FACT
Within the first century of the founding of Islam, the Islamic Empire had grown to encompass the entire Middle East and two-fifths of China to stretch across three continents, including Africa.
Its political and cultural center, Mecca, held the largest temple in the world, which still stands today: the Süleymaniye Mosque...as well as the most secretive, misunderstood architecture in the history of mankind. For its designer and chief architect, Jalal al-Din Rumi, had been initially instructed to build not a temple but an astronomical observatory...and beneath the intricate mosaics of each of its eighteen domes was originally engraved a sphere or a croissant...one for each of the eighteen phases of the moon.
Upon the temple's completion, Jalal al-Din Rumi mysteriously vanished. His fellow Islamics said he died of the exhaustion and glory of doing Allah's work...but history says otherwise.
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All descriptions of locations, artwork, architecture, and secret societies in this novel are accurate.