Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

136 The Arab Queens
in the holy city on the day of the 'id (feast day). The pilgrims thus
knew that something grave had taken place. It was at Mecca that
subversives declared their revolt, and it was at Mecca that reconciliations
were made official. Heart and mirror of a Muslim world
where fraternity was supposed to reign, Mecca reflected the least
tremblings of trouble and reverberated with its problems, its unrest,
and its stresses.
'Ali was convinced that the year 458/1066 was the year of his
greatest happiness and achievement. What he did not know was
that the stars had decided that that year would also be the year of
his tragic death - as unexpected as the premonition of misfortune
in those moments of euphoria when we feel giddy with success. He
had forgotten about hate and those who made a career of it. He
had forgotten the Banu Najah, the masters of Zubayd, the only
principality which still resisted him, one of the few where he had
resorted to political murder. The Banu Najah were a family of
former Ethiopian slaves who pursued a pitiless vendetta against
the Sulayhis. 66 The history of Yemen has always been marked by
Ethiopian invasions, and the comings and goings between the two
countries, whether it be armies or merchants, go back to the dawn
of time. Moreover, a large part of the Sulayhi army was made up
of Ethiopian soldiers. The Banu Najah had never forgotten the
murder of their father, ordered from San'a by 'Ali - a murder
accompanied by the sweet smile of a charming and talented jarya,
carefully chosen from among hundreds of candidates and dispatched
by 'Ali to Zubayd with the order to seduce and poison him. The
jarya arrived in the city of the Banu Najah with nothing in her
baggage but a lute and a vial of poison hidden among some poems
to be sung. Her success in reaching the bed of the chief was never
in doubt. 67 Zubayd awoke one morning grief-stricken by a death
that had struck the palace at its very core. The sons of the poisoned
sovereign, especially Sa'id Ibn Najah, pledged themselves to
revenge. The higher the Sulayhi star rose, the easier was the task
of keeping watch on it.
When 'Ali left San'a with his wife Asma at his side to head for
the holy city, Sa'id Ibn Najah already knew what route he would
take. But this time the caravan was more impressive than in previous
times. 'Ali was no longer at the head of a modest group of simple
pilgrims. He was leading a splendid caravan of princes and notable
horsemen, which was evidence both of his dazzling rise and of the
military objectives of his journey: to reaffirm that Mecca was more
than ever within the Shi'ite orbit. The fate of the holy place, site