Just about this time, however, there was a temporary restoration of Fatimid authority in the Hijaz, and this not due to a rebel like al-Basasiri, but to the work of a devout and earnest Shiʿite. Abu l-Hasan ʿAli b. Muhammad b. ʿAli as-Sulaihi was the son of a Qadi of Yemen, a strict and orthodox Sunni. The son, however, came under the influence of an Ismaʿilian missionary named ʿAmir b. ʿAbdullah az-Zawwahi who, concealing his Shiʿite opinions, was received into great favour by the Qadi, but in private intercourse with the son taught him the Fatimid system of canon law and the _tawil_ or allegorical interpretation of the Qurʾan. For fifteen years as-Sulaihi acted as guide to the Meccan pilgrims along the road between as-Sarat and Taif, then in 429 he broke out in revolt against the established government and, at the head of sixty followers, whom he bound by oath, seized upon Mount Mashar. Secretly he supported the Khalifate of Mustansir, but this he concealed for fear of Najah, the Chieftain of the Tihama. In 452 he presented Najah with a beautiful female slave who, acting under his directions, poisoned Najah and then released from all need of concealment openly proclaimed the Fatimid Imamate. Three years later we find him the master of all Yemen, having his headquarters at Sanaʿa, and for nearly twenty years the _khutba_ in the cities of Yemen, and for part of that time also in the holy cities of the Hijaz made mention of the name of the Khalif al-Mustansir. After the death of Najah he offered to give the chieftainship of the Tihama to anyone who would pay him 100,000 dinars of gold. The sum was at once paid by his wife on behalf of her brother Asaad b. Shihab. “Where didst thou get this, mistress?” asked as-Sulaih. “From God,” she replied, “God is bounteous without measure to whom he will (Qur. ii. 208).” Perceiving that the money came from his own treasury as-Sulaihi smiled and took it saying, “Here is our money returned to us” (Qur. xii. 65).