Accused of mocking the inviolate codes of Islam, the Persian poet and sage Omar Khayyam fortuitously finds sympathy with the very man who is to judge his alleged crimes. Recognising Khayyam's genius, the judge decides to spare him and gives him instead a small, bleak book, encouraging him to confine his thoughts to it alone… Thus begins the seamless blend of fact and fiction that is Samarkand. ...