Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk

Author:Orhan Pamuk [Pamuk, Orhan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2022-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 45

The Governor was surprised and even a little shaken to hear that Sheikh Hamdullah had caught the plague. During his early years as governor, he had developed a friendship with the sheikh, whom he held in far greater esteem than the needy, faithful throngs who gathered around him. It is possible that he secretly believed in the sheikh’s wisdom and transcendence too. Having probed around for more information and learned that the sheikh was rumored to be afflicted by some kind of illness but was refusing treatment, saying he had surrendered his life “to fate and divine providence,” the Governor sent the sheikh a letter. He wrote that he had heard about the sheikh’s illness, but that the Sultan’s most esteemed plague doctor was in the city now and could immediately examine and treat him. To act as intermediary, the Governor summoned the old Ottoman Urgancızâde family’s eldest son Tevfik, who owned a ship company, and whom the sheikh and the Governor used to spend time with when they became friends five years ago.

The next morning an old dervish with a round white beard and a tall felt hat (his name was Nimetullah Effendi, but he insisted on being addressed as “Regent”) came down from the lodge and delivered the sheikh’s response to the State Hall clerks. The Governor had come to his desk early that day, and when he read the sheikh’s note informing him in perfectly neat handwriting that he would be glad to accept the offer and honored to receive the Doctor and Prince Consort’s visit, he felt as exhilarated as if he had won the final, decisive victory against the plague.

But the sheikh did set one condition. The soldiers of the Quarantine Regiment who had sullied the Halifiye sect’s sacred (the sheikh had used the word “pristine”) treasure of wool and felt must never set foot inside the lodge again.

The Governor accepted this condition. He discussed the matter with Quarantine Master Nikos and Doctor Nuri, who had just arrived.

“Now that he realizes he might die, the sheikh has understood how foolish it is to avoid doctors,” said the Governor.

“Not everyone who becomes infected is bound to die!” replied Doctor Nuri.

“If that’s the case, then why did he write back to us?”

“Pasha, I have witnessed all kinds of self-proclaimed sheikhs troubling governors and local chiefs in our provincial towns only to make a name for themselves. These people will actively provoke confrontations with the authorities, make a great fuss, then make a ceremonious show of reconciliation, all for the sake of showing their benighted disciples how exceptional and important they are. There are many sheikhs, many lodges and sects around. It is essential for them to make sure their names are heard and their presence is known.”

There were twenty-eight Muslim sects in Arkaz alone. This was a lot for a city with a population of only twenty-five thousand—half of whom were Christian. In the years following the Ottoman conquest of the island, these religious sects could

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