صلاح الدين الأيوبي وجهوده في القضاء على الدولة الفاطمية وتحرير بيت المقدس للصلابي-ابن كثير

Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi li-al-Sallabi

A detailed historical study by Dr. ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Ṣallābī on the life and achievements of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī (Saladin), with particular attention to his role in bringing the Fāṭimid state in Egypt to an end, consolidating Muslim political unity, confronting the Crusader states, and ultimately liberating Jerusalem.

The author places Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn within the wider history of the Crusades and the revival begun by ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī and Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zangī, examining the political, military and religious circumstances that preceded his rise. He then traces Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn's career in Egypt, the end of Fāṭimid rule, his efforts to establish and strengthen the Ayyūbid state, and his work towards unifying the Muslim territories of Egypt and Syria.

Considerable attention is devoted to Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn's struggle against the Crusaders, including the campaigns culminating in the Battle of Ḥaṭṭīn, the recovery of Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and the subsequent confrontation with the Third Crusade. Alongside the military narrative, al-Ṣallābī discusses Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn's character, religious life, leadership, scholarship, generosity, courage and celebrated chivalry.

More than a straightforward biography, the work seeks to explain the religious, educational, political and military factors behind the Muslim revival of the period, and the role played by scholars, rulers and institutions in preparing the ground for the recovery of Jerusalem.