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The bustling souk is far removed from the cool

arabesqued sanctity of the Lesser Western Palace.

Beyond the great walls of Cairo, the Fifth Crusade

affronts the young Caliphate. Tents line the Nile.

 al-Malik al-Kamil Naser ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Muhammad

in full, the fourth Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt,

nephew of Saladin, called Meledin by the infidel,

strokes his beard thoughtfully with a bejewelled

hand that is as comfortable with a book as a sword.

He studies these captives that sought out his army

begging to be taken prisoner in the Sultan’s name.

They are not mad as his Serene Highness had suspected,

though it was well known whosoever should bring

him a Christian head should receive coin of

Byzantine gold. The bedraggled pair stand, tonsured

and out of place amid the splendour, barefoot in sackcloth.

Had the Franks sent them to negotiate?

Had he not twice offered their Pope Jerusalem, the third

holiest city, only to be twice refused? Save only

the Dome of the Rock, al-Aqsa, and for the Jews

the neighbourhood of the Temple. Anything to spare

besieged Damietta withering behind its walls.

The quiet one is clearly a sheep, used to being led

by stronger wills, but the other one, this Faransis

that does all the talking, he has a look in his eye

al-Kamil recognises; it borders on the imperious

despite the rags. He addresses his Highness

with scandalous familiarity that sets the eunuchs chattering:

 “May the Lord give you peace.” The Sultan’s hands

are tied, for the Noble Qur’an commands:

Say not to those who greet you with peace,

“You are not a believer,” and: When you are greeted,

greet in return with what is better than it, or at least equally.

“Are you ambassadors?” He replies though his interpreter.

“We are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ,” 

says the Assisiani, come to either convert the heathen

or embrace martyrdom (for him a win-win situation),

and begins to preach. Boniface would have us believe

the two became bosom friends, Francis and the Sultan,

both men of a similar age, both wishing for peace

between their worlds, that the Christian Sufi

learned the Adhan from a Muezzin and the Great Sultan

showered the saint with treasure of which Francis

would only accept an ivory horn

used to call the people to prayer, but really

as the leader of the civilized world, al-Kamil did

what any gentleman does when an uninvited guest

boorishly crashes the party: he politely asked the monks

to leave and gave them something for their trouble.