Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb ( Arabic: ﺻﻼﺡ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻳﻮﺳﻒ ﺑﻦ ﺃﻳﻮﺏ ; Kurdish: ﺳﻪﻻﺣﻪﺩﯾﻦ ﺋﻪﯾﻮﺑﯽ , Selahedînê Eyûbî; Persian : ﺻﻼﺡ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺃﻳﻮﺑﯽ ; Turkish : Selahattin Eyyubi ) (1137/1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin , was the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty . A Muslim of Kurdish[1][2][3] origin, Saladin led the Muslim opposition against the European Crusaders in the Levant . At the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia , Hejaz , Yemen , and other parts of North Africa . Originally sent to Fatimid Egypt by his Zengid lord Nur ad-Din in 1163, Saladin climbed the ranks of the Fatimid government by virtue of his military successes against Crusader assaults on its territory and his personal closeness to the caliph al-Adid . When Saladins uncle Shirkuh died in 1169, al-Adid appointed Saladin vizier , a rare nomination of a Sunni Muslim to such an important position in the Shia Muslim-led caliphate. During his term as vizier, Saladin began to undermine the Fatimid establishment and following al-Adids death in 1171, he took over government and realigned the countrys allegiance with the Baghdad -based Abbasid Caliphate . In the following years, he led forays against the Crusaders in Palestine , ordered the successful conquest of Yemen and staved off pro-Fatimid rebellions in Upper Egypt . Not long after the death of Nur ad-Din in 1174, Saladin personally led the conquest of Syria, peacefully entering Damascus at the request of its ruler. By mid-1175, Saladin had conquered Hama and Homs , inviting the animosity of his former Zengid lords, who had been the official rulers of Syria. Soon after, he defeated the Zengid army in battle and was thereafter proclaimed the Sultan of Egypt and Syria by the Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi. He made further conquests in northern Syria and Jazira and escaped two attempts on his life by the Assassins , before returning to Egypt in 1177 to address issues in Egypt. By 1182, Saladin completed the conquest of Syria after capturing Aleppo , but ultimately failed in taking over the Zengid stronghold of Mosul. Under Saladins personal leadership, the Ayyubid army defeated the Crusaders at the decisive Battle of Hattin in 1187, leading the way to the Muslims re-capture of Palestine from the Crusaders who had conquered it 88 years earlier. Though the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem would continue to exist for an extended period, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslim powers of the region. Saladin has become a prominent figure in Muslim, Arab, and Kurdish culture .[4] His reportedly noble and chivalrous behavior was noted, even by Christian chroniclers, and despite being the nemesis of the Crusaders, he purportedly won the respect of many of them, including Richard the Lionheart who led the Third Crusade. [5] In 1193 he died in Damascus, having given much of his wealth to his subjects. Saladin is buried in a mausoleum adjacent to the Umayyad Mosque . Sources Among Saladins admirers who produced personal biographies are the historians: Qadi al-Fadil from Ascalon , Imad al-Din al-Isfahani , and Bahā al-Dīn , a jurist from Mosul. Ibn al- Athir (d. 1233), on the other hand, produced a more hostile picture. Certainly Imad al-Din al- Isfahani shows a deep admiration for Saladin, but his greatness appears wholly as a corollary from the facts themselves. Throughout the Barq he is presented in human and realistic terms, even more than in Bahā al-Dīn s biography. [6] Early life Saladin was born in Tikrit, Mesopotamia. His personal name was Yusuf; Salah ad-Din is a laqab, a descriptive epithet, meaning Righteousness of the Faith. [7] His family was of Kurdish ancestry, [1] and had originated from the city of Dvin in medieval Armenia .[8][9] The Rawadid tribe he hailed from had been partially assimilated into the Arabic-speaking world by this time. [10] In 1132 the defeated army of the Imad ad-Din Zengi, the Lord of Mosul , found their retreat blocked by the Tigris River opposite the Tikrit fortress where Saladins father, Najm ad-Din Ayyub served as the warden. Ayyub provided ferries for the army and gave them refuge in Tikrit. Mujahed al-Din Bihruz, a former Greek slave who had been appointed the military governor of northern Mesopotamia for his service to the Seljuks had reprimanded Ayyub for giving Zengi refuge and in 1137, banished Ayyub from Tikrit after his brother Asad al-Din Shirkuh killed a friend of Bihruz in an honour killing. According to Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad , Saladin was born the same night his family left Tikrit. In 1139, Ayyub and his family moved to Mosul where Imad ad-Din Zengi acknowledged his debt and appointed Ayyub commander of his fortress in Baalbek . After the death of Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din , became the regent of Aleppo and the leader of the Zengids.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:06:52 +0000
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