Rothaide couldn’t have known it. But the former slave set the world on the path of eternal chaos the moment she reached for the babe next to his dead mother on the killing fields of Carthage. Because Jamal was not meant to live, any of his deeds could rewrite the past, upend the future, and throw the world into chaos. Only the man who shares his soul stands in his way. But will Luther, a New Jersey history teacher who cannot even manage his own life, be strong enough to impose his will on the great 8th-century Muslim warrior Jamal will grow into? And will he recognize the moment when he needs to act? The Sword and the Witness is a historical-contemporary fantasy that follows the twists and turns in the lives of two men who couldn’t be more different. Until the moment when they — and their times — become one.
THE SWORD, THE WORD, AND THE WITNESS Synopsis
Rothaide rescues a babe from the killing fields of Carthage, unknowingly derailing the universe’s
Great Plan. The infant, meant to die, will instead, become a renowned warrior, Jamal, whose one uncharted deed will threaten to plunge the world into chaos. To avert
catastrophe, the Celestial Guardians must find another human who shares his Jamal’s soul. Only
he will be able to step in at the right moment and prevent history from being derailed.
High school teacher Luther Tyson, mourning his failed academic ambitions and trapped in a
loveless marriage, becomes haunted by visions of a boy whose eyes follow him through waking
and sleeping hours. It’s the start of their shared story: lived by Jamal, witnessed by Luther, and
told by Luther to his son, Garrett.
Rothaide and her man, Asim the Swordsmith, discover a sword-shaped birthmark on the rescued
infant. It’s the same mark their own prophesied son bore before his death. They name the child
Jamal, after him. During the battle for Carthage, Asim saves a young warrior, Abd al Rahman al-
Ghafiqi, who pledges his sword to Asim’s family. Luther wonders if he is the same man who will
one day lead the Muslim host at the Battle of Tours.
Ibrahim, a mysterious sage, recognizes Jamal’s birthmark as a sign of destiny and takes him to his
madrasa in Damascus. There, Jamal clashes with the older boy Jafar and finds comfort in Ariella,
a fellow pupil. Meanwhile, Luther’s dreams intensify until whispers urge him to search for Jamal.
When he learns that soul-sharing individuals often share birthmarks, his own curved-sword mark
takes on new meaning. He travels to Cairo, where a scholar named Miharbi (Ibrahim, spelled
backward) leads him to hidden manuscripts, including one with the passage “Jamal. Through
Him was the Fate of Empires Forged.”
Jamal’s path leads him to Hispania, where he distinguishes himself in battle and reunites with
Abd al Rahman. He returns home after resisting the temptations of an evil whisperer, and Asim
gifts him a sword forged under spiritual guidance, inscribed: “First the Word; then the Sword.”
Jamal becomes the caliph’s bodyguard and reunites with Ariella, now married. They resume their
love affair. After Jafar, now the caliph’s chamberlain, fails in tempting Jamal with the throne if he
kills the caliph, he rapes Ariella and dies by Jamal’s hand. Banished, Jamal must leaves his sword
behind.
Luther’s life transforms: he divorces Audrey, grows physically stronger, and begins writing
Jamal’s story. Now a professor at Columbia, he encounters a visitor who appears as a young
woman but identifies themselves as Ibrahim, a fluid-gendergender-fluid Celestial Guardian, who
warns that Luther’s task is approaching.
Captured in Aquitaine, Jamal is dragged by guards of Adelheid, Lady of Xantes. Luther nearly
dies from the dragging and awakens wearing Jamal’s lost ring. Unmasked as Adelheid’s lover,
Jamal is sent to fight the Franks and is defeated by Idris, Ibrahim’s former bodyguard.
Jamal regains his sword from Idris, now serving Charles, duke Duke of the Franks. Charles
recognizes Jamal’s ring as belonging to Count Hugobert, who died at Carthage, and names Jamal
his son and heir. When the cCaliph’s army advances toward France under Abd al Rahman, Jamal
leaves Charles to join his comrade-in-arms and chosen brother. Luther reconciles with Audrey
and realizes his moment has come when he opens a history book and finds history rewritten: a
Muslim victory at Tours leading to eternal wars of retaliation.centuries of war. Only he can
ensure events unfold as they should—with a Frankish triumph that halts the Caliphate’s
caliphate’s advance.
At Tours, Jamal saves Abd al Rahman from a Frankish spear, but is struck down by someone he
knows yet cannot see. It is Luther. Abd al Rahman turns to help him and is killed. The Muslim
host collapses, leaving the field to Charles. Luther publishes Jamal’s story as a historical fantasy.
Jamal curses Ibrahim for his weakness until he learns Ariella, now widowed, awaits him. They
reunite.
Centuries later, after the Muslims retake Jerusalem, the victorious emir contemplates the
inscription on his sword: “First the Word; then the Sword.” It is Saladin.
