The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf

Author:Amin Maalouf
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780863568480
Publisher: Saqi

9

The Rush for the Nile

ÝMy uncle ShÐrkÙh turned to me and said, “YÙsuf, pack your things, we’re going.” When I heard this order, I felt as if my heart had been pierced by a dagger, and I answered, “In God’s name, even were I granted the entire kingdom of Egypt, I would not go.” ’

The man who spoke those words was none other than Saladin, recounting the timid beginnings of the adventure that would some day make him one of history’s most prestigious sovereigns. With the admirable sincerity typical of everything he said, Saladin carefully refrained from claiming credit for the Egyptian epic. ÝIn the end I did go with my uncle’, he added. ÝHe conquered Egypt, then died. God then placed in my hands power that I had never expected.’ In fact, although Saladin emerged as the great beneficiary of the Egyptian expedition, it is true that he did not play the major role in it. Nor did NÙr al-DÐn, even though the land of the Nile was conquered in his name.

The real protagonists of this campaign, which lasted from 1163 to 1169, were three extraordinary personalities: ShÁwar, an Egyptian vizier whose demoniacal intrigues plunged the region into blood and iron; Amalric, a Frankish king so obsessed with the idea of conquering Egypt that he invaded the country five times in six years; and ShÐrkÙh, Ýthe lion’, a Kurdish general who proved to be one of the military geniuses of his time.

When ShÁwar seized power in Cairo in December 1162, he assumed a post and responsibility that rewarded its holder with honours and riches. But he was not unaware of the other side of the coin: of the fifteen previous leaders of Egypt, only one had left office alive. All the others had been killed, although the methods varied: they had been hanged, beheaded, stabbed to death, crucified, poisoned, lynched by mobs; one was killed by his adoptive son, another by his own father. In other words, there is no reason to suppose that this dark-skinned emir with the greying temples would allow his freedom of action to be restricted by any hint of scruples. The moment he acceded to power, he quickly massacred his predecessor (along with his entire family), and appropriated their gold, jewels, and palace.

But the wheel of fortune continued to spin. After nine months in power the new vizier was himself overthrown by one of his lieutenants, a man named irghÁm. Having been warned in time, ShÁwar managed to get out of Egypt alive, and he sought refuge in Syria, where he tried to win NÙr al-DÐn’s support for his effort to regain power. Although his guest was intelligent and an effective speaker, at first the son of ZangÐ lent him but half an ear. Very soon, however, events were to force NÙr al-DÐn to change his attitude.

Jerusalem, it seems, was closely watching the upheavals in Cairo. In February 1162 the Franj had acquired a new king, a man of indomitable ambition: the Arabs called him ÝMorri’, from the French ÝAmaury’ (Amalric); he was the second son of Fulk.

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