Prologue to Hayat Abd-al-Hazard. The Life
of Abdul Alhazred. As written by Rahaz
Al-Nahaas. Harken!
and I shall tell you of Alhazred, greatest of sorcerers,
who, born a slave and cast from the Caliph’s court, was
raised by ghouls in the desert of Arabia. For, it
was with them he learned the secrets of flesh, blood, and of the
desert moon. Harken! and I shall tell you of Alhazred,
greatest of wizards, who, by listening to the whispering
stones of the ruined palace of Babylon, heard the dreams of
Nebuchadnezzar and the transactions of his court. For,
in the dreams of ancient kings are found powerful
portents. Harken! and I shall tell you of Alhazred,
greatest of conjurors, who, through the music of the rocks
at Gobustan, danced with the djinn and creatures of worlds unseen.
For, even ifreet princes found in Alhazred a
mighty ally. Harken! and I shall tell you of
Alhazred, greatest of astrologers, who, as he gazed
into the vault of Heaven, could see the rise and fall of empires
and read the history of ages past and of ages yet to
come. For, when Alhazred read the stars, kings cowered
and emperors trembled. Harken!
and I shall tell you of Alhazred, greatest of magicians, who,
by opening portals in the travertine pools of Pamukkale,
passed into the realm beyond sleep and wakefulness, where the stars
are strange. For, in that world the Elder Things still dwell
and their knowledge can be harvested. Harken!
and I shall tell you of Alhazred, greatest of necromancers,
who, in the crypts beneath Memphis, called Menes, dread
Pharaoh of Egypt, from his tomb and then laid him down again.
For, it is in the mummified dead that the wisdom of the ancients
is preserved, and when Alhazred communed with the deathless dead,
no secret was safe. Harken! and I
shall tell you of Alhazred, greatest of summoners, who,
on the bank of the Sea of Galilee brought forth beings that would terrify
even the Shaytan demon-princes. For, when you
are as he was, you can stare unblinking into the blackest
abyss and into the pallid eyes of that which issues from it.
Harken! and I shall tell you of Alhazred, greatest
of augurs, who, by pulling the stomach from the red heifer of Mosul,
foretold the Caliphate’s defeat at Marj Ardabil and subsequent
defeat of the Khazars before the city’s walls. For, when
you can read the fate of nations in the entrails of beasts, the
scheming of princes concerns you not. Harken!
for Alhazred’s tale is the tale of a man who could walk the Crimson
Desert that makes corpses of other men, converse with the spirits
and monsters that dwell therein, and come back living from
the desert. Harken! for Alhazred’s tale is the tale
of a man who walked the streets of Irem, Lost City of Pillars—
smote by the prophet Hud for its wickedness—and found therein
the Amulet of Enktate that allowed him to see all, yet remain
unseen. Harken! for Alhazred’s tale is the tale of
a man who has crawled through the tunnels of the accursed nameless city
and gleaned from its glyph-covered burial chambers the secrets of
time and spirit that the ancient reptile race had known.
Harken! for Alhazred’s tale is the tale of a man who
rebuilt the high places, which the Caliphs had destroyed, and
erected altars there, not for Baal or Al-Uzzá, but to those
beings beyond the ken of even the wisest in the Caliph’s court.
Harken! for Alhazred’s tale is the tale of a man
who could read the history of beings from beyond our world in ancient
runes, and divine the spells that might bring them back.
Harken and I will tell you of Great Alhazred!
For, before his power, all other magic pales,
even the wizardry of Solomon and the djinn he kept in thrall.
Harken I say! For, of all the things I know, of this
I am most certain: There are no gods but the Elder
Gods and Alhazred is the harbinger of the doom they bring.
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