It is interesting to turn aside for a moment to the Persian poet Nasir-i-Khusraw, who visited Cairo in the years just preceding the ministry of Yazuri and who left a most graphic account of the wealth and splendour of the Fatimid court and the prosperity of Cairo even at that period of comparative disorder. In the eyes of this traveller, familiar with the most prosperous and cultured cities of Persia and ʿIraq, the magnificence of Cairo and its court seemed astonishing, and exactly the same impression was made years afterwards, after the Fatimids had long passed the zenith of their glory, on the Crusaders from the west. Under Fatimid rule, apparently, Cairo surpassed all the cities of the then known world in its luxury, magnificence, and wealth. As we have already noted ostentatious display was the besetting fault of the whole Fatimid dynasty, but this, it must be remembered, is usually popular in oriental circles. Nasir-i-Khusraw was a devout Ismaʿilian and regarded Cairo as the metropolis of his religion and the Khalif as the true Imam, religious beliefs which he expresses freely in his works. He was a secretary under the government in Khurasan until he experienced a conversion to the religious life and, resigning his office, became first a pilgrim and then a _daʿi_ of the Ismaʿilian sect. In his best known work the _Safarnama_ he describes how, after he had turned to religion, he set out for Mecca in 437, and relates the experiences of his journey. He reached Mecca in 439 and returned thence to Damascus, then went to Jerusalem, and then by land to Cairo where he remained two or three years, and during his stay was initiated into the higher grades of the Ismaʿilian fraternity. As his work was intended for general reading he is cautious in referring to the more intimate matters of religion, but makes it quite clear that he believes in the allegorical interpretation of the Qurʾan, that he accepts the Fatimid Khalif as the true Imam, and adheres whole-heartedly to the doctrines of the Fatimite sect. He gives a most glowing description, not only of the splendours; of the Cairene court, but of the extraordinary wealth and prosperity of the bazars and their merchants, and this at a time (circ. 440) which we generally regard as one of the less fortunate periods of Fatimid rule. It is particularly interesting to note his observations on the Egyptian army at the time when its factions were at the bottom of all the domestic troubles of Cairo. He estimates the whole army as about 215,000 men. Of the cavalry 35,000 came from North Africa, Berbers and Arabs, 50,000 were Arabs from the Hijaz, and 30,000 were of mixed composition. Of the infantry, where the racial elements are more significant, 20,000 were black troops raised in North Africa, 30,000 were Ethiopians by which we must understand Nubians, Sudanis, etc., 10,000 were Syrians, Turks and Kurds, 30,000 were slaves presumably from