tation with his aunt Farad'n, having assisted in setting up the encounter, could do little to help with it Following Alia s plunge from her Temple aerie, however, ihe accounts teil of the young Cornno performing a function for his teacher CORRINO, FARAD N CORRINO, FARAD'N no one else would attempt It was Farad'n who comforted the Lady Jessica as she wept for her children In 10219, with the ascension of Leto II, Farad'n-now Harq al-Ada-was appointed Royal Scnbe, responsible for maintaining records and histories for the Impenum It was his official role, and one in which the scholarly Harq al-Ada excelled His unofficial role, the one Leto II more urgently demanded of him, was that of mate to Ghamma, the emperor's sister All the accounts in the memoirs and m the Book of Ghamma detail a lovmg relationship with Ghamma, first as friends then as lovers and parents, and finally as colleagues in their literary work While Ghamma was maturing physically, Farad'n acted as her tutor and as her companion, beginning the histories and translations they would continue to wnte throughout their life together Though fte overt motivation for their ten children came from Leto's breeding program, Farad'n and Gharnrna enjoyed raising their large family Apparently Leto wanted hi!> new line to unite the Cornno and Fearing traits with Gharuma's Atreidcs-HaricomEn/Liet-Kynes heritage Farad'n was delighted with his children, particularly with his eldest son Trebor and his daughter Jeunne who had inherited her grandmother Anunl's musical talent Prepared by Lady Jessica's iBStruction, Harq al-Ada accepted both his functions with an impressive dignity His prowess as an historian is illustrated, many times over, by the writings he left behind it would be possible to completely outfit a library with the works of Harq al-Ada Many of his books-^most notably, Testament of Arrakis and The Story of Lwt-Kyttes1**-were applauded as seminal works dealing with the planet whose destiny so closely intertwined with that of humanity at large These, combined with his other words, would have been enough to give him a well-earned reputation as an author, curiously, however, it was for writings not his own that Harq al-Ada acquired a reputation more exalted still The first two centuries of Leto H's reign were marked by an upsurge m all the arts, but most particularly in the art of the stage (It has been suggested, and probably with truth, that the climate of Imperial encouragement was due in part to the Royal Scnbe, who had been patron to several artists and musicians even before his move to Arrakis) One figure especially stands out even amid so much excellence Harq al-Harba, whose match m historical playwntmg has yet to be found His first piay, The \andnder, was produced in Arrakeen in 10280 It dealt, as did the author's later works with the history of Arrakis, and brought to a much larger audience the kind of information provided scholars and academically inclined readers by the writings of Harq al-Ada Many prominent historians m the centuries between this time and our own have suggested that this overlap was not comu-dental A quote from The Prince/The Playwright, by Cybele Hank, best explains their line of thought It was a favorite axiom of Harq al Ada's that the medicine of knowledge, in order to be effective, had often to be disguised It seems safe to assume, then, that he was sufficiently astute to realize that a dramatic treatment of his histories would better reach the masses of Impenal citizens than the strict tonic represented by his books There are other clues pointing to the al Ada/al Harba identities being the same of course- the pla>wnght's refusal ever to appear m public the convenient fitting in of his own hfespan to that of the historian, the non availability of even the most basic information concerning the dramatist s life-but they serve chiefly as confirmation of that one assumption Harq al Ada was raised as a prince, trained as a Bene Gessent shaped as a valuable tool It should be obvious that such a person would recognize instantly a means so favorable to achieving his chosen ends2 This theory, which occasionally waned in popularity but never completely disappeared, may finally have been discredited by recently translated fragments from the Rakis Hoard (see entry THE AL HARBA QUESTION) Both in his Notes and in other Atreides materials some evidence suggests that Farad'n might have had traces of prescience For example, Farad'n comments on his one meeting with the Prophet, Paul Atreides CORRINO, FARAD'N CORRINO, RUGI 1 shall always remember that blind old man who seemed to see into my soul.