Saladin courage and steadfastness summary

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Saladin courage and steadfastness summary

SALADIN’S COURAGE AND STEADFASTNESS
The crusaders who fought in the Third Crusade found that the Muslim leader Saladin was not at all what they had been told to expect. In short, except for his religion, he was a perfect illustration of the chivalrous knight. In the excerpt below from Arab Historians of the crusades, Baha’ ad-Din, one of Saladin’s court officials, discusses his great courage. As your read the excerpt, consider the impact that Saladin’s behavior had on the crusaders.
The Prophet is reported to have said: “God loves courage, even in the killing of a serpent.” Saladin was indeed one of the most courageous of men; brave, gallant, firm, intrepid in any circumstance. I remember when he was encamped facing a great Frankish army which was continuously growing with the addition of reinforcements and auxiliaries, and all the time his strength of will and tenacity of purpose increased. One evening more than seventy enemy ships arrived---I counted them myself---between the [early afternoon] prayer and sunset, and their only effect seemed to be to incense him the more. When winter came he had disbanded his arm and faces the enemy with only a small detachment of troops. I asked Balian ibn Barzan how many there were---he was one of the great Frankish kings of Palestine, and had an audience of the Sultan on the day when peace was singed---and he replied …: “The Prince of Sidon (another of their kings and commanders) and I came from Tyre to join our army. When we came within sight of them we laid a wager on the size of the army. He guessed 500,000, I guessed 600,000.” “And how many of them are dead?” “Killed in battle, 100,000; died of sickness or drowned, God alone knows.” And of that entire multitude only a small minority returned home.
Every day for as long as we were in close contact with the enemy he made it and inflexible rule to make one or two circuits of the enemy camp; in the thick of battle he would move through the ranks, accompanied only by a page with a warhorse led on a bridle. He would traverse the whole army from the right wing to the left, creating a sense of unity and urging them to advance and to stand firm at the right time. He directed his troops from a commanding height and followed the enemy’s movements from close at hand. He had certain sections of hadith [sayings of the Prophet] read up and down the army’s ranks….A section of the hadith was taken down to the troops, together with one who had made a regular study of them, and the reading was held while we were all in the saddle, sometimes advancing and sometimes at a halt between the ranks of the two armies.
I never saw him find the enemy too numerous or too powerful. He would ponder and deliberate, exposing each aspect of the situation and taking the necessary steps to deal with it, without becoming angry, for he was never irate. On the day of the great battle on the plain of Acre the centre of the Muslim ranks was broken, drums and flags fell to the ground, but he stood firm with a handful of men until he was able to withdraw all his men to the hill and then lead them down into battle again, shaming them into turning and fighting, so that although there were almost 7,000 infantry and Calvary kills that day God gave the Muslims victory over their enemies. He stood firm before overwhelming hordes of enemy soldiers until it became clear to him that the Muslims were exhausted, and then he agreed to a truce at the enemy’s request. The Franks were also exhausted and had suffered even heavier losses than we, but they could expect reinforcements, as we could not, so that peace was in our interest. . . .When he was ill, which happened often, or throughout the most appalling crises he stayed firmly in camp; the campfires of each side could be seen clearly be the other; we heard the sound of their bells and they heard our call to prayer.
Reading Review

What effect did the arrival of more than 70 enemy ships have on Saladin?
How did Saladin rally his troops in the thick of battle?
If you had been a crusader, how would you have viewed Saladin? Explain your answer.

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