Sal'adin, the name given by western writers to SALAH-ED-DIN YUSSUF IBN AYUB, the sultan of
Egypt and Syria, and the founder of the Ayubite dynasty in those countries. He lives in the works of historians as the Moslem hero of the third crusade and the beau-ideal of Moslem chivalry. He was born in 1137 at the castle of Tekrit, on the Tigris, of which his father Ayub, a Kurd, was governor under the Seljuks. Following the example of his father and uncle, he entered the service of Nureddin (q.v.), emir of Syria, and accompanied his uncle Shirkoh in his expeditions to Egypt (1167–68) in command of Nureddin's army. On the death of Shirkoh Saladin was made grandvizier of the Fatimite calif, and in 1171 he overthrew that monarch and constituted himself sole sovereign of Egypt. The growing power of the young prince not only aroused the alarm of the Christians, but provoked the more dangerous jealousy of Nureddin. But on Nureddin's death (1174) Saladin proclaimed himself sultan of Egypt and Syria, and the title was confirmed to him by the calif of Bagdad. He next reduced Mesopotamia to his rule, and received the homage of the Seljuk princes of Asia Minor. The remaining years of his life were occupied in wars with the Christians and in the consolidation of his extensive dominions. On 4th July 1187 the Christian army suffered a terrible defeat near Tiberias, the king of Jerusalem, the two grand-masters, and many other warriors of high rank being taken captive; then Jerusalem was stormed (3d October), and almost every other fortified place on the Syrian coast (Acre, Saida, Beyrout, &c., though not Tyre) was taken by the victorious Saladin. The news of this great success being brought to western Europe aroused the religious enthusiasm of the Christians to its highest pitch, and a powerful army of crusaders, headed by the kings of France and England, speedily made their appearance on the scene of strife. They captured Acre in 1191, and Richard Cour-de-Lion defeated Saladin, took Cæsarea and Jaffa, and finally obtained a treaty for three years (August 1192), by which the coast from Jaffa to Tyre was yielded to the Christians. In the following year Saladin died at Damascus on 3d March. Saladin was not a mere soldier; his wise administration left traces which endured for centuries, in the citadel of Cairo, and in sundry canals, dikes, and roads. His opponents frankly attribute to him the noble qualities of chivalry, invincible courage, inviolable fidelity to treaties, greatness of soul, piety, justice, and moderation. The chivalrous side of his character has been well caught by Scott in The Talisman. The Ayubite dynasty ruled over Syria till 1259, when it was dispossessed by the Perso-Mongols, and over Egypt till the rise of the first Mameluke kingdom in 1250. See Reinaud's Notice sur la Vie de Saladin (1874).