they remained for a time, and the garrison warmed to them. He then said, “Sell us half of your fortress for seven thousand dinars.” They complied, the newcomers entered, their numbers increased, and Ṣabbāḥ seized the stronghold with about three hundred men. Word spread that he was subverting religion and loosening the bonds of faith, so the ruler of that region rose against him and besieged the castle, despite his habitual preoccupation with play and drunkenness.

One of Ṣabbāḥ’s confidants, ʿAlī al-Yaʿqūbī, asked, “What will you grant me if I kill him?”

They replied, “You shall have a mention in our litanies.”

He said, “I accept.” He ordered them to descend by night, divided them into four detachments around the camp, assigned drums to each group, and said, “When you hear the shout, beat the drums.” The army fell into confusion; he seized the moment, rushed at the king, killed him, and was himself killed. The soldiers fled, and the Ṣabbāḥīs gathered the tents and all they contained, enriching themselves. The calamity they brought grew severe, and Alamut remained in their hands for one hundred and sixty years, during which Sinān served as one of their deputies.

As for Nizār, his aunt plotted against him (1) and pledged to the emirs that she would install his baby brother. Afraid, Nizār fled to Alexandria, where battles and incidents befell him until he was killed. Ṣabbāḥ, however, declared, “He has not died; he has merely gone into hiding and will reappear.” He then impregnated a slave-girl and said to them, “He will emerge from her womb,” so they submitted to him. They went on to assassinate princes and scholars (2) indiscriminately; kings feared them and appeased them with money.

Ṣabbāḥ dispatched the missionary Abū Muḥammad to Syria with a band of followers. His cause gained strength; the ignorant mountaineers answered his call, and they seized a fortress in Jabal al-Sumāq.