the-secret-crusade-oliver-bowden

documents? In the name of some ‘new way’ or ‘new order’, which Altaïr
had heard about before. Exactly what it involved wasn’t clear. He knew
who was behind it, though. The Templars, his quarry being one of them.
‘Every single text in this city must be destroyed.’ Below him Jubair
was exhorting his men with a fanatic’s zeal. His scholar helpers scurried
about, laden with armfuls of papers that they had carried from
somewhere hidden from Altaïr. They were casting them into the flames,
which bloomed and grew with each fresh delivery. From the corner of
his eye he saw the distant scholar becoming more and more agitated,
until suddenly, as though he could no longer contain himself, he sprang
forward to confront Jubair.
‘My friend, you must not do this,’ he said, his jovial tone belying his
obvious distress. ‘Much knowledge rests within these parchments, put
there by our ancestors for good reason.’
Jubair stopped, to stare at him with naked contempt. ‘And what
reason is this?’ he snarled.
‘They are beacons meant to guide us – to save us from the darkness
that is ignorance,’ implored the scholar. The flames danced tall at his
back. Scholars came with more armfuls of books that they deposited on
the fire, some casting nervous glances at where Jubair and the protester
stood.
‘No.’ Jubair took a step forward, forcing the naysayer to retreat a
step. ‘These bits of paper are covered with lies. They poison your minds.
And so long as they exist, you cannot hope to see the world as it truly is.’
Trying desperately to be reasonable, the scholar still couldn’t hide his
frustration. ‘How can you accuse these scrolls of being weapons? They’re
tools of learning.’