00:00Welcome to This Explainer. Today, we're diving into the life of one of history's most legendary,
00:05yet frequently misunderstood figures, Salahuddin Ayyubi, who's known to much of the world simply
00:11as Saladin. Now, this is a story that goes way beyond just military conquests and old dates on
00:17a calendar. We're going to lean on the historical sources to really understand who this man was,
00:22what drove him, and how he navigated a deeply, deeply fractured world. We're going to start
00:28with a single narrative that I think perfectly captures his incredibly complex essence.
00:32So, picture this. It's the 12th century, right in the middle of a military camp in Syria.
00:37A trembling, absolutely terrified young girl is standing outside the tent of the most powerful
00:42man in the region. She's literally shaking with fear, but she gathers her courage,
00:47lifts the tent flap, and walks right in. Sitting before her is Sultan Saladin. When he asks what
00:52she wants, she stammers out this massive request. She says she's come to ask for the city of Izaz.
00:59Now, to understand the sheer weight of this, you have to know that Saladin had just fought a grueling,
01:05bloody, 38-day siege to conquer this exact city. I mean, he had even put his own life on the
01:11line
01:11to take it. So, you gotta wonder, why on earth would a conquering sultan just hand over a hard-won
01:18city
01:18to a girl sent by his rivals? Well, incredibly, the historical accounts tell us he didn't just
01:23give her the city. He gave her immense wealth and sent her safely on her way. Why? Because this girl
01:29was the daughter of his former mentor, Noradin Zangi. Zangi was a highly revered leader who famously
01:34protected the prophet's tomb, and out of pure respect for his late mentor, Saladin just handed
01:39over the prize of his entire military campaign. And this right here establishes the central theme
01:44we're exploring today. Saladin absolutely conquered lands, for sure, but more importantly, he conquered
01:49hearts through an unparalleled sense of mercy and honor. But look, his immense power wasn't just handed
01:55to him on a silver platter. At this time, the Islamic world was heavily fractured by rival dynasties and
02:01infighting emirs. It was a mess. Saladin actually climbed the ranks, starting as a military commander
02:06alongside his uncle Shirku, serving under Nuruddin Zangi. He was sent to Egypt, and following his
02:12uncle's death, Saladin took command. He stepped up, ended the deeply corrupted Fatimid rule, and became
02:17the governor of Egypt. Eventually, after Zangi died, and the emirs started fighting amongst themselves,
02:23Saladin transformed Egypt into an independent state and unified it with Syria, officially becoming an
02:28independent sultan. So what's really fascinating here is how he handled this sudden, massive power.
02:34When he became the governor of Egypt, he gained complete control over Cairo's entire treasury.
02:39But his personal cut of all that immense wealth? Zero. Absolutely zero. That is exactly how much he
02:46kept for himself. The sources note that the people of Egypt had literally never seen such a generous
02:51ruler. The moment he took power, he distributed the entire treasury to the poor. He didn't keep a single
02:57coin for his own luxury. Which brings us to chapter one, the cult of assassins and surviving the
03:04Hashishin. You know, rising to power that fast and unifying the region deeply angered his former
03:10rivals. Unable to defeat him on a normal battlefield, they bought the services of a shadowy group of
03:14trained killers led by Sheikh Sinan. These were the original Hashishin. Which, fun fact, is actually where
03:20the English word assassin comes from. The historical accounts here read like a tense Hollywood thriller.
03:25First, a group of killers infiltrated his camp, but they were caught and killed. Then, an assassin
03:30actually managed to get right up to Saladin and struck him in the head with a knife. But get this,
03:34the blade miraculously hit a hidden iron helmet Saladin was wearing under his turban,
03:38completely saving his life. But it was the third attempt that was the real game changer.
03:42One night, Saladin woke up in his tent to find all the lamps blown out. In the pitch black,
03:47right beside his bed, lay a dagger and a note simply stating that he was entirely at their mercy.
03:51The assassins had completely bypassed his elite guards and vanished without a trace.
03:55Now, most rulers would have burned the entire region to the ground in blind vengeance. But
04:00Saladin, he was actually deeply impressed by their stealth and audacity. He realized that living with
04:05this constant threat hanging over his head was just unsustainable. So instead of trying to hunt down
04:11and destroy Sheikh Sinan, he reached out and forged a powerful alliance with him. Think about that.
04:16He took a bloodthirsty enemy who literally had a knife to his throat and turned him into an
04:21invaluable ally who would later fight right alongside him. But Saladin's greatest challenge
04:26wasn't internal. It came from the crusader states in Palestine. Let's look at the Battle of Hattin,
04:32the turning point in the crusades. See, Saladin actually wanted peace. But a crusader leader named
04:38Reynald of Chatelan just kept breaking truces. He attacked traveling merchant caravans,
04:42assaulted a group of pilgrims that even included Saladin's own sister, and prepared ships to attack
04:48the Arab coastline with the stated intention of destroying the prophet's tomb in Medina.
04:52This was the ultimate provocation, and it led to the pivotal Battle of Hattin in July 1187.
04:57Saladin's strategic genius was absolutely on full display here. The crusaders, led by King Guy and
05:02Reynald, marched 20 kilometers through this barren, waterless region in the blistering summer heat,
05:07placing all their trust in a relic called the True Cross. Saladin, on the other hand,
05:11he had purposefully stationed his army right at the region's only water springs. His men were
05:16well-rested and completely hydrated. When night fell, Saladin's troops set fire to the dry brush
05:21around the crusader camp. The intense heat and smoke made their massive dehydration so much worse.
05:26By the next morning, the exhausted crusaders were decisively defeated.
05:29Following the battle, the crusader leaders were captured and brought directly before Saladin.
05:34Because of his repeated broken truces and outright atrocities, Saladin personally executed Reynald.
05:39Seeing this, King Guy was terrified, fully believing he was next. But Saladin just handed
05:44the king a cup of iced rose water to quench his immense thirst and reassured him with the famous
05:48words, Kings do not kill kings. Even in the absolute hike of total victory, his sense of
05:53chivalry and protocol never wavered. That decisive victory at Hattin entirely opened the path to
05:59Jerusalem. This brings us to the Conquest of Jerusalem, a tale of two conquests.
06:04So the crusaders had violently captured this holy city 88 years earlier, back in 1099,
06:10leaving rivers of blood flowing through the streets with absolute slaughter and zero mercy.
06:15Now, fast forward to 1187, Saladin's forces laid siege to it. After a heavy bombardment that
06:21breached the walls, the crusaders inside realized they just couldn't hold the city. Terrified they'd be
06:26massacred in retaliation, they begged for terms of surrender. But the contrast here couldn't be
06:31starker. Saladin agreed to a peaceful surrender. He established a ransom of 10 dinars per man and
06:38five per woman for their freedom. But here is the most striking part. The wealthy crusader priests and
06:43leaders paid their ransoms and fled with chests full of jewels and treasure, completely abandoning
06:48their own poor citizens who couldn't afford the fee. Seeing this, Saladin stepped in and
06:53unconditionally freed the impoverished crusaders for free, just to ensure they wouldn't be enslaved.
06:57The fall of Jerusalem sent absolute shockwaves across Europe. This sets up Richard and Saladin's
07:04legacy in the clash of the Third Crusade. That shockwave brought immense armies from Germany,
07:11France, and Britain down to the region, funded by a special Saladin tax on European citizens.
07:16And it brought Britain's famous King Richard the Lionheart face to face with the sultan. Now, the vast
07:21difference in their wartime conduct was immediately clear. During the brutal fighting, Richard captured the
07:26city of Acre. Over a delay in ransom negotiations, the notoriously hot-headed Richard coldly executed
07:314,000 Muslim prisoners—men, women, and children. In stark contrast, later on in the campaign, when King
07:37Richard fell severely ill with a fever, Saladin didn't use the opportunity to attack a weakened
07:41leader. No, instead, he sent his own personal physicians, cooling sherbet, fresh fruit, and medicine,
07:47and he even personally visited his enemy to check on his health.
07:51This grueling three-year war eventually fought to a standstill. It ended in a very pragmatic truce,
07:57where coastal cities remained in crusader hands, but Muslims kept Jerusalem, with Christian pilgrims
08:01guaranteed safe, unarmed access to all the holy sites. With the war finally over, King Richard sailed
08:07back to England, and Saladin finally returned home to Damascus. But he returned with this one deep,
08:13unfulfilled, and highly personal wish. He desperately wanted to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
08:19Sadly, because of a lifetime spent on military campaigns defending his realm, he had continuously
08:24missed the Hajj season. The sources describe this incredibly poignant scene where an exhausted
08:29Saladin went out to greet the caravans of returning pilgrims, weeping because he had missed the opportunity
08:34once again. Shortly after this, he caught a severe chill and fell ill. On the morning of March 4th,
08:391193, with a sound of Quranic recitation filling his room, he smiled and passed away. The people of
08:46Damascus poured into the streets, weeping for a leader who had protected them and governed with
08:50such immense justice. Yet despite his incredible historical record of chivalry, parts of the West
08:56remembered him very differently. Centuries later, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World
09:01War I, French General Henri Gouraud entered Damascus. According to the historical accounts,
09:06the general walked right up to Saladin's tomb, kicked it, and declared, we have returned.
09:11This just vividly highlights how, for some, Saladin was viewed purely as an enemy conqueror to be
09:16defeated, completely ignoring the legendary grace he showed his foes. Which brings us to the end of
09:22this explainer, and to a question that really challenges how we look at the past. Will history remember
09:27the conquerors of land, or the men who conquered through peace and mercy? Saladin wasn't a man
09:33driven by a thirst for wealth or blind expansion. The sources show us a man who gave away his fortunes,
09:39pardoned assassins, hydrated his captured rivals, and freed the poor of his enemies.
09:43As we close this out, I want you to ask yourself, how do we choose to remember our historical giants?
09:49By the physical borders they changed, or by the towering humanity they showed when they held
09:54absolute power over their fiercest enemies? Think about it.
