"In the end I did go with my uncle. He conquered Egypt, then died. God then placed in my hands power that I had never expected."
BOLD= events directly related to Salah al-Din
Saladin's Ultimate Goal:
"to unify the Arab world, and to mobilize the Muslims, both morally, with the aid of a powerful propaganda apparatus, and militarily, in order to reconquer the occupied territories, above all Jerusalem" (Maalouf 180).
Significant Events and Battles Fought [before Jerusalem]:
Late October 1174: Victory over DamascusIn October of 1174, Saladin sent out an uncharacteristically violently toned letter to the emir's of Damascus who supported Nur al-Din's son, al-Salih who wanted to hold out against the vizier and possibly align with the Franj. The message served as "the declaration of war with which Saladin would begin the conquest of Muslim Syria" (Maalouf 180). Frightened, al-Salih and his collaborators fled from the approaching vizier and retreated to Aleppo. Upon Saladin's arrival into Damascus in late October, supporters of the Ayyub family welcomed him through the cities gates resulting in his victory, "won without a single sword stroke" (Maalouf 181).
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December 1174: King of Egypt and SyriaDuring the course of his lightning campaign, Salah al-Din claimed to be accting in the same of al-Salih, but the young monarch was not moved. Claiming "to protect King al-Salih from the nefarious influence of his advisers" (Maalouf 181), Saladin laid siege to Aleppo in December 1174. Al-Salih then assembled the people of his city to deliver a moving speech that would result in the Aleppans' decision to resist Saladin. Deciding to avoid direct conflict with Nur al-Din's son, Salah al-DIn lifted the siege but claimed himself "king of Egypt and Syria" so that he would no longer depend on any suzerain.
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18 June 1183: Ayyubid SovereigntyAt the end of 1181, al-Salih suddenly died and just eighteen months later, on 18 June 1183, Salah al-Din entered Aleppo. Unlike during Nur al-Din's reign when Egypt and Syria could only be called 'one' in name, the two sates were now 'one' "under the uncontested authority of the Ayyubid sovereign" (Maalouf 184). Surprisingly enough, the emerging power of the Arab world did not "induce the Franj to exhibit greater solidarity among themselves" (Maalouf 184). Instead, as Jerusalem's leper king sank into impotence, two rival clans led by Count Raymond of Tripoli and Reynald of Chatillon, embarked on a major power struggle.
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August 1176: Attack Mounted on AssassinsIn an effort to remove Saladin as a threat, Al-Salih's advisers resorted to the services of the Assassins and made contact with Rashid al-Din Sinan. Nevertheless, Saladin managed to survive the 1175 and the 22 May 1176 Assassin assaults. In August 1176, after regaining his wits, Saladin made the decision “to mount an attack on the lair of the Assassins in central Syria” (Maalouf 182). Out of the ten fortresses controlled by Rashid al-Din Sinan, Saladin laid siege to the most formidable one, Masyaf. Though there are two versions describing what may have happened during the seige, that day will forever remain a mystery. Whether it was because his entire family was threatened to be killed or because there were mysterious forces at work, Saladin reversed his policies towards the Assassins very suddenly and never again tried to threaten the territory of the Batinis. He even sought to conciliate the group so as to deprive all his enemies of an auxiliary.
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4 July 1187: Battle at Hittin
Saladin with King Guy
On the first of May in 1187, with the permission of Raymond, “seven thousand calvary under the command of one of Saladin’s lieutenants passed before the walls of Tiberias” (Maalouf 188) in order “to make a reconnaissance tour of the coast of Lake Galilee” (Maalouf 188). Though there were no incidents of attacking or looting the city, the Templars and Hospitallers did try to attack the Muslims near the village of Saffuriya before being quickly decimated. The Franj were frightened by this defeat and guilt-tripped Raymond into joiningg their side again. Tasting another chance at victory, the Muslim Emirs and soldiers were eager to “cross swords with the Franj” (Maalouf 189) and in June 1187, Saladin assembled his foot soldiers, auxiliary volunteers and 12,000 calvalry midway between Damascus and Tiberias. Determined to prevent his vassals and allies from returning home with their troops before the final victory was won for the fighting season, Saladin decided to lay a trap for the Franj in Tiberias. In a decision ultimately made by Reynald, the Franj set forth on the hot, exhausting march towards Tiberias with 12,000 soldiers on 3 July 1187. After a day of harassment by the Muslim army, the Franj finally reached a promontory which overlooked the small village of Hittin and Lake Tiberias below. Between the glimmering water and the tired and thirsty Frankish soldiers, however, stood the army of Saladin. At the break of dawn the next morning, “now surrounded and crazy with thirst” (Maalouf 191), the Franj desperately tried to make it down the hill, bearing their battle axes and maces, in an attempt to reach the lake. Unable to hold a line of defense and suffering from thirst, smoke, and heat, the Franj “believed that they could avoid death only by confronting it” (Maalouf 192), resulting in extreme violence and heavy losses for both sides. When only 150 of the Frankish knights remained, they continued to fight bravely above the village of Hittin. When finally the last tent, the king’s tent, went down, the Muslim army considered themselves victors. Saladin ended up sparing King Guy and most of the prisoners, but killed Reynald of Chatillon, the Templars, and the Hospitallers.
July 1187 -4 September 1187: Cities fall to Muslims
Just after the remarkable victory at Hittin, Saladin felt that it was necessary to take advantage of the depleted Frankish army and seize all the lands that were unjustly occupied. He started the Sunday after Hittin by attacking the Tiberias citadel where the wife of Raymond surrendered. After allowing the Tiberian defenders to leave unmolested, Saladin went on to march on the port of Acre the following Tuesday. The rich city capitulated without resistance and departed for Tyre with all of their riches and an escort provided by Saladin. By the order of the sultan, his emirs went on to “reduce the various strongholds of the Franj in Palestine” (Maalouf 194), including the Frankish settlements of Galilee and Samaria. The inhabitants of Nablus, Haifa, and Nazareth moved to either Tyre or Jerusalem. Aside from the city of Jaffa, the reconquest of the occupied cities was nearly bloodless. Even Saida, a location that had been occupied for seventy-seven years, capitulated without a fight on 29 July, followed by Beirut and Jubayl. Though Saladin would eventually regret his decision not to attack Tyre, he marched on to conquer Ascalon on 4 September 1187, followed by Gaza.
Stories"One day when Salāh al-Dīn was tired and was trying to rest, one of his mamlūks came to him and handed him a paper to sign. 'I am exhausted', said the Sultan, 'come back in an hour.' But the man insisted. He fairly stuck the page in Salāh al-Dīn's face, saying, 'Let the master sign!' The sultan replied, 'But I have no inkwell here.' He was seated at the entrance to his tent, and the mamlūk remarked that there was an inkwell inside. 'There is an inkwell, at the back of the tent', he cried, which meant, in effect, that he was ordering Salāh al-Dīn to go and get the inkwell himself, no less. The sultan turned, saw the inkwell, and said, ‘By God, you’re right.’ He reached back, bracing himself with his left hand, and grasped the inwell in his right. Then he signed the paper.”
~Bahā’ al-Dīn |
from“One day, in the midst of our campaign against the Franj, Salāh al-Dīn summoned his close companions. In his hand was a letter he had just finished reading, and when he tried to speak, he broke down. Seeing him in this state, we were unable to hold back our own tears, even though we did not know what was the matter. Finally, his voice choked with tears, he said ‘Taqi al-Dīn, my nephew, is dead.’ Then his warm tears began to flow again, as did ours. When I regained my composure I said to him, ‘Let us not forget the campaign in which we are engaged, and let us ask God to forgive us for having abandoned ourselves to this grief.’ Salāh al-Dīn agreed. ‘Yes’, he said, ‘may God forgive me! May God forgive me!’ He repeated these words several times, and then he added, ‘Let no one know what has happened!’ Then he had rose water brought to wash his eyes.”
~Bahā’ al-Dīn |
Admirers“Once, when I was riding at the sultan’s side against the Franj, an army scout came to us with a sobbing woman beating her breast. ‘She came from the Franj camp’, the scout explained, ‘and wants to see the master. We brought her here.’ Salāh al-Dīn asked his interpreter to question her. She said: ‘Yesterday some Muslim theives entered my tent and stole my little girl. I cried all night, and our commanders told me: the king of the Muslims is merciful; we will let you go to him and you can ask for your daughter back. Thus have I come, and I place all my hopes in you.’ Salāh al-Dīn was touched, and tears came to his eyes. He sent someone to the slave market to look for the girl, and less than an hour later a horseman arrived bearing the girl on his shoulders. As soon as she saw them, the girl’s mother threw herself to the ground and smeared her face with sand. All those present wept with emotion. She looked heavenward and began to mutter incomprehensible words. Thus was her daughter returned to her, and she was escorted back to the camp of the Franj.”
~Bahā’ al-Dīn |
"His treasurers always kept a certain sum hidden away for emergencies, for they knew that if the master learned of the existence of this reserve, he would spend it immediately. In spite of this precaution, when the sultan died and the state treasury contained no more than an ingot of Tyre gold and forty-seven dirhams of silver."
~Bahā’ al-Dīn |
“I was at my father’s side during the battle of Hittīn, the first I had ever seen. When the king of the Franj found himself on the hill, he and his men launched a fierce attack that drove our own troops back to the place where my father was standing. I looked at him. He was saddened; he frowned and pulled nervously at his beard. Then he advanced, shouting ‘Satan must not win!’ The Muslims again assaulted the hill. When I saw the Franj retreat under the pressure of our troops, I screamed with joy, ‘We have won!’ But the Franj attacked again with all their might, and once again our troops found themselves grouped around my father. Now he urged them into the attack once more, and they forced the enemy to retreat up the hill. Again I screamed, “We have beaten them!’ But my father turned to me and said , ‘Silence! We will have crushed them only when that tent on the hill has fallen!’ Before he had time to finish his sentence, the king’s tent collapsed. The sultan then dismounted, bowed down and thanked God, weeping for joy.”
~al-Malik al-Afdal |
"I said to the sultan: 'This patriarch is carrying off riches worth at least two hundred thousand dinars. We gave them permission to take their personal property with them, but not the treasures of the churches and convents. You must not let them do it!' But Salāh al-Dīn answered: ‘We must apply the letter of the accords we have signed, so that no one will be able to accuse the believers of having violated their treaties. On the contrary, Christians everywhere will remember the kindness we have bestowed upon them.’”
~Imād al-Dīn al-Asfahāni
~Imād al-Dīn al-Asfahāni
Citations:
Gibb, Sir Hamilton. Saladin: Studies in Islamic History. Beirut: The Arab Institute for Research and Publishing, 1974.
Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. New York: Schocken Books Inc., 1984.
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Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. New York: Schocken Books Inc., 1984.
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