In the late tenth century, in a village near Bukhara on the edge of the Persian world, a boy sits at a low table, copying lines of Arabic in a quick, steady hand. Outside, caravans creak along the Silk Road, carrying silk, spices, paper, and stories between China, Central Asia, and the cities of the Islamic world. Inside, this boy’s father is entertaining visitors from a new, esoteric movement—the Ismailis—talking about the hidden meanings of Scripture and the structure of the cosmos. The boy listens, half fascinated, half critical. He is already reading far beyond his years, and he is already developing a private habit: when adults make big claims about God or the world, he wants to see the argument.Selenius Media

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