the organization. After the initial education they received, they were directed, depending on their abilities, to further education stages, either to become a refik, or to the mass of disciples, or to the category of sacrifices, the category that constituted the real power of Hasan Sabbah in the eyes of the Muslims living at that time.
The last time the Persian name found a place in the pages of the Annapolis Gazette and Herald was in 1856, when Cunard's pride, a transatlantic, the first metal-hulled paddle steamer, hit an iceberg. Seven sailors from our region lost their lives in this accident. The name of the unfortunate ship was Persia. Merpeople never make fun of signs of fate. For this reason, in the introduction of my article, I found it necessary to state that "Persia" is a misnomer, and that the Iranians call their country "Iran", which is a shortened version of a very old expression, Airania Vaeca, meaning Land of the Aryans.
“ We are really on a puppet stage: The puppeteer is Master Felek, and the puppets are us. We go out to play, one by two; "Is the game over? We are all at the ballot box ."
The USA, which is a young nation but an old democracy, and Iran, which is an ancient nation but a young democracy for thousands of years.
“ I, Şirin, who applauded the American when he first arrived, approved everything he did, and saw him as a kind of savior, now say, I wish he had stayed in that distant America and never come here .” “ What mistake did he commit ? “ He made no mistakes, and this is the clearest evidence that he does not understand Iran. ” “ I don't really understand what you mean .” “ A minister is right to his king, a wife is right to her husband, a cause is right to her officer; Aren't all of these subject to double punishment? For the weak, being right is a crime. Iran is weak against the Russians and the British and should have acted like a weak country .”
If we had managed to gain time, Russia would perhaps have had to deal with wars in the Balkans or China. Moreover, the tsar is not going to drive stakes forever, he too may die, and his throne may be shaken by new uprisings and rebellions, as happened six years ago. We had to be patient and wait, we had to be a little cunning, we had to cheat, we had to bend over and lie, we had to make promises. This is what is called Eastern wisdom from time immemorial; Shuster tried to move us forward with the Western rhythm, but he also sank the ship.
“ You are asking about the source of our breath of life, to summarize a very long story, I would say that it emerged from the depths of the ocean (ocean) and then the ocean swallowed it again .”
MY REVIEWS:
Subject : In the work, the events related to the lives of historical figures named Ömer Hayyam, Hasan Sabbah and Nizamülmülk are discussed in a fictional narrative.
Style: The stylistic method used by the author from the beginning of the work is as simple and clear as in stories, even though he is a novelist. In this respect, although the work is long-winded, it has managed to attract its readers in general terms, both in terms of its subject and style.
Originality : Considering the subject they cover and the fact that they are created as a result of a combination of some historical events and a fictional narrative, there are many historical novels. However, considering the scarcity of novels dealing with these characters and subjects, and the fact that the author dealing with these subjects is French, it must be stated that it has a structure that deserves to be among the original novels.
Character : Although the main character in the character scheme of the work appears to be Ömer Hayyam, the other two supporting characters, Nizamülmülk and Hasan Sabbah, also have the appearance of the main character. Considering both their effects on the plot and the direction they give to the general flow of the novel, it should be taken into account that the character arc in the work reflects three main characters. It should be stated that this situation adds a lot of richness to the novel. Moreover, the fact that the characters are historically important figures increases the effects of the topics and dialogues.
Fluency : Considering the issues stated in the style section, although the work is generally fluent, it has the feeling of losing its immersion in some places. Here, especially the part where the author's research is discussed in the thousand years after the events took place, causes a lack of interest in the reader.
General : In the evaluation made out of 10 in accordance with the above-mentioned criteria:
Topic: 9
Style: 8.5
Originality: 7
Character: 8.5
Fluency: 7
The overall average of the work that received the highest scores is 8 points . With the score it has received, the work deserves to be among the must-read historical fictional novels. However, it is obvious that by reading the work, it is necessary to confirm the historical facts. Since it is natural to make some additions and descriptions in such fictional novels to make the plot more impressive, given the type of work, it would not be right to directly reference academic history.
(*) : All parts in the Quotations heading:
SAMARKAND
Author : Amin Maalouf
Publisher : Yapı Kredi Publications
Edition : 100th Edition – January 2022
The photo used on the cover was used as a quote from the book.
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