Leo Africanus

People in Cairo are dying from the plague. The Sultan of Egypt, Qansuh, only responds by banning wine, hashish, and dealings with prostitutes. Even worse, Qansuh takes advantage of the plague by selling grain to other countries, causing the price to rise. Meanwhile, Hasan meets a young Coptic merchant leaving Cairo with his family to the southern Egyptian town of Assyut. While he is gone, he offers to let Hasan live in his house. Hasan sets about establishing his business in Cairo.

Hasan hears the story of how Qansuh tried to extort money out of the caliph, a prominent religious leader. When the caliph abdicated, Qansuh was suddenly struck by a mysterious illness that blinded him. Believing his blindness was a curse from God, Qansuh canceled most taxes, distributed alms to the poor, and freed numerous prisoners. Then he had the qadis, religious leaders in Egypt, pray for him to be healed.

While at the shop of a Persian business partner of his, Hasan meets Princess Nur. She is the widow of the Amir ‘Ala al-Din, the nephew of the “Grand Turk,” the Ottoman Sultan. When ‘Ala al-Din tried and failed to claim the Ottoman throne, he fled to Egypt for political asylum and met and fell in love with the Circassian daughter of an army officer, Nur. However, before he could try to stir the Ottomans’ neighbors to invade the empire and make him Sultan, ‘Ala al-Din died of the plague.

Living on a meager pension, Nur is at the shop, trying to sell a tapestry she inherited from her husband. However, because of the activities of Portuguese corsairs disrupting trade, the Sultan of Egypt has had to raise taxes, decreasing the number of buyers. Hasan earns Nur’s friendship by buying her tapestry himself at the price she wanted.

Hasan runs into Nur again while watching the street performance of a clown. Nur convinces Hasan to come to her home, and she takes him to see the pyramids. Believing the book written by an Arabic traveler Ibn Battuta, Hasan assumes the pyramids are round, causing Nur to erupt in laughter. Nur kisses Hasan and takes him to a nearby village where the nurse who raised her lives. To Hasan’s surprise, Nur introduces Hasan as her new husband. The morning after they make love, she reveals that she and ‘Ala al-Din had a son, Bayazid, whom she has kept secret. 

Nur admits that she still hopes that her son, Bayazid, will one day unite the enemies of the Ottoman Empire to conquer the Turks and install him as Sultan. Hasan and Nur plan to marry, pretend that Bayazid is Hasan’s son, and leave Egypt for Fez until Bayazid becomes an adult and can return to Egypt to rally resistance to the Turks. Sailing from the great port city of Alexandria, Hasan, Nur, and Bayazid reach Fez.

Hasan finds Salma, who tells him that Muhammad died while he was gone, and reunites with his daughter, Sarwat, and Gaudy Sarah. Harun has continued his career of robbing. Because of this and Hasan’s associations with him, the Sultan keeps Hasan’s family under heavy watch. Still, Salma believes that Harun has been the victim of false accusations. Hasan tries to join the war effort against the Portuguese but becomes discouraged and decides to leave Fez again when a friend of the Sultan’s admits, “Even if we pardon your brother-in-law for what he has done, how could we pardon him for the things we accuse him of having done? (251).”

Hasan goes to Tunis and tries to establish another business. However, he is abruptly met by Harun, who is working for the pirate leader Barbarossa. Because of Hasan’s experience as a diplomat and poet, he is enlisted to go to the Ottoman Sultan, Selim, and convince him to enter an alliance with Barbarossa, the self-declared ruler of Algiers, against the Castilians in the country. Despite the danger, Nur insists that she and Bayazid join Hasan on his voyage to Constantinople so she can show him the city she wants him to rule. After presenting the offer to Selim, Hasan overhears one of his counsellors planning an invasion of Egypt. Nur demands that they return to Cairo to warn the Sultan, and Hasan very reluctantly agrees.

Nur arranges a meeting between herself and Hasan and the Egyptian secretary of state, Tumanbay. Thanks to their efforts, Tumanbay convinces the Sultan to go on the defensive with his army. After several months, Hasan learns that the Egyptian army was eventually defeated and Sultan Qansuh died from a stroke. Tumanbay becomes the next Sultan but is unable to stop the Turks from capturing Cairo. Nur, who is pregnant, is so distraught Hasan is afraid she might lose the child. 

Tumanbay continues to organize resistance to the Ottoman Empire and makes an effort to recapture Cairo. During the battle, Nur gives birth to a daughter, Hayat. In the end, the battle turns in Salim’s favor, and Tumanbay is defeated and publicly hanged. For safety, Hasan, Nur, and Bayazid leave Cairo for the village of Nur’s nurse, Khadra. There, Hasan resolves to leave Egypt again.

Hasan takes Nur, Khadra, and Bayazid on a pilgrimage to Mecca. On the way down the Nile, Hasan sees a sailor fall into the water and be killed by crocodiles. He hears a story that there was once a magic statue that made the crocodiles of Upper Egypt (southern Egypt) not attack humans, but it was destroyed at the orders of a Muslim Sultan who believed it was a pagan idol. They reach Mecca without any other incidents, and Hasan is profoundly moved while doing the religious rites of the pilgrimage.

At Gaza, Hasan meets up with a friend and fellow merchant named ‘Abbad. He decides to take ‘Abbad’s ship from Alexandria to Tangier. However, while the ship is being inspected by an Ottoman soldier, Bayazid tells the soldier his name and the name of his father. Quickly, Hasan defuses the situation by pretending his name is ‘Ala al-Din. The ship next stops at Jerba, where at a tavern Hasan and ‘Abbad are kidnapped by Sicilian sailors.