Chapter 16
Beginning 1061 (452 from Hegira), palace of Mohammed ibn al-Thumna
There was a lava stone elephant, an ancient sculpture with dark natives, placed just outside the city walls as a talisman against the Jebel flows; for this reason Catania was also called Medinah el-Fil, or "City of the Elephant". Here Mohammed ibn al-Thumna, coming from Syracuse, had placed his residence after having disposed of ibn al-Maklātī, already Qā'id of the city and former husband of Maimuna.
Now, having escaped death by an inconceivable plan of Allah during the ruinous retreat, he set foot in his palace to take stock of the situation and bandage his wounds. It was immediately clear to him how Ali had used his own trick to deceive him: once in his hands, he discovered that Maimuna wasn’t Maimuna, just
