Abu'l Nuqoud

"Is it so different than your own work? You take the lives of men and women, strong in the conviction that their deaths will improve the lots of those left behind. A minor evil, for a greater good? We are the same."

―Abu'l Nuqoud during his final moments, 1191.^[src]^-[m]

Abu'l Nuqoud (c. 1137 – 1191) was the Merchant King of Damascus and a member of the Levantine Templars. As one of the nine leading members of the Levantine Rite during the Third Crusade, he was responsible for the misappropriation of city funds to finance the order's cause. He resided in an opulent palace located within the city's Noble District.

Abu'l Nuqoud was the fourth target assigned to the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, in his quest for redemption, as part of a wider purge of all the Templar leaders. Like his fellow Templar brothers, his death was mandated by the Assassin leader Al Mualim, who sought to secure the Apple of Eden by eliminating those privy to the Templars' secret alliance.

Biography[edit | edit source]

Reign of the Merchant King[edit | edit source]

"He hates himself, as much as he hates the people he pretends to serve. Locks himself away in his personal quarters, out of shame."

―A herald, under interrogation by Altaïr, 1191.^[src]^-[m]

A man of tremendous wealth and influence, Abu'l Nuqoud rose to prominence as the "Merchant King" of Damascus, the richest individual in the city.^[1] He secured his status and the loyalty of many citizens by purportedly saving the city from certain destruction, spending his own fortune to provide food, clothing, and warmth for the populace during their darkest days. A herald within the city praised his supposed kindness, claiming that the Merchant King's generosity knew no bounds and that he asked for nothing in return. To maintain this facade, he was known to open his doors weekly, inviting the people to lay down their burdens and experience joy within his walls.^[2]

The party guests drinking wine from the fountain

However, this mask of benevolence hid a deeply troubled and corrupt reality. Privately, the Merchant King was consumed by self-loathing and a profound hatred for the people he pretended to serve. Driven by shame and a sense of being an outcast, he often locked himself away in his personal quarters, emerging only during his celebrations to look down upon the citizens from his balcony.^[2] His actions were equally impious; despite the prohibitions of his faith, he frequently procured vast quantities of wine for his feasts, demonstrating a blatant disregard for the laws of the Prophet.^[3]

Beneath the surface of his lavish lifestyle lay a complex financial conspiracy. While the citizens of Damascus starved themselves to support Salāḥ ad-Dīn's war efforts, Abu'l Nuqoud embezzled city funds primarily to finance the Templars' operations across the Holy Land. This stolen wealth was intended to provide the financial backing for Tamir's mass production of weapons in the Damascus and facilitated clandestine payments to Majd Addin, the regent of Jerusalem, and William of Montferrat, the lord of Acre.^[4]^[5] Although he utilized the treasury to host extravagant parties, these festivities served as a mere backdrop to his broader role as the financier of the Order's New World Order.^[6]

Assassination[edit | edit source]

"Is it so different than your own work? You take the lives of men and women, strong in the conviction that their deaths will improve the lots of those left behind. A minor evil, for a greater good? We are the same."

―Abu'l Nuqoud's final words to Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, 1191.^[src]^-[m]

In the summer of 1191, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad infiltrated the Merchant King's palace during one of his most extravagant feasts. Positioning himself within the courtyard, the Assassin observed as Abu'l Nuqoud emerged from his quarters to address the gathered nobility from a balcony. The Merchant King initially welcomed his guests, encouraging them to indulge in the pleasures he provided, including wine that flowed freely from a central fountain.^[6]

However, the atmosphere shifted as Abu'l Nuqoud's speech turned into a vitriolic indictment of his guests' hypocrisy. He accused them of judging him while they themselves funded a war born of fear and hate, claiming that words like "compassion" and "mercy" meant nothing to them. As he finished his toast, the guests who had partaken of the wine began to collapse, dying from a potent poison. In the ensuing terror, Abu'l Nuqoud ordered his personal guard to slaughter any survivors who attempted to escape the courtyard.^[6]

Altaïr pursued the Merchant King as he attempted to flee further into the palace. Upon cornering him, the Assassin ended his life, though Abu'l Nuqoud remained unrepentant in his final moments. He revealed that his actions were not born of vengeance, but of a conscience that could no longer support a war fought in service to a God that labeled his nature an "abomination". He cryptically alluded to his brothers within the Order, claiming that Altaïr would soon come to know them—and likely already did. Even as he faced death, the Merchant King remained confident that the Templars' work could not be stopped and that their new world was inevitable. Challenging the Assassin's own sense of morality, Abu'l Nuqoud likened their methods, arguing that they were the same in their willingness to commit a "minor evil" for what they believed to be a greater good.^[6]

Personality and traits[edit | edit source]

Abu'l Nuqoud: "Look at me! My very nature is an affront to the people I ruled. And these noble robes did little more than to muffle their shouts of hate."

Altaïr: "So this is about vengeance then."

Abu'l Nuqoud: "No, not vengeance, but my conscience. How could I finance a war in service to the same God that calls me an abomination?"

—Abu'l Nuqoud's final words to Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, 1191.^[src]^-[m]

Abu'l Nuqoud was a man consumed by a profound internal conflict, driven by a conscience that felt betrayed by the religious and social norms of his era. Describing his own nature as an "affront" to his subjects, he harbored a deep-seated loathing for the people he served, fueled by the bigotry and "shouts of hate" he perceived behind their facade of loyalty. This resentment led him to reject the cause of Salāḥ ad-Dīn, as he found it impossible to finance a war in service to a God that labeled him an "abomination". Consequently, he turned to the Templars, seeking a new world that offered the compassion and tolerance he believed his peers lacked.^[6]

Despite his status as a "Merchant King," he was fundamentally isolated, often locking himself in his personal quarters out of shame and self-hatred.^[2] His cruelty was most evident during his final celebration, where he took macabre pleasure in poisoning his guests, viewing their deaths as a "minor evil" necessary for a greater good.^[6]

Physically, Abu'l Nuqoud was an obese man, whose appearance reflected his gluttonous and extravagant lifestyle.^[1] He typically wore luxurious velvet robes with intricate yellow patterns and leopard-print fur, often left open to display his large stomach. His attire was further embellished with a turban decorated with a feather brooch and multiple pearl strands with a coin pendant. His face was also marked by severe acne.^[6]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

In Arabic, "Abu n-Nuqūd" literally meant "father of the money" or "father of the coins". This type of figurative kunya is commonly used as noms de guerre.
Abu'l is the only target without any weapon upon him. He only turns to fight when he makes it to a guard tower and receives a sword.
Because of some of his mannerisms, such as his style of dress, his speech about people of all kinds living together, his words about not serving the "same god that calls me an abomination", the way he caresses one of his guards, and the fact that many characters refers to him as "different", it can be inferred that Abu'l Nuqoud is homosexual.
In the Assassin's Creed: Limited Edition Art Book, Creative director Patrice Désilets pointed out that the fun of a character like Abu'l Nuqoud is "the big party, [where] everyone is drinking, then everyone is dying, and then you've got to go and reach him and kill him from behind".^[7]
Even though he appears to be overweight and of quite old age, Abu'l Nuqoud can run relatively fast.
In the mobile version of Assassin's Creed, he is called "Vizier Abull Aswad" and dons heavy battle armor with the red cross of the Templars. Unlike the console version, his assassination is set in 1190 in Masyaf which, despite canonically being the headquarters of the Assassins, is instead the location of a secret Templar base. As soon as he greets Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad with a taunt, the Assassin immediately uses his grappling hook to dislodge an icicle above his head, impaling his skull.