Portrait of Saladin

Saladin (1138-1193.2.16), the hero of Islamic history, was a Kurd. His father Ayyub moved his family from Tbilisi (present-day Georgia) to Tikrit in what is now northern Iraq, where he was named ruler by the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah. In 1168, the crusader King Amalik of Jerusalem led an attack on Egypt. At Egypt's request, the Zangi dynasty sent Shirko and Saladin's uncle and nephew to help. In January 1169, the victorious Shirko was appointed prime minister by the Fatimid caliph Adid. Two months later, Shirko died violently, and his Syrian army was embroiled in quarrels. Adid chose Saladin as prime minister.

In 1171, Saladin established himself in Egypt and began to plan to change the Shiite-dominated situation in Egypt. He replaced the Shiite judges with Sunnis and purged the local Egyptian generals. In the spring of 1174, Nur al-Din died of a sudden illness. Saladin escaped the shadow of the suzerain and took his place as the leader of the resistance to the crusaders. The Zangi dynasty was divided, and Saladin began to expand his power into Syria and Iraq. Many generals in the Syrian region invited Saladin to rule in Syria. In 1187, Saladin assembled his forces to attack the kingdom of Jerusalem, the strongest of the crusaders. Jerusalem surrendered. Saladin entered Jerusalem without killing a single person or burning a house. According to the agreement signed at the time of surrender, Saladin announced that all prisoners of war were released without a ransom. Saladin was generous and never stingy with money. When he died, he had only one gold coin and 47 silver coins. Saladin knew the value of wealth very well. He conquered Damascus with the wealth of Egypt, Aleppo with the wealth of Damascus, and Jerusalem with the wealth of Aleppo.

On February 16, 1193, Saladin contracted typhoid fever in Damascus and died suddenly.