A few years later Nur ed din, the famous Prince of Damascus, received from the Assassins a command to surrender the castle of Beitlala. He yielded apparently and then roused up the people in secret to prevent the Order from gaining the fortress. They did this by destroying it hastily. So greatly did the princes fear the Assassins that they dared not refuse to obey their commands; they would promise obedience, and then rouse the people to pull down their own strongholds. Governors of provinces both in Persia and Syria were the chief agents in keeping peace and good order, hence were opposed to the Assassins, and were exposed to their daggers more than all other men. In Persia as in Syria the Assassins murdered many of the most distinguished men, men whom the Order feared or whom they removed to win favor or money. Sindjar, Sultan of the Seljuks, sent troops to retake Kuhistan castles which the Ismailians had seized. Hassan Sabah sought peace more than once with this Sultan through envoys. When all efforts proved futile, he won over officers of Sindjar’s own household who spoke in his favor, and even prevailed on a servant of that prince to thrust a dagger into the floor before his bedside while he was sleeping. When Sindjar woke and saw the dire weapon he resolved to say nothing, but soon he received from Hassan Sabah a note with the following contents: “Were I not well inclined toward Sindjar, the man who planted that dagger in the floor would have fixed it in the Sultan’s bosom. Let him know that I, from this rock, guide the hands of the men who surround him.” This letter made such an impression on Sindjar that he ceased to disturb Ismailians. His reign thereafter was the period of their greatest prosperity. Hassan Ben Sabah died thirty-four years after his entrance into Alamut, and during that time he never came down from the castle, nay more, he never left, except twice, his own dwelling. He passed his life studying and writing on the dogmas of his system, and in governing that murderous Commonwealth which began in his brain, and was of his own invention.