Saladin

by A R Azzam

on the waterless plain then not just the army but the Idngdom would be

  lost. Then, to Raymond's great consternation, Guy ordered that the column

  halt and make camp in this desolate spot. It was the action of an exhausted

  man who had lost his nerve at a time when strong and forcefiil action was

  vital. 'Alas! Alas! Lord God', bemoaned Raymond when the king's com-

  mand was delivered to him, 'the war is over. We are betrayed to death and

  the land is lost.' But Guy had little option but to strike camp, since there

  was a grave danger of the rearguard being cut off and sacrificed. Soon night

  fell and the darkness hid the two armies from each other.

  The night of 3 - 4 July I I 8 9 was a terrible one for the Christian army and

  a tense one for the Muslim army. So hemmed in were the Christian forces

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  that, according to the chroniclers, not even a cat could have passed through

  the Muslim lines to escape, and so close were the two armies that both sides

  could hear the other side's conversations. Desolate and urgent prayers to

  the Christian and Muslim Gods now drifted heavenwards in the dark night,

  as men from both sides prepared for daylight. Throughout the night the

  Muslim drums continued to beat and a continuous rain of arrows descended

  on the Christian camp. 'As the arrows struck them down', so wrote Ibn

  Shaddad, 'those who had seemed like lions now seemed like hedgehogs.'

  Then just before dawn a brief silence fell, but only as prelude to the Muslim

  call to prayer, as the hills echoed with the sound of 'Allahu Akbar, Allahu

  Akbar'. That night Saladin was like a man possessed and refused any rest.

  He understood that his destiny awaited him with the break of dawn, but his

  cautious nature told him that the battle was far from over and that victory

  remained elusive. So far, few Prankish knights had perished and he knew

  that there would come a time during the next day when, confronted with

  no choice, the knights would charge. If they succeeded in making a break-

  through to the springs of water then they would be safe and his victory

  incomplete. And so orders were given that next day there should be no ces-

  sation in the rain of arrows that descended on the Christian camp, for no

  sooner would the Icnights feel the arrows lessening than they would certainly

  unleash a ferocious and desperate charge and the outcome of that would be

  uncertain. At the same time, a constant convoy of camels, laden with thou-

  sands of goat skins filled with water, made its way from Lake Tiberias into

  the Muslim camp, for water and the thirst of the Christians was certain to

  play a huge factor when the sun arose.

  As dawn broke on 4 July Saladin remained uncertain as to the tactics of

  the Christian army. Would they try to retreat to tiie spring of Turan, or

  make a dash for Hattin, or would they make a sudden and furious attack

  on his position to force a way out? As daylight broke, Guy ordered his army

  to begin its desperate move, and Ibn Shaddad noted that the Christians

  'looked like mountains on the march, like seas boiling over, wave upon

  wave'. Once again Raymond led the vanguard, with the king and the True

  Cross in the centre, and Balian and the white-robed Templars and black-

  mantled Hospitallers protecting the fragile rear. Into the blinding light of

  the rising sun the Christian army marched to its doom. Saladin held back

  and only some sporadic incursions were made against the rearguard, though

  he did suffer casualties and one of his most trusted amirs - Muranguras

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  SALAD I N

  - was slain. But as the heat of the sun began to take its toll and as the

  two wings of the Muslim army held firm, several Icnights, to the horror of

  the Christians, broke out of the formation and sought sanctuaiy with the

  Muslims, prepared to take up the Muslim faith. It was then that Saladin

  ordered that scrub fires be ignited, for he knew that the westerly winds

  would blow the smoke and ash into the faces of the Franks, creating flirther

  confusion and allowing his horsemen to launch deadly attacks.

  At this point the morale of the infantry collapsed, and one by one they

  began to break away from the column and the formation began to crack.

  With a unity of purpose that only shared suffering could give them, the

  exhausted men began to run and stumble in their thousands up the black,

  rocky slopes of the Horns of Hattin.^ The king's red tent was now pitched

  in futility to act as a rallying point for the infantry, who were beyond rally-

  ing. Even the bishops carrying the True Cross could not persuade the foot

  soldiers, for they were calling to men who had abandoned themselves to

  death.® The disintegration of the infantry was crucial, since it was their

  responsibility to protect the knights. In their absence, the Muslims easily

  succeeded in killing the Icnights' horses, thereby rendering them ineffective.

  The Franldsh army broke into three parts, while around the Idng's tent,

  besieged and terrified, massed the nobles and knights of the kingdom. At

  the head of the army Raymond was faced with a hopeless situation. The only

  recourse, one which he had constantly advocated, was to charge Taqi ul-

  t)in's wing and tiy to make a breakthrough. It would mean abandoning the

  Idng and the True Cross, but the batde was lost and Guy had brought this

  calamity on his own head. Raymond now desperately ordered his knights to

  line up for a charge and to take advantage of a downward slope. Saladin's

  nephew saw clearly what was on Raymond's mind and as the knights

  charged he ordered his forces to open their ranks and allow them to sweep

  through. As the riders passed, the archers rained volleys of arrows on them,

  and then when they had passed, Taqi ul-Din once again closed ranks.

  Raymond found himself on the outside of the battle, and with tired horses

  and exhausted men he could not hope to fight his way back. In any case

  there was nothing he could now do to alter the result of the battle. And so

  Raymond rode to the castle of Safad in the hills to the north. His escape was

  accompanied by accusations of cowardice and treachery, but it is hard to see

  what else he could have done. After all, he had done all he could to avert

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  this disaster. A few weeks later Raymond died in Tripoli - and some said

  that he died from shame.

  The capture of the True Cross

  Then, when all seemed lost, the knights of the Prankish army began to fight

  with the desperation of martyrs. Wliile the infantiy huddled on the hillsides,

  the loiights around Guy chose to charge at Saladin himself, hoping to slay

  him. Not once but twice tremendous charges were made, which carried the

  fighting almost to Saladin's tent. Saladin's son al-Afdal and Ibn Shaddad

  were accompanying him that day, and al-Afdal recorded his father's anxiety

  at the blight's charge: T looked at him and saw that he had turned ashen

  pale in distress and had grasped his beard'. The knights were driven back

  and al-Afdal cried out in joy, 'We have beaten them', only to be hushed by

  his father. 'We
have not beaten them until that tent falls', Saladin said,

  pointing to the red tent of the Icing. No sooner had Saladin spoken than the

  ropes of the king's tent were cut and it collapsed, and Saladin knew that the

  battle was over and that victory was his. At once he dismounted from his

  horse and prostrated himself, Idssing the ground in thanks to his Lord. At

  the same time Guy of Lusignan, overwhelmed by the Muslim forces pour-

  ing around his tent, threw his sword aside, covered his head with his arms

  and sank to his knees in despair. In the meantime a fierce battle, led by Taqi

  ul-Din, raged around the relic of the True Cross, which was protected by

  the Bishops of Acre and Lydda. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting took place as

  arrows were abandoned in favour of swords, and though the Bishop of Acre

  was slain as he protected the Cross, his colleague, the Bishop of Lydda, did

  not hesitate to seize a sword and fight with the fierce abandon of a skilled

  warrior. It was magnificent and moving, but hopeless and fiitile. One by one

  the warriors protecting the relic fell by the side as the Muslim forces pressed

  forward, and it was none other than Saladin's nephew who burst through

  the Christian defence and seized the Cross, holding it aloft as joyous ulula-

  tions of Muslim chants filled the air.

  The overwhelming victory at the batde of Hattin has elevated Saladin to

  the ranks of the great military leaders of history. To an extent this is mis-

  leading, since though the victory was certainly achieved on the battlefield,

  Saladin's greatness lay elsewhere. A carefi.il study of the events of those

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  fateful days reveal a considerable amount about his character and motiva-

  tions. It has been argued by historians - and not without an element of

  truth - that Guy lost the battle of Hattin rather than that Saladin won it,

  and certainly Guy made two fatal mistakes. The first one was obvious: he

  chose to march his army from a defensive and secure position to Tiberias.

  We have touched briefly and speculated on why he changed his mind on

  that fateflil night, but we have also stressed that marching the army to

  Tiberias - admittedly in inclement weather - did not automatically signal

  its doom. Certainly Guy had handed Saladin an advantage, but the battle

  was at that stage far from being won or lost. It should also be noted that

  Guy's decision to march was precisely because Saladin attacked Tiberias and

  had accordingly set a trap for him, even if Saladin's surprise when he was

  informed that Guy was marching is proof that he was not expecting him

  to take the bait. The second error made by Guy was far more serious,

  and that was that he fiindamentally underestimated the size of Saladin's

  army. The frustrating years of diplomacy in Aleppo and Mosul had finally

  paid ofii" and the army which Saladin had gathered came from all corners of

  the Muslim world. Perhaps Guy was less informed of what was happening

  in Saladin's camp than Saladin was of the internal schisms among the

  Christian knights, but it is hard to see what he could have done even

  then. In any case, Saladin's greatest achievement was that he succeeded in

  gathering together the greatest Muslim army since the Abbasid times - and

  otie that was held together by the force of his personality. There was still a

  batde to be fought, of course, but it was clear that Saladin's years in the

  wilderness had not been spent in vain. But even then, Guy's two errors did

  not hand Saladin victory. Although a batde could be lost, it also needed to

  be won.

  From the moment that, the Christian army set off on its march to

  Tiberias, Saladin unleashed the force of his army against the Franks. So

  fierce were the attacks led by Keukburi that the Christian rearguard was

  slowed down to such a slow pace that there was a real danger that Raymond

  and Guy would leave it behind. As long as the infantry protected the loiights

  from the Muslim attacks then the Christian army could move relatively

  unhindered, but the collapse of the morale of the infantry and the sub-

  sequent collapse and desertions were of course partly due to the extreme

  heat and thirst of the men, but also largely to the incessant and ferocious

  nature of the Muslim attacks. If to slow the army down was Saladin's first

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  objective, then his second one was to prevent it from reaching the spring

  of Hattin. As soon as Saladin saw that Raymond had changed direction and

  was maldng for Hattin, he ordered Taqi ul-Din to block him, and achieving

  this objective brought the first act of the war to an end as night fell. So far

  the battle had gone according to plan, but one imagines that the night of

  4 July was a long one since Saladin Imew that victory was far from assured. He

  would have loiown that the Christians were fighting a holy war, which was

  just as precious to them as his jihad was to him. Thus when dawn broke an

  iron discipline would be required to ensure that that which had been gained

  would not be lost. And indeed the Christian army tested the resolve of the

  Muslims to the full; against Keukburi on the left wing, against Taqi ul-Din

  on the right, and even against Saladin in the centre. But all three held firm

  and, that day, victory belonged to Saladin. One can certainly argue that

  Guy's errors were crucial to the outcome at Hattin, but at the same time

  Saladin got his enemies to fight where he wanted, when he wanted and how

  he wanted,' and that, in itself, was a tremendous achievement.

  As Saladin slowly rode to camp, the impact of what had been achieved

  began to sink in. The devastated Christian survivors were rounded up as

  prisoners and Saladin ordered that they be sent off to Damascus. There were

  so many prisoners that Ibn Shaddad witnessed the sight of a Muslim man

  walldng and dragging behind him a tent rope from which he had tied the

  hands of 30 Prankish prisoners who sullenly followed him. Such was the

  scale of the victory that the price of a prisoner fell to dinars, and it was told

  that a prisoner in Damascus was sold for a shoe. As for the Cross, it was

  fixed upside down and carried by Ibn Abi Asrun - who had once as a young

  man befriended Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani in Baghdad - victoriously into

  Damascus. The list of noblemen who had been taken prisoner was impres-

  sive. There was the king of course, but also his brothers, the Marquess

  WiUiam of Montferrat, Reynald of Chatillon, Joscelin of Courtenay,

  Humphrey of Toron, the master of the Templars Gerard of Ridefort, the

  Bishop of Lydda, the master of the Hospitallers, and hundreds of men of

  lesser rank and d i s t i n c t i o n . I t would be hard to exaggerate the scale of the victory, for in one day - terrible for the Christians, glorious for the

  Muslims - the Franldsh army and with it the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

  had been devastated. Strict instructions were then issued that all Templars

  and Hospitallers were to be taken aside and ransoms paid for those who had

  captured them, for a different fate awaited them.

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  Saladin slays Reynald of Chatillon />
  To Saladin's tent the king Guy and Reynald of Chatillon were brought.

  To Guy, Saladin maintained his famed magnanimity and offered him a gob-

  let of iced water to quench his thirst. But when the Icing passed the goblet

  to Reynald, Saladin frowned and told the king - through an interpreter - 'It

  is you who gave him to drink'. The implication was clear, for it was a uni-

  versally accepted tradition among the Muslims that if a captive was given

  food or drink then his life was safe. Saladin then reproached Reynald for his

  past actions and for his attack on the caravan, but Reynald remained defiant,

  claiming that he did only what princes do. Saladin remained passive, his

  face expressionless, and for a few moments the men sat in silence. Saladin

  then stood up and left the tent. When he returned, Guy was taken into an

  antechamber and Reynald brought into Saladin's presence. This time

  Saladin was curt and he simply offered Reynald the option of converting

  to Islam. It was an option which of course he knew Reynald would

  never accept, but legally Saladin had to offer it. No sooner had Reynald

  refiased it did Saladin draw his sword and strike him around the neck. The

  blow felled Reynald but did not kill him, and a guard stepped forward

  and cut his head off. The body was then dragged out of the tent and past

  Guy, who became ashen faced and began to shake, for he feared that he

  too would be slain. Saladin, however, quickly emerged and reassured Guy

  that his life was safe. 'Kings do not kill Icings', he told him, 'but he had

  transgressed his limits.' Saladin had fulfilled his vow to his old friend al-Qadi

  al-Fadil.

  Meanwhile the Templars and the Hospitallers, whom Saladin detested,

  had been gathered. 'I wish to purify the land of these two monstrous

  orders', Saladin had once vowed, and he was true to his word. He knew that

  the prisoners would disdain ransom and that if released would fight him

  again, for that was what they had vowed. And so he ordered that they

  should all be gathered and executed in one session. Intriguingly, those who

  were to carry out the executions were not Saladin's soldiers but the religi-

  ous clerics and sufis. This seems a perplexing command. Perhaps Saladin

  intended it to be a symbolic act; to allow the sufis to participate in the shed-