chapter 7

IF OTHMAN HAD NOT BEEN BLESSED WITH GOOD GENES, MUCH blood might have

gone unshed, including his own, so whether his
longevity was indeed a blessing is a matter of some
dispute. The fact remains that he deɹed all the odds and
lived another twelve years, and when he died, at the age
of eighty-two, it was not of old age. Like Omar before
him, the third Caliph died under an assassin’s knife. This
time, however, the assassin was Muslim, and many
would argue that he had excellent cause.

Othman was a man used to entitlement. He had been
renowned for his good looks, as those who carry
themselves with aristocratic ease and assurance often
are. Despite his smallpox-scarred cheeks, people still
talked admiringly of his “golden complexion” and his
flashing smile—flashing not with whiteness but with the
ɹne gold wire bound around his teeth as decoration.
That emphasis on gold might perhaps have been a
warning of what was to come.

His predecessor,    Omar,   had certainly   foreseen    it. When