The return home was short. The Caliph was in his 50's, and sought to return to his home for rest. He knew he could trust his advisers, men he had known since childhood, to manage the aftermath of the Fatimid War.

Overlooking Baghdad from the Golden Gate Palace, Al-Qadir recalled his predecessor, At-Ta'i. At-Ta'i was not a competent man, he was vapid as they got, incapable of understanding his own court. His overthrow and replacement was not unforeseen. He had lost Mecca to the Fatimids, Antioch to the Byzantines. These were mistakes which Al-Qadir sought to rectify. The Fatimids were now collapsed, and the Byzantines were dealing with their shattered Church.

Al-Qadir thinks on how he shall recorded in the Library of Baghdad, archived with the likes of the Great Caliphs before him, perhaps he'll gain a nickname in due time. He thinks of how he had the Fatimid court slaughtered upon his arrival in Cairo, their Caliphs will be struck from the records, their last to be killed in Cordoba.

He thinks that he is succumbing to his old age, how his sight is beginning to fade and his bones are growing brittle. He can still swing his sword, and still wield his words.

He grows tired, thinking on and on about the future. The war is over, and now, he thinks, is a time to rest, to regrow, to further sow the return of the one true Muslim State.