Hardcover(Revised ed.)
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Overview
Saladin, or Salah-al-Din (1138-1193), Sultan of Egypt and Syria, is perhaps best known as the implacable warrior who led his Saracen forces against the third crusade (1189-92) under King Richard I - Richard Lionheart.
Resolved to drive out the Christians from Palestine, Saladin had earlier defeated them in battle at Tiberius in 1187. He then went on to capture Acre, Ascalon and Jerusalem.
These Holy Wars were among the bloodiest in history, for both sides saw it as a responsibility of their faith to kill as many non-believers as possible. Massacres of women and children, and frightful atrocities to the vanquished, stain the reputation of both sides. Saladin, alone, stands as a man
of magnanimous spirit and generosity. Even among his enemies he was regarded as a pattern for chivalric courage and honour. As the author himself states: 'If the taking of Jerusalem were the only known fact about Saladin, it were enough to prove him the most chivalrous and great-hearted conqueror of any age."
Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931) writes sensitively on his subject and, although first published in 1898, his biography of Saladin remains a primary source for historians. This facsimile of the first edition, complete with original illustrations, will enable a wider readership to acquaint themselves with the life of a remarkable man.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781850770688 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Darf Publishers Ltd. |
| Publication date: | 01/01/1941 |
| Edition description: | Revised ed. |
| Pages: | 528 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.06(w) x 7.81(h) x 1.14(d) |
Read an Excerpt
THE LIFE OF SALADIN. CHAPTER I. Saladin's World. IN the year 1132 a broken army, flying before its pursuers, reached the left bank of the Tigris. On the other side, upon a steep cliff, stood the impregnable Fortress of Tekrit, defended landwards by a deep moat and accessible only by secret steps cut in the rock and leading from the heart of the citadel to the water's edge. The one hope of the fugitives was to attain the refuge of the castle, and their fate turned upon the disposition of its warden. Happily he chose the friendly part, and provided a ferry by which they crossed to safety. The ferry boats of the Tigris made the fortunes of the house of Saladin. The flying leader who owed his life to their timely succour was Zengy, the powerful lord of Mosil; and in later days, when triumph returned to his standards, he did not forget the debt he owed Tekrit, but, ever mindful of past services, carried itswarden onward and upward on the wave of his progress. This warden was Saladin's father. Ayyub (in English plain Job), surnamed after the fashion of the Saracens Nejm-ed-din, or " Star of the Faith," the fortunate commandant at this critical moment, although an oriental and a Mohammedan, belonged to the same great Aryan stock as ourselves, being neither Arab nor Turk, but a Kurd of the Rawadiya clan, born at their village of Ajda- nakan near Dawin in Armenia. From time immemorial the Kurds have led the same wild pastoral life in the mountain tracts between Persia and Asia Minor. In their clannishness, their love of thieving, their fine chivalrous sense of honour and hospitality, and their unquestioned courage, they resembled the Arabs of the " Days of Ignorance " before Islam, or theHighland Scots before the reforms of Marshal Wade. They have ever been a gallant and warlike...