By the 860s, Zahra had joined the Order of the Ancients, serving under Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa in the Abbasiyahdistrict of Baghdad. One day, she came across a mysterious manuscript written in an unknown languagein the House of Wisdom's library, and managed to steal it after Fazil caused a distraction in the form of a book burning.
Unable to decipher the manuscript, Zahra later kidnapped the scholar Hunayn ibn Ishaq and imprisoned him within the Scriptorium, where she forced him to translate the book under the threat of death. To cover her tracks, she killed the House of Wisdom's caretaker of books, leaving his body in the library.
Zahra and Fazil believed that the manuscript contained information which could make the latter's machine, the Alruh, function properly. However, Zahra was dismissive of Fazil's obsession with his device and a strange diskhe had found, and believed that getting the manuscript translated would prove her worth to the Order and allow her to rise in the ranks. Unfortunately for her, Hunayn proved unable to decipher the book and lied about his progress to Zahra so that she would not kill him.
Unbeknownst to Zahra, her plans were discovered by the Alamut Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, who rescued Hunayn from the Scriptorium and infiltrated her estate, where he awaited the Ancient's return. When Zahra eventually arrived home, escorted by her Turkic guards and servants, she sat down on a bench to relax, only to be assassinated by Basim moments later.