Zahra

This article is about the Order of the Ancients member. You may be looking for the Egyptian farmer.

"The real answers are in books. They are always in books. Am I not right?"

―Zahra to one of her guards, 860s.^[src]^-[m]

Zahra (died 860s), also known as Al-Zarik (English: The Angel of Destruction) or The Book Burner, was an Abbasid scholar and a member of the Order of the Ancients who frequented the House of Wisdom in Baghdad during the 9th century.

Biography[]

Zahra: "That old fool tinkering with his worthless ancient disc and helpless patients. Bah!"

Soldier: "Of course, sayyidati (my lady)."

—Zahra discussing Fazil and his work with her guards, 860s.^[src]^-[m]

By the 860s, Zahra had joined the Order of the Ancients, serving under Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa in the Abbasiyah district of Baghdad. One day, she came across a mysterious manuscript written in an unknown language in the House of Wisdom's library, and managed to steal it after Fazil caused a distraction in the form of a book burning.^[1]

Unable to decipher the manuscript, Zahra later kidnapped the scholar Hunayn ibn Ishaq and imprisoned him within the Scriptorium, where she forced him to translate the book under the threat of death. To cover her tracks, she killed the House of Wisdom's caretaker of books, leaving his body in the library.^[1]

Zahra and Fazil believed that the manuscript contained information which could make the latter's machine, the Alruh, function properly. However, Zahra was dismissive of Fazil's obsession with his device and a strange disk he had found, and believed that getting the manuscript translated would prove her worth to the Order and allow her to rise in the ranks. Unfortunately for her, Hunayn proved unable to decipher the book and lied about his progress to Zahra so that she would not kill him.^[1]

Unbeknownst to Zahra, her plans were discovered by the Alamut Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, who rescued Hunayn from the Scriptorium and infiltrated her estate, where he awaited the Ancient's return. When Zahra eventually arrived home, escorted by her Turkic guards and servants, she sat down on a bench to relax, only to be assassinated by Basim moments later.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Zahra's Order cryptonym, Al-Zarik (الزريق), is a reference to a daeva from Persian mythology named Zarik, who used their supernatural abilities as the embodiment of aging and poison to serve Zoroastrianism's central destructive spirit Ahriman.^[2]

Zahra's fellow Order member Hassan was revealed to have romantic feelings for her, having written her a love letter which contained a line from the famous poet Arib Al-Ma'muniyya: "You are my law, You are my Order." However, it is unknown if Zahra reciprocated his feelings.^[1]