The life of saladin pdf

He is central to Arab memories, sensibilities and the ideal of a unified Islamic state. In this authoritative biography, historian John Man brings Saladin and his world to life in vivid detail. Charting his rise to power, his struggle to unify the warring factions of his faith, and his battles to retake Jerusalem and expel Christian influence from Arab lands, Saladin explores the life and the enduring legacy of this champion of Islam, and examines his significance for the world today.

He conquers the infidel Franj, or Crusaders, and reclaims the holy city of Jerusalem while remaining true to his senses of honor, justice, and humor. When it comes time for Saladin to record his own story, he turns to a Jewish scribe. In the interlinking stories of The Book of Saladin, the mighty sultan deftly navigates the deep chasms separating Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The author uses many primary sources of contemporary Muslim historians as well as the earlier writings on the subject by Sir Walter Scott as references and constructs a detailed and in-depth look inside the life of the famous Islamic king.

As the man who united the Arabs and saved Islam from Christian crusaders in the twelfth century, he is the Islamic world's preeminent hero. A ruthless defender of his faith and brilliant leader, he also possessed qualities that won admiration from his Christian foes. This book explores the contribution of southern Italy and Sicily to the crusades and crusader states. By adopting the theme of identity as a tool of analysis, it argues that a far more nuanced picture emerges about the relationship than the dismissive portrayal by William of Tyre in his Chronicon, which has largely been accepted by later historians.

Building upon previous scholarship in relation to Norman identity, it widens the discussion to evaluate the role of more fluid and evolving Italo-Norman and Italo-Sicilian identities, and how these shaped events. In so doing, this book also argues that the relationship between the territories needs to be considered in different dimensions: direct involvement of leaders and rulers versus indirect engagement through the geography of southern Italy and Sicily.

Over time, and as identities change, these two dimensions converge, making the kingdom itself a leading participant in crusading. A major new history of the Crusades with an unprecedented wide scope, told in a tableau of portraits of people on all sides of the wars, from the author of Powers and Thrones.

For more than one thousand years, Christians and Muslims lived side by side, sometimes at peace and sometimes at war. When Christian armies seized Jerusalem in , they began the most notorious period of conflict between the two religions. Depending on who you ask, the fall of the holy city was either an inspiring legend or the greatest of horrors. In Crusaders, Dan Jones interrogates the many sides of the larger story, charting a deeply human and avowedly pluralist path through the crusading era.

Expanding the usual timeframe, Jones looks to the roots of Christian-Muslim relations in the eighth century and tracks the influence of crusading to present day. He widens the geographical focus to far-flung regions home to so-called enemies of the Church, including Spain, North Africa, southern France, and the Baltic states.

By telling intimate stories of individual journeys, Jones illuminates these centuries of war not only from the perspective of popes and kings, but from Arab-Sicilian poets, Byzantine princesses, Sunni scholars, Shi'ite viziers, Mamluk slave soldiers, Mongol chieftains, and barefoot friars.

Crusading remains a rallying call to this day, but its role in the popular imagination ignores the cooperation and complicated coexistence that were just as much a feature of the period as warfare. The age-old relationships between faith, conquest, wealth, power, and trade meant that crusading was not only about fighting for the glory of God, but also, among other earthly reasons, about gold. In this richly dramatic narrative that gives voice to sources usually pushed to the margins, Dan Jones has written an authoritative survey of the holy wars with global scope and human focus.

Presenting numerous interconnected insights into life in Greater Syria in the twelfth century, this book covers a wide range of themes relating to Crusader-Muslim relations. Some chapters deal with various literary sources, including little-known Crusader chronicles, a jihad treatise, a lost Muslim history of the Franks, biographies, letters and poems.

Other chapters look at material culture, from coins to urban development, internal relations between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims and between Crusader and Oriental Christians, and the role of the Turkmen. New insights into the career of Saladin are revealed, for example through the work of a little-known propagandist at his court, and Saladin's use of gift-giving for political purposes, as well as neglected aspects of the rule of his family dynasty, the Ayyubids, which succeeded him.

Chronicle of a legendary figure by two of his contemporaries. Saladin, one of the most prominent figure of the time of the Crusades, was a great muslim leader, respected and praised even by his Crusader foes.

Includes genealogical charts of kings and noblemen associated with the search for the grail. On the same day, having occasion to present myself before the Sultan, I acquainted him with the business. He thought the claim utterly absurd, and asked if I had examined the written document. I replied that it had been taken to Damascus, and laid before the kadi there, who had examined it officially, and appended a certificate to that effect, which was witnessed by the signatures of various well- known persons.

I was by the side of the prince. He then left the couch on which he was sitting, and placing himself by the side of the man, called upon him to state his case. He accordingly set forth his claim in the manner related above, and the Sultan replied in these words: 'This Sonkor was a memluk of mine; he never ceased to be my property till the time when I gave him his freedom; he is dead, and his heirs have entered upon the inheritance he left: Then the man answered and said: 'I hold in my hand an instrument that will prove the truth of what I state.

The Sultan, having informed himself of the date of the paper, replied: ' I have witnesses to prove that at the said date Sonkor was in my possession and at Cairo; the year previous I had bought him with eight others, and he remained in my possession till he received his freedom. The plaintiff was confounded, and I said to the Sultan: 'My lord! Observe the rare and admirable qualities shown by the Sultan in this matter, his condescension, his submission to the regulations prescribed by law, the putting aside of his pride, and the generosity he displayed at a time when he might justly have inflicted a punishment.

Among our traditions Hadith are several which relate to generosity. This quality of the Sultan's character-may God hallow his soul! Nevertheless, I will just allude to it, and mention that he who had possessed such abundance of riches, left in his treasury, at his death, but forty-seven Na"ri dirhems, and one Tyrian gold piece, the weight of which I do not know.

Yet he had given away whole provinces. When he took the city of Amid,' he bestowed it upon the son of Kara ArsHln,2 who had asked him for it. I was present on one occasion at Jerusalem, when he received a great number of deputations, just as he was departing for Damascus, and had not sufficient money in the treasury to make presents to the delegates. I continually reminded him of this, until at last he sold one of his farms to the public treasury beit el-mal , in order that he might distribute the price it among them.

This was done with our help, and in the end there remained not a single dirhem, He gave just as liberally when he was in straits as when he was in the enjoyment of plenty. His treasurers were always careful to conceal from him certain sums of money, as a provision for unforeseen contingencies; for they knew that if he saw them he would spend them at once. He always gave more than they expected to those who asked. See -p. This was so well known that people were always trying to make opportunities for getting money from him.

I never once heard him say: 'I have already given to you several times; how often shall I have to give to you again? I was often ashamed at the greed shown by those who asked; but I never hesitated to approach the Sultan in their behalf, knowing how generous and kind-hearted he was. No one ever entered his service without receiving from him such gifts as rendered it unnecessary for him ever to court another's generosity.

To enumerate his gifts, and to describe their varied forms, would be a task impossible to fulfil in any satisfactory way. In a conversation on this subject. I once heard the chief of the Divan declare: 'We kept an account of the number of horses he gave away in the plain of Acre alone, and it mounted up to ten thousand;" Those who have witnessed the multitude of his gifts will think but little of this.

Great God, Thou it was who didst inspire his generosity, Thou, the most generous among the generous! THE Holy Prophet is reported to have said: 'God loves bravery, even if displayed only in killing a serpent. One evening there came up more than seventy of the1 enemy's ships; it took me the whole of the time between the 'Asr prayer! On another occasion, at the commencement of the rainy season, he gave leave to his troops, and remained himself, attended by very few men, in the face of a strong force of the enemy.

On the day when peace was concluded, BAlian, son of Bftrizfm,2 one of the chief princes of the coast, was seated before the Sultan, and I inquired of him what was the number of their troops. The Lord of Sidon said there were five hundred thousand; I said six hundred thousand.

I According to tradition, the 'Asr prayers can be said from the time when the shadow of a person is the length of his own stature, till the sun assumes a yellow appearance. The Maghrib prayers commence a few moments after sunset. When we were close upon the enemy, the Sultan insisted on making a reconnaissance round their army once or twice every day. In the height of the fighting he used to pass between the two lines of battle.

He would make his way in front of his own troops from the right wing to the left, intent on the marshalling of his battalions, calling them up to the front, and stationing them in positions which he deemed advantageous to command the enemy or to approach them. On one occasion, whilst standing between the two armies, he ordered that some traditions should be read to him. It is a fact. I told him that traditions could be read in all important places, but that there was no instance of its having been done between two armies.

I added that if his Highness would like such a thing told of him, it would be fine. He listened to this. A volume was brought, and someone who was present, and had studied the book, read to him from it. Meanwhile, we remained on horseback, sometimes walking up and down, sometimes standing still, but all the while on the ground between the two armies.

I never heard him express any anxiety as to the numbers or force of the enemy. Whilst occupied with his own thoughts and with the affairs of government, he would listen to all sorts of plans, and discuss their probable results without any excitement, and without losing his composure. When the Moslem army was routed in the great battle in the plain of Acre, and even the troops in the centre had taken to flight afrer throwing away their drums and standards, he maintained the position he had taken up, having only a handful of men to support him.

At last he managed to reach some rising ground, and there rallied his men. His reproaches made them so deeply ashamed that they returned with him to the fight. The Sultan continued to fight, but at last, seeing the strength of the enemy and the weakness of the Moslems, he listened to the proposals of his adversaries, and consented to a truce.

The fact was, that they were very much exhausted, and had suffered greater loss than we. But they expected the arrival of reinforcements, while we had none to hope for.

Thus it was for our advantage to conclude an armistice. This was recognised when Fate revealed what she had in her bosom for us. At this period the Sultan was very frequently ill, and suffered terrible pain; but he, nevertheless, kept the field throughout. Each army could see the fires of the other; we heard the sound of their bells! Nakus , and they heard our call to prayer. This state of things lasted for some time, and all ended for the best.

May God hallow the soul of this prince and shed light upon his tomb! And, of a truth, the Sultan entertained an ardent passion for the Holy War; his mind was always filled with it. Therefore one might swear, in absolute security and I The Ntikiis is a thin oblong piece of wood, which is beaten by a flexible rod.

It is still used by the Christians in many places in Asiatic Turkey to summon the people to worship. With him to wage war in God's name was a veritable. He spoke of nothing else; all his thoughts were of instruments of war; his soldiers monopolised every idea.

He showed all deference to those who talked of the Holy War and who encouraged the people to take partin it. His desire to fight in God's cause forced him to leave his family, his children, his native land, the place of his abode, and all else in his land. Leaving all these earthly enjoyments, he contented himself with dwelling beneath the shadow of a tent, shaken to the right hand and to the left by the breath of every wind.

One night, when he was in the plain of Acre, it happened, in a very high wind, that his tent fell upon him, and had he not been in the alcove," he would have lost his life. But this tended only to increase his passion, to strengthen his purpose, and confirm his resolution. Anyone anxious to ingratiate himself with the Sultan had only to encourage him in his passion for the Holy War and to narrate to him stories connected with it. Therefore, a number of treatises upon this subject were composed for his use, and I myself wrote a work, on his account, on the Holy War, and thetrules and precepts to be observed therein.

I incorporated in this work all the verses of the Kuran bearing upon the subject, all the traditions which refer to it, and an explanation of all the rare words. His Highness valued this treatise so highly, that I The Jiltlid, or religious war with unbelievers, is an incumbent religious duty, established in the Kuran, and in the Traditions as a Divine institution. Whilst on this subject, I will relate what I heard told. In the month of Zu el-K'ada, in the year December, IIJanuary, , he took the fortress of Kaukab,' and gave his troops permission to return home immediately.

After having attended the prayers at this festival, he conceived the idea of going to Ascalon with the Egyptian troops, and, after parting with them, of returning by the coast road, so as to inspect the coast lands as far as Acre, and restore order as he passed.

The , Kauknb el-Hatua Belvoir. In [ he obtained possession of Aleppo and Syria and, later, of Mesopotamia, Khelat He was born at Damascus in , and died near the same town in , after dividing his great empire amongst his sons Ibn Khallikan, iii.

It was instituted by Muhammad in the second year of the Hijra, and is the great central festival of Islam. The sacrifice forms part of the rites of the pilgrimage to Mecca. Sultan paid no attention to our remonstrances, but proceeded to Ascalon, where he took leave of his brother and the Egyptian army.. We departed with him to the coast, being at that time on duty about his person, and took the road towards Acre.

The rain fell, the sea was tossed to and fro, and the waves were like mountains, as the Most High has said in the Kuran, xi. This was the first time that I had ever seen the sea, and such was the impression it made upon me that if anyone had said, 'Go but one mile upon the sea, and I will make you master of the world,' I should have refused to go. I looked upon those who go to sea to earn a few pieces of gold or silver as mad, and I endorsed the opinion of the doctors who have declared that one cannot accept the evidence of a man who is travelling on the ocean.

Such were the thoughts that came into my mind at the sight of the terrible restlessness of the sea and the size of its waves.

While I gave myself up to these reflections, the Sultan turned to me and said: 'Would you like me to tell you something?

Will you now allow me to tell you what was passing through my own mind? Then I added: 'The intention of your Highness is excellent indeed.

Embark your troops, and let them depart; but you, who are the pillar and the bulwark of Islam, must not thus expose yourself and risk your life. Great God! Thou knowest he lavished his strength in defence of Thy Faith, and that he did all to deserve Thy mercy. I have seen our Sultan, in the plain of Acre, in great suffering from a sickness that had come upon him; an eruption of pustules appeared all over his body, from his waist to his knees, and this prevented him from sitting up.

Therefore he had all the dishes which had been prepared for him distributed among the people who were there.

In spite of that, he repaired to his wartent close to the enemy. After having drawn up his army, in order of battle, on the right wing, on the left, and in the centre, he remained on horseback from early morning until after mid-day prayer,' engaged in surveying the battalions, and again from the third hour of the afternoon until sunset.

During the whole time he bore most patiently the great pain caused by the throbbing of the tumours. Whilst we were at el-Kharruba," after the Sultan had been obliged to leave Tell el-Hajl the hill of partridges on account of illness, the Franks received news of his departure, and sallied from their camp in the hope of striking a blow at the Moslems.

It was the day on which they usually took their horses to the watering-place. They marched on as far as the wells el-Abar , which lay a day's journey away, and at the foot of Tell el-Hajl , The Sultan sent his baggage back in the direction of Nazareth, and allowed 'Imad ed-Dln," Lord of Sinjar, to accompany it, for this prince also was ill.

The Sultan himself maintained his position. The next day, seeing that the enemy were The mid-day prayer, SaMt cZ"hr, is said when the sun has begun to decline.

Tell ei-Haj! He was in possession of Aleppo when it was taken by Salah ed-Din. To el-Melek el-'A. He himself took up a' position threatening the enemy's rear. Directly he came down from the hill, a Frank was brought up who had just been made prisoner, and, as the unhappy man refused to embrace Islam, he had him beheaded in his presence.

The enemy continued their march to the river head, and, as they advanced, the Sultan made a flank movement so as to get in their rear, and cut them off from their camp. From time to time he halted to dismount, and rest under the shadow of a piece of cloth that was held over his head. Although the heat of the sun was excessive, he would not suffer a tent to be pitched, for fear that the enemy might learn that he was ill.

The Franks, having reached the river head," halted, and the Sultan took up a commanding position on rising ground opposite to them. He was brave, and successful in war, and particularly distinguished himself at the battle of Hattin. When his father died he took possession of Damascus, but was driven out by his brother el-Melek el-'Aziz. On his brother's death I [98 he became Atabeg, ' guardian' to his nephew, el-Melek el-Mansur ; but when el-'Adel took possession of Egypt, he was given Sumeisat Samosata , where he died in , aged 54 years Ibn Khallikan, ii, J The Belus River, S.

He himself withdrew to the rear with us, who were on duty, and had his tent pitched on the summit of the hill. His physician and I passed the night in ministering to him. His sleep, which was often broken, lasted till daybreak. At the sound of the trumpet he mounted his horse, and drew up his troops with a view of surrounding the enemy. Their army then commenced to retire, towards the camp, from the west bank of the river, and the Moslems pressed close upon them during the whole of that day.

One after another he sent all the members of his suite to the fight, until at last he had no one with him but his physician, myself, the inspector of military stores and equipment, and the young pages who bore the banners and standards-not a soul beside. Anyone seeing these standards from afar would have thought that a great number of people were drawn up beneath them. The enemy continued their march in spite of their losses. Every time a man was killed, they buried him at once, and they carried off their wounded so that no one might know the extent of their loss.

We watched every movement of their retreat, and perceived that they were sorely harassed before they reached the bridge 1 and made a stand. Each time they halted the Moslems drew off, for as soon as the Franks formed line. Until the evening. He gave orders that this night should be passed like the last. We again took up our former positions, and occupied them until morning. This day our troops began to annoy the enemy as they J The bridge over the Belus, 3t miles S. On nearing the camp, they received reinforcements that enabled them to reach it in safety.

What patience we here see displayed! Do not refuse him his reward, Thou who art merciful above all! I was present on the day when he received the news of the death of his son Ism'ail, a young man just in the flower of his youth. He read the contents of the letter, but said nothing about it to anyone. We learnt the loss he had sustained through another channel. His face had given no sign whilst he read the despatch, but we had seen the tears in his eyes.

One night, whilst we were under the walls of Safed,' a fortified city to which he was laying siege, I heard him say: We will not sleep to-night until they have planted five mangonels,' and at each mangonel he stationed workmen sufficient to put it together.

We spent the night with him most pleasantly, enjoying a charming conversation, whilst all the time messengers kept arriving, one after another, to report the progress made in the construction of these engines. By morning the work was finished, and nothing remained but to lay the' Khanazlr.

It was considered impregnable. These machines acted by means of a great weight fastened to the short arm of a lever, which, being let fall, raised the end of the long arm with a great velocity.

Other parts of the mangonel were the wheel luleb for winding the rope attached to the.. I was present when he received the news of the death of his nephew, Taki ed-Din, We were encamped at the time with a detachment of light cavalry in the neighbourhood of Ramleh, opposite to the Franks.

Their troops were stationed at Yazur,' and so near to us that they could have reached us by a short gallop. He then drew out the letter and read it, weeping so much that those who were present wept with him, without knowing the cause of his sorrow.

Then, his voice choked with tears, he announced to them that Taki ed-Din was dead. Cease your weeping, and turn your thoughts to something else. He then enjoined us to say nothing on this subject to any person. Then, having called for a little rose-water, he bathed his eyes, and ordered a meal to be served, of which we were all to partake. Noone knew anything of what had occurred until the enemy had withdrawn in the direction of Jaffa.

We subsequently retired again to N atrCln,2 where we had left our baggage. It has been proposed to read fendelr, the popular form of zendftr, ' chains,' for khamizi,.. He trusted in God to maintain the war against the infidels. Our Sultan was most indulgent to all who were at fault, and very rarely did he show anger.

I was on duty, in the presence, at Merj 'Ayl1n 1 some time before the Franks attacked Acre-may God enable us to cenquer it! It was his custom to ride out each day at the hour appointed for mounting on horseback; afterwards, when he dismounted, he had dinner served, and ate with all his suite.

Then he retired to a specially-reserved tent, where he took a siesta. On awaking, he used to say his prayers, and remain alone with me for some time. He then read some passages from a collection of traditions, or a treatise on law. He was noted for his learning and piety, and, besides works on Moslem law, wrote an explanation of obscure terms in the traditions.

He settled at Tyre, and was drowned in the Red Sea whilst returning from the pilgrimage , when he was over 80 years of age Ibn Khallikan, i, One day, having returned at the usual hour, he presided at the meal which he had ordered to be prepared, and was about to retire when he was informed that the hour of prayer was at , hand. He had already dismissed all those who were not on duty. Shortly afterwards an old mernluk, for whom he entertained great esteem, entered the tent, and presented a petition onbehalf of the volunteers who were fighting for the faith.

His master, seeing the name which stood at the head of the petition, remarked that this man was justly entitled to a favourable hearing.

Whilst he was notifying his approval on the petition, I remarked to him: 'God said to His Holy Prophet: Thou art of a grand nature Kuran lxviii. Where is there another man who would answer one under his authority with such gentleness? Here, indeed, were kindness and gentleness carried to their utmost limits, and God wastes not the nire of those wko do wen Kuran ix. One day, when I was on duty, the mule I rode started off, terrified at some camels, and he forced me against the Sultan with such violence that I hurt his thigh; but he only smiled-may God be merciful to him l On another occasion--on a rainy, windy day-I rode into Jerusalem before him on my mule, and it was so muddy that, as she splashed along, the mud was spattered even over him, and his clothes were quite spoilt.

But he only laughed, and seeing that I wanted to get behind him, he would not suffer me to do so. The people who came to implore his help or to complain to him of injustice sometimes addressed him in the most unseemly manner, but he always listened smiling, and attended to their requests.

Here is an instance, the like of which it would be difficult to find on record: The brother of the king of the Franks- was marching on Jaffa, for our troops had withdrawn from the vicinity of the enemy and returned to en-N atrun, From this place to J Probably Henry of Champagne is here intended. He marched from Acre to relieve Jaffa in II He married Isabel, half-sister of Sibyl, wife of King Guy, and was in this sense his brother.

King Richard had left Jaffa when Salah ed-Din attacked it, but returned from Haifa by sea, and, landing August I, , defeated Salah ed-Dln's forces outside the walls. Henry of Champagne arrived later. See chap. Jaffa is two long or three ordinary marches for an arrny.! The Sultan ordered his troops to march in the direction of Czesarea, hoping to fall in with reinforcements expected by the Franks, and to take any advantage possible.

The Franks in Jaffa had notice of this manoeuvre, and the king of England, who was there with a large force, embarked the greater portion of it, and sent it by sea to Caesarea, fearing lest some mischance should befall the reinforcements. He himself remained at Jaffa,' knowing that the Sultan and his army had withdrawn. When the Sultan reached the neighbourhood of Csesarea, he found that the reinforcements had entered that place and were safe, so that he could do nothing.

He therefore resumed his march the same evening just as night began to close in, pushed on until daybreak, and appeared unexpectedly before Jaffa. The king of England was encamped outside the walls of the city, and had only seventeen knights with him 'and about three hundred foot-soldiers. At the first alarm this accursed man mounted his horse, for he was brave and fearless, and possessed excellent judgment in all military matters.

Instead of retiring into the city, he maintained his position in face of the Moslem troops who surrounded him on all sides except towards the sea , and drew up his own men in order of battle.

Boha ed-Din seems to reckon 10 miles a long march. Leaving them there, he ordered the tent which had been pitched for him to be struck, and his soldiers were withdrawn from their position. They felt certain that the Sultan that same day would crucify a great number. His son, el-Melek ez-Zaher, told me that he was so afraid on this occasion that he did not dare to come into his father's sight, although he had charged the enemy and pushed forward until he had received the countermanding order.

The Sultan, he said, continued his retreat, and did not halt until he reached Vil. Here a small tent was pitched for him, in which he rested. The troops also encamped in the places where they had halted before, and bivouacked under slight shelter," as is usual in such cases. There was not one of the emirs but trembled for himself, expecting to suffer a severe punishment or reprimand at the hands of the Sultan.

When I went in, I saw that he had just received a quantity of fruit that had been sent to him from Damascus. Send for the emirs," he said, " let them come and taste. They entered trembling, but he received them with smiles and so graciously that they were reassured and set at their ease. And when they left his presence they were ready to march as though nothing had happened.

What true gentleness of heart! There is nothing like it in these days, and the history of former kings does not afford us any similar instance. I 2 He only retreated 3t miles. Sawtlwiniat, plural from Sawdni, 'a cloth. THE Holy Prophet said: 'I have been sent to make manifest in all their beauty the noble qualities of the soul. And so, too, our Sultan was very noble of heart; his face expressed kindliness, his modesty was great, and his politeness perfect. No visitor ever came to him without being given to eat, and receiving what he desired.

He greeted everyone, even infidels, politely. For instance, after the conclusion of peace in the month of Shawal, in the year October to November, A. This prince had come to ask something from him, and the Sultan gave him back el-' Amk,' which territory he had acquired in the year A.

So, too, I was present at Nazareth when the Sultan received the visit of the Lord of Sidon; he showed him every mark of respect, treated him with honour, and admitted him to his own table. He even proposed to him that he should embrace Islam, set before him some of the beauties of our religion, and urged him to adopt it.

He always gave a kind reception to sheikhs, to all learned and gifted men, and to the various influential I The great plain of eI-'Amk was known in ancient times as the Plain of Antioch.

It lies N. He enjoined us to present to him every notable sheikh passing through the camp, so that he might exercise his generosity. In the year A. He had just performed the pilgrimage HaJ and visited Jerusalem i then, having inspected that city, and having seen there works of the Sultan, he conceived the wish to see him. He arrived in the camp, and entered my tent unannounced. I made haste to bid him welcome, and asked what motive had brought him thither. He answered that the sight of the wonderful and beautiful works of the Sultan had inspired him with the desire to see him.

I reported this to the Sultan the same night, and he ordered the man to be presented to him. He learnt from his lips a tradition concerning the Prophet, and listened to a discourse pronounced by his visitor, who exhorted him to practice good works. This man passed the night with me in my tent, and after morning prayer took his leave. I remarked to him that it would be very unseemly to depart without bidding the , A SClfi is a man who professes the mystic principles of the Tasaunuuf, or Sfrflism.

The principal occupation of a Sufi, whilst in the body, is meditation on the Unity of God, the remembrance of God's names, and progressive advancement in the journey of life, so as to attain unification with God. Join over The British respond by sending in troops and Germany and Italy can only help by sending in planes and a small group of paratroopers. This is the story of those paratroopers and the British who fought them, an effort that became bigger with Operation Orient.

Flying a Dutch flag, the Vandetta is moored alongside the dock in the port of Kingston, Jamaica. On board, meeting secretly, are four pirate captainsthree former royal navy captains and a Duke of the Realmmaking a plan to exact revenge and retribution on those responsible for their loss of income,. He conquers the infidel Franj, or Crusaders, and reclaims the holy.

An engaging biography that offers a new perspective on one of the most influential figures of the Crusades In , Saladin marched triumphantly into Jerusalem, ending decades of struggle against the Christians and reclaiming the holy city for Islam.

Four years later he fought off the armies of the Third Crusade,. Get The Waverley Novels Books now!