Part IIAn introduction to the character of al-Homsi, my meeting with him, and what I learnt therein. And his presence and how his favour led to the solving of the Siyasan crisis. And of how my station was raised in the eye of the Sultan of valencia.
My arrival in Siyasa was fortuitous. Unfortunately I could not, to my eternal regret, have witnessed the momentous events that had just passed in this unassuming little city. However, the hand of Destiny decreed such that my curiosity and my hunger for learning meant that the news of my arrival had spread far and wide in the city. All over the city they pointed my aspect out. In bazaars, street corners, homes, baths, mosques even, the populace talked of that curious stranger who asked and asked and never ceased asking. And with this sole virtu
