r he
assigned
a place on the left or the right from which he was not to move, whence his body was not to absent itself, nor was any one of them to depart.
Arab-Historians-of-the-Crusades
She called on them to be witnesses of the deed, and they swore loyalty and obedience to him.
This displeased the Count, who was stripped of his authority
Raymond III.
Eschiva, Countess of Bures.
Baldwin IV (1174-85).
Baldwin V, died in 1186 after a few months of nominal rule.
Sibylla, sister of Baldwin IV, mother of Baldwin V, in second marriage wife of Guy of Lusignan.
1 2 3 4 1
70 Arab Historians of the Crusades
and asked to account for the moneys collected during his regency. He swore that he had spent them on the young King's behalf, but his loyalty to the new King was strained so far that he reached a position of open secession and rebellion. He began a correspondence with Saladin, established a cordial relationship with him and turned to him for help in achieving his ambition to rule the Franks. Saladin and the Muslims were pleased and Saladin promised to help him and to give him every possible assistance in his plans. He guaranteed to make him King of all the Franks. He freed some of the Count's knights whom he held prisoner, which made the best possible impression on Raymond, who openly displayed his obedience to Saladin. A certain number of Franks followed his example, which led to discord and disunity and was one of the chief reasons why their towns were reconquered and Jerusalem fell to the Muslims, as we shall narrate. Saladin sent guerrilla bands from the Tiberias region who devastated the Frankish lands and returned unscathed. This weakened the Franks but gave the Muslims energy and enthusiasm for attacking them.
PRINCE ARNA? T'S TREACHERY
Prince Arna? t of al-Karak2 was one of the chief Frankish barons and one of the most arrogant; a violent and most dangerous enemy of Isla? m. Saladin knew this and on several occasions attacked him and sent raiding parties into his territories. Arna? t humbled himself to sue for peace, which Saladin conceded, and both swore to observe a truce which would allow caravans to move freely between Syria and Egypt. In 582/1186-7, however, a great caravan passed close to his territory, richly laden and accompanied by a great host of people and a large armed escort. This infamous man broke the truce and attacked them, captured the whole caravan, seized the booty, animals and weapons, and threw all his prisoners into dungeons. Saladin sent letters rebuking him and reproaching him with his treachery, and threatening him with reprisals if he did not release the prisoners and their possessions. The Count persistently refused to comply. Saladin vowed that if ever he laid hands on him he would kill him, and what followed will be recounted, God willing.
SALADIN ATTACKS AL-KARAK
In 583/1187 Saladin wrote to all the provinces to call them to arms in the Holy War. He wrote to Mosul in the Jazira, to Arbela and other eastern states, to Egypt and to the Syrian domains, calling them to arms and exhorting them to fight in the Holy War, and commending as many as possible to arm themselves for battle. At the end of muharram/ April 1187 he and his army and the Damascene guard left Damascus and marched to Ras al-Ma', where the Syrian contingents joined them. He gave his son al-Malik al-Afdal 'Ali command of them and marched with a contingent of his own troops to Busra. This was because he had heard that Arna? t of al-Karak was going to attack the pilgrims and cut off their advance, making it clear that once he had dealt with them he would return to bar the way to the Egyptian army and prevent its joining up with the Syrians. Saladin therefore
Al-Karak in Moab, Transjordan, a fort dominating the overland route between Egypt and Syria,
2
and Syria and the Hijaz.
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 71
marched on Busra to prevent Arna? t's attack on the pilgrims and to make him stay quietly at home for fear of the Sultan. Among the pilgrims was a whole group of Saladin's relations, including the son of one of his sisters: Muhammad ibn Laji? n. When Arna? t learned that Saladin was at the boundary of his territories he stayed where he was and abandoned his plans, and so the Pilgrimage went through in safety. When it had passed and all was quiet in that region Saladin marched on al-Karak and sent his raiding parties throughout the regions of al-Karak, ash-Shaubak and elsewhere, pillaging, breaking and burning, while the Prince was besieged and powerless to defend his lands, and fear of al-Afdal's army kept the other Franks immobilized at home. So Saladin was free to besiege and pillage, burn and ravage the whole region, which he did.
AN INCURSION INTO THE REGION OF ACRE
Saladin sent orders to his son al-Afdal to send a large detachment of the army into the region of Acre to plunder it and lay it waste. He took Muzaffar ad-Din Kio? kbari? ibn Zain ad-Din, ruler of Harra? n and Edessa, with Qaima? z an-Najmi and Yildiri? m al-Yaquti, two of the leading ami? rs, and several others. They left by night at the end of safar/May 1187 and attacked Saffuriyya in the morning. A body of Templars, Hospitallers and others came out of the city to repulse them and a terrible battle followed. God gave the Muslims victory at last and the Franks turned and fled. Some were killed and the rest captured. Among the dead was the Grand Master of the Hospital,1 one of the most famous Frankish noblemen, who had done much harm to the cause of Isla? m.
The Muslims sacked the regions round about, then returned safe and sound with their booty and prisoners to Tiberias, where the Count was. He had done nothing to prevent the Christians' defeat. It was a great victory, for the Templars and Hospitallers were the backbone of the Frankish armies. The joyful news spread far and wide.
SALADIN RETURNS TO HIS ARMY AND INVADES FRANKISH TERRITORY
When Saladin received the joyful news that the Templars and Hospitallers had been defeated and many of them slaughtered or taken prisoner he returned from al-Karak to the army under al-Afdal's command, where all the other ami? rs and troops were gathered. There he reviewed his army and estimated that he had 12,000 cavalry with regular fiefs and military stipends, as well as volunteers. The Sultan disposed the army in battle order, with a central column and two wings, a vanguard and a rearguard. He assigned to each man a post and commanded him not to desert it, and so marched out and encamped at Uqhuwana near Tiberias. We have already said that the Count was on Saladin's side. Saladin received a stream of letters from him with promises of help and support; 'But the Devil makes promises to them only to deceive them'. 1 Now when the Franks saw the Muslim armies
Roger des Moulins. Qur'a? n XVII, 66.
1 1
72 Arab Historians of the Crusades
and realized that they were bent on attacking them, they sent the Patriarch, with priests and monks and a large number of knights to Raymond to reproach him with having taken Saladin's side. 'You must have become a Muslim,' they said, 'otherwise you could not have endured what the Muslims have just done to the Franks by massacring and enslaving those Templars and Hospitallers, nor could you let them pass through your lands without objecting or intervening to stop them. ' The local militias of Tiberias and Tripoli joined in the remonstrances and the Patriarch threatened, among other things, to excommunicate him and to annul his marriage. When the Count saw what a serious situation he had created he took fright and said that he repented. They accepted his apologies, forgave him for his defection and begged him to join them against the Muslims and to give them. his help in the defence of their lands. The Count agreed to make his peace and be reunited with them and returned with them to the Frankish King, and so peace was restored between them after all that had happened. But God saw to it that it did them no good. Infantry and cavalry mustered and marched from Acre to Saffuriyya, but they were reluctant and demoralized.
The Battle of Hitti? n
(IBN AL-ATHI? R, XI, 351-5)
While the reunited Franks were on their way to Saffuriyya, Saladin called a council of his ami? rs. Most of them advised him not to fight, but to weaken the enemy by repeated skirmishes and raids. Others however advised him to pillage the Frankish territories, and to give battle to any Frankish army that might appear in their path, 'Because in the East people are cursing us, saying that we no longer fight the infidels but have begun to fight Muslims instead. So we must do something to justify ourselves and silence our critics. ' But Saladin said: 'My feeling is that we should confront all the enemy's forces with all the forces of Isla? m; for events do not turn out according to man's will and we do not know how long a life is left to us, so it is foolish to dissipate this concentration of troops without striking a tremendous blow in the Holy War. ' So on Thursday, 23 rabi? ' II/2 July 1187, the fifth day after we encamped at Uqhuwana, he struck camp and moved off up the hill outside Tiberias, leaving the city behind him. When he drew near to the Franks, however, there was no one to be seen, for they had not yet left their tents. So he went back down the hill with his army. At night he positioned troops where they would prevent the enemy from giving battle and then attacked Tiberias with a small force, breached the wall and took the city by storm during the night. The inhabitants fled for refuge to the citadel, where the Countess and her children were, and defended themselves there while the lower town was sacked and burned.
When the Franks learned that Saladin had attacked Tiberias and taken it and everything in it, burning the houses and anything they could not remove, they met to take counsel. Some advised the King to meet the Muslims in battle and chase them out of Tiberias, but the Count intervened to say: 'Tiberias belongs to me and my wife. There is no question that Saladin is master there now and that only the citadel remains, where my wife is immured. For my part, if he takes the citadel, my wife and all my possessions there and then goes away I shall be happy enough. By God, I have observed the armies of Isla? m over the course of the years and I have never seen one equal to Saladin's army here in numbers or
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 73
in fighting power. If he takes Tiberias he will not be able to stay there, and when he has left it and gone away we will retake it; for if he chooses to stay there he will be unable to keep his army together, for they will not put up for long with being kept away from their homes and families. He will be forced to evacuate the city, and we will free our prisoners. ' But Prince Arna? t of al-Karak replied: 'You have tried hard to make us afraid of the Muslims. Clearly you take their side and your sympathies are with them, otherwise you would not have spoken in this way. As for the size of their army, a large load of fuel will be good for the fires of Hell. . . . ' 'I am one of you,' said the Count, 'and if you advance then I shall advance with you, and if you retreat I shall retreat. You will see what will happen. ' The generals decided to advance and give battle to the Muslims, so they left the place where they had been encamped until now and advanced on the Muslim army. When Saladin received the news he ordered his army to withdraw from its position near Tiberias; his only reason for besieging Tiberias was to make the Franks abandon their position and offer battle. The Muslims went down to the water (of the lake). The weather was blazingly hot and the Franks, who were suffering greatly from thirst, were prevented by the Muslims from reaching the water. They had drained all the local cisterns, but could not turn back for fear of the Muslims. So they passed that night tormented with thirst. The Muslims for their part had lost their first fear of the enemy and were in high spirits, and spent the night inciting one another to battle. They could smell victory in the air, and the more they saw of the unexpectedly low morale of the Franks the more aggressive and daring they became; throughout the night the cries Alla? h akbar (God is great) and 'there is no God but Alla? h' rose up to heaven. Meanwhile the Sultan was deploying the vanguard of archers and distributing the arrows.
On Saturday 24 rabi? ' II/4 July 1187 Saladin and the Muslims mounted their horses and advanced on the Franks. They too were mounted, and the two armies came to blows. The Franks were suffering badly from thirst, and had lost confidence. The battle raged furiously, both sides putting up a tenacious resistance. The Muslim archers sent up clouds of arrows like thick swarms of locusts, killing many of the Frankish horses. The Franks, surrounding themselves with their infantry, tried to fight their way toward Tiberias in the hope of reaching water, but Saladin realized their objective and forestalled them by planting himself and his army in the way. He himself rode up and down the Muslim lines encouraging and restraining his troops where necessary. The whole army obeyed his commands and respected his prohibitions. One of his young mamlu? ks led a terrifying charge on the Franks and performed prodigious feats of valour until he was overwhelmed by numbers and killed, when all the Muslims charged the enemy lines and almost broke through, slaying many Franks in the process. The Count saw that the situation was desperate and realized that he could not withstand the Muslim army, so by agreement with his companions he charged the lines before him. The commander of that section of the Muslim army was Taqi ad-Din 'Umar, Saladin's nephew. When he saw that the Franks charging his lines were desperate and that they were going to try to break through, he sent orders for a passage to be made for them through the ranks.
One of the volunteers had set fire to the dry grass that covered the ground; it took fire and the wind carried the heat and smoke down on to the enemy. They had to endure thirst, the summer's heat, the blazing fire and smoke and the fury of battle. When the Count fled the Franks lost heart and were on the verge of surrender, but seeing that the only way to
74 Arab Historians of the Crusades
save their lives was to defy death they made a series of charges that almost dislodged the Muslims from their position in spite of their numbers, had not the grace of God been with them. As each wave of attackers fell back they left their dead behind them; their numbers diminished rapidly, while the Muslims were all around them like a circle about its diameter. The surviving Franks made for a hill near Hitti? n, where they hoped to pitch their tents and defend themselves. They were vigorously attacked from all sides and prevented from pitching more than one tent, that of the King. The Muslims captured their great cross, called the 'True Cross', in which they say is a piece of the wood upon which, according to them, the Messiah was crucified. 1 This was one of the heaviest blows that could be inflicted on them and made their death and destruction certain. Large numbers of their cavalry and infantry were killed or captured. The King stayed on the hillside with five hundred of the most gallant and famous knights.
I was told that al-Malik al-Afdal, Saladin's son, said: 'I was at my father Saladin's side during that battle, the first that I saw with my own eyes. The Frankish King had retreated to the hill with his band, and from there he led a furious charge against the Muslims facing him, forcing them. back upon my father. I saw that he was alarmed and distraught, and he tugged at his beard as he went forward crying: "Away with. the Devil's lie! " The Muslims turned to counter-attack and drove the Franks back up the hill. When I saw the Franks retreating before the Muslim onslaught I cried out for joy: "We have conquered them! " But they returned to the charge with undiminished ardour and drove our army back toward my father. His response was the same as before, and the Muslims counter-attacked and drove the Franks back to the hill. Again I cried: "We have beaten them! " but my father turned to me and said: "Be quiet; we shall not have beaten them until that tent falls! " As he spoke the tent fell, and the Sultan dismounted and prostrated himself in thanks to God, weeping for joy. ' This was how the tent fell: the Franks had been suffering terribly from thirst during that charge, which they hoped would win them a way out of their distress, but the way of escape was blocked. They dismounted and sat down on the ground and the Muslims fell upon them, pulled down the King's tent and captured every one of them, including the King,1 his brother, and Prince Arna? t of Karak, Isla? m's most hated enemy. They also took the ruler of Juba? il, the son of Humphrey (of Toron), the Grand Master of the Templars, one of the Franks' greatest dignitaries,2 and a band of Templars and Hospitallers. The number of dead and captured was so large that those who saw the slain could not believe that anyone could have been taken alive, and those who saw the prisoners could not believe that any had been killed. From the time of their first assault on Palestine in 491/1098 until now the Franks had never suffered such a defeat.
When all the prisoners had been taken Saladin went to his tent and sent for the King of the Franks and Prince Arna? t of Karak. He had the King seated beside him and as he was half-dead with thirst gave him iced water to drink. The King drank, and handed the rest to the Prince, who also drank. Saladin said: 'This godless man did not have my permission to drink, and will not save his life that way. ' He turned on the Prince, casting his crimes in
According to the Qur'a? n, which preaches the Docetic doctrine, it was not the true person of Christ, but only a simulacrum, that was crucified.
Guy of Lusignan.
The Grand Master, Gerard of Ridfort.
1
1 2
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 75
his teeth and enumerating his sins. Then he rose and with his own hand cut off the man's head. 'Twice,' he said, 'I have sworn to kill that man when I had him in my power: once when he tried to attack Mecca and Medina, and again when he broke the truce to capture the caravan. ' When he was dead and had been dragged out of the tent the King began to tremble, but Saladin calmed and reassured him. As for the ruler of Tripoli, when he escaped from the battle, as we have described, he went to Tyre and from there made his way to Tripoli. He was there only a few days before he died of rage and fury at the disaster that had befallen the Franks in particular, and all Christendom in general.
When Saladin had brought about the downfall of the Franks he stayed at the site of the battle for the rest of the day, and on the Sunday returned to the siege of Tiberias. The Countess sent to request safe-conducts for herself and her children, companions and possessions, and he granted her this. She left the citadel with all her train, and Saladin kept his word to her and let her escape unmolested. At the Sultan's command the King and a few of the most distinguished prisoners were sent to Damascus, while the Templars and Hospitallers were rounded up to be killed. The Sultan realized that those who had taken them prisoner were not going to hand them over, for they hoped to obtain ransoms for them, and so he offered fifty Egyptian dinar for each prisoner in these two categories. Immediately he got two hundred prisoners, who were decapitated at his command. He had these particular men killed because they were the fiercest of all the Frankish warriors, and in this way he rid the Muslim people of them. He sent orders to his commander in Damascus to kill all those found in his territory, whoever they belonged to, and this was done.
A year later I crossed the battlefield, and saw the land all covered with their bones, which could be seen even from a distance, lying in heaps or scattered around. These were what was left after all the rest had been carried away by storms or by the wild beasts of these hills and valleys.
THE SULTAN SALADIN AND HIS ARMY ENTER FRANKISH TERRITORY ('IMA? D AD-DIN, 18-29)
In the morning the Sultan began to review the army in the field, like a cloud heavy with rain, a tempestuous sea of dust, a swelling ocean of whinnying chargers, of swords and cuirasses. He marshalled his gallant knights and his battalions who swept like a cloud over the face of the earth, making the dust fly up from earth to the Pleiades and sending the crows, to escape the dust, flying as far as Vega. The plain broke the seal of dust, lethal messages of impending disasters were fixed on the messenger-pigeons of death; the ribs of the bows longed to enclose their embryos the arrows, the curved arrow was careful to keep to its place on the right, the shot arrow was united to the bow-string; the bows were faithful to their oaths of vengeance and every battalion rose up in search of retribution. On the day of the review the Sultan came forward to set the army in order, to divide it into sections and to draw up its ranks far and near. To every ami? r he assigned a duty, to every knight a post, to every lucky champion a station, to every ambush a place, to every combatant an opponent, to every burning spark someone to extinguish it, to every company (of Franks) someone to destroy it, to every flintstone someone to strike it, to every blade someone to
76 Arab Historians of the Crusades
whet it, to each action a command, to each arrow a point, to each right hand a sword, to each sword a hilt, to every courser an arena, to every outrider a defence, to every archer a target, to every leader a follower, to everything rising a place to which to rise, to every name an object. To each ami?
r he assigned a place on the left or the right from which he was not to move, whence his body was not to absent itself, nor was any one of them to depart. He brought forward the front line of gallant archers of each battalion, advising each section of what would bring it into contact with another section. He said: 'When we enter the enemy's terrain this is our army's battle order, our method of advancing and retreating, the position of our battalions, the place where our knights rise up, where our lances are to fall, the paths by which to direct our horses, the arenas for our coursers, the gardens for our roses, the site of our vicissitudes, the outlets of our desires, the scene on which we shall be transfigured. ' He reinforced men's hopes with the amounts of his largesse and realized, by fulfilling his promises and crowning his intentions, the desires of his men. When the ranks were drawn up and the arms distributed he made gifts of war-horses and scattered largesse, devoted himself to making donations and giving coveted prizes, scattered stores of gifts and emptied quivers of arrows, spent hidden reserves, using the choicest and best parts, and distributed bundles of arrows, of which the soldiers received more than a quiverful. He made chargers gallop and brought forth an ample harvest of troops. He spurred on brave coursers and called on the witnesses to bear witness, he drew up in succession his squadrons' virtues and won over to his side the sympathies of the swords; he strengthened the cutting blades, gave drink to the terrible lances, and returned to his tents happy and content, received with welcome and gratitude, generous and appreciated after having deployed and organized his men, arrayed them in squadrons and platoons, confirmed and well-established, with pious works, well-founded hopes, perfume poured out, glowing face, fragrant odour, radiant aspect, certain of victory and in firm possession of certainty; saying 'amen' to the auguries that demanded it, drawing auspicious omens from the white markings of his headstrong coursers, clearly drawing up his terms for recovering the debt owed to the Faith. He delighted in the beauty of the war-horses and in the voices wishing him well, and his spirit rejoiced at the prospect of the march; he tightened the belts of firmness and confirmed a definite decision; he ordered his men to mount for the journey and harnessed the Arab steeds to cross the desert. He left on Friday 17 rabi? ' II/27 June 1187, accompanied by victory, aided by unfailing supplies, supported by power, buttressed by good fortune, augmented by luck, with success in attendance, conversant with glory, the companion of victory, with the thanks of Isla? m and the support of God Almighty. He advanced with his ranks of embattled squadrons drawn up as we have said, each platoon flanked by others, ordered ranks, well-arranged formations, long-bodied horses on leading- reins, lethal arrows in quivers, drawn swords in hand, old wolves, cleaving blades, runners in sandals, rending lions; the tents of Khisf in wept, there where God was bringing near the eclipse and downfall of the enemy, the darkening and disappearance of unbelief. Thus he passed the night surrounded by radiant faces and eyes watchful on God's path, the hands unsheathing the mighty swords, the tongues giving thanks for God's goodness, the hearts flowering with devotion, the souls conversing in heavenly love, the feet guided by the destiny they were to fulfil. In the morning he marched forward and descended to the Jordan, determined to attack and sure of his defence; the vast sea of his army surrounded the lake of Tiberias, while the spread of his tents made that plain seem narrow. The earth
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 77
adorned itself in its new clothes, heaven opened so that the angels could descend from its gates; the ship-like tents rode at anchor in this expanse and the battalions flooded in wave upon wave. A second sky of dust spread out, in which swords and iron-tipped lances rose like stars. Uqhuwana was changed into burgeoning flowerbeds and flowering orchards by bay chargers and knights like proud lions, by crescent swords like arches of myrtle, by Yemeni blades like garden trees, by yellow banners like unfurled pennons of jasmin, by standards red as anemones and coats of mail glittering like pools, by swords polished white as streams of water, by feathered arrows blue as birds and curved as branches, by helmets gleaming like sweet-smelling many-petalled camomile flowers, by helmets like bubbles on a sea of breastplates, by neighing horses like eagles, roused to delight at the sight and sound of war.
The Franks meanwhile had ranged their standards at Saffuriyya and unfurled their banners. Their javelins were like bridges over the billows of their slim curvetting chargers, and their swords kindled in the shadowy clouds of dust. They were deployed in circles around their centres, to protect them with their bows and swords. They had mustered their hordes, drawn up their army, with spirits strengthened, cavalry and infantry, lancers and archers side by side, the pennons on their lances unfurled to the wind, the champions of error assembled, the 'True Cross' elevated, with the adorers of the false God gathered around it, the delirious madmen of human and divine nature. They had recruited the army in the lands of the Hypostatics,1 and raised the Sublime Cross on high in adoration; no one with a stick to call his own was exempt from the summons, and they set out in numbers defying account or reckoning, numerous as pebbles, 50,000 or even more, they and their scheming plots. They assembled at Sa'i? d, where they gathered from far and near. There they remained, unwilling to move or depart, and every morning the Sultan Saladin marched to within sight of them and opened fire on them from a commanding position and harassed them openly to make them confront him in an attempt to remove his sword from their necks and his floods from their throats. But they had supplies of water and would not move, but sat where they were, for if they had ventured out, death would have come out of its lair to slaughter them. And they would have met someone who would strike them down and hand them over to death. They were terrified by the situation in which they found themselves, and fled shamefully from what should have made them glow with ardour. Then the Sultan decided to bathe in the waters of Lake Tiberias and from there to dominate the region with lance and sword, to take possession of the land and make himself its master. So he brought the lance-handles to the Jordan and made the dust rise over the lake from the hooves of the chargers, with which he found it easy without any difficulty to take the lovely Arab women by surprise. He gave orders to his troops, the ami? rs and leaders of his army, to station themselves in front of the Franks and to bring them crisis in place of calm. If they came out to fight the Muslims would fall on them with just vengeance; if they moved anywhere the Muslims would spring on them like lions on hares; if they tried to reach Tiberias to defend it and seek help there they would betray the fact at once and the Muslims would immediately set out to attack them.
1I. e. Christians; those who venerate the three Hypostates or divine persons.
78 Arab Historians of the Crusades
THE FALL OF TIBERIAS
Saladin surrounded Tiberias with his personal guard and his most faithful troops. He advanced the infantry and sappers, the Khurasani and the artillery, surrounded the walls and began to demolish the houses, giving battle fiercely and not sparing the city in the attack. This was Thursday, and he was at the head of his troops. The sappers began to mine one of the towers. They demolished it, knocked it down, leapt on to it and took possession of it. Night fell, and while the dawn of victory was breaking for them, the night of woe was darkening for the enemy. The citadel put up resistance and the Countess shut herself up there with her sons. When the Count heard that Tiberias had fallen and his Princedom been taken he was seized with consternation and lost all his strength of purpose, putting himself completely in the hands of the Franks. 'From today onwards,' he said, 'not to act is no longer possible. We must at all costs drive the enemy back. Now that Tiberias is taken and the whole Princedom with all my possessions, acquired or inherited, is lost, I cannot resign myself or recover from this reverse. '1 The King was his ally and offered no opposition, but consented to this without hypocrisy, with sincere and unmixed affection, in a friendly manner completely lacking in coldness. He gave him precise promises without having to be asked twice, and set out on the march with his army, his sight and his hearing, his dragons and demons, beasts and wolves, the followers of his error and the faction of his evil deeds. The earth trembled beneath their feet, the heavens were clouded with the dust thrown up by them. News came that the Franks had mounted and were on the move with the ranks of their steadfast faith, who leapt into the attack, drawn up for battle and flooding over the ground, creeping forward on the defensive, kindling the fire of war, responding to the cry of vengeance, running to reach their dwellings. This was Friday 24 rabi? ' II. As soon as the news was verified the Sultan confirmed that his decision, based on his earlier judgment, was accurate, and rejoiced to hear that they were on the march; 'If our objective is gained,' he said, 'our request will have been heard in full and our ambition will have been achieved. Thanks be to God, our good fortune will now be renewed, our swords sharp, our courage valiant, our victory swift. If they are really defeated, killed and captured, Tiberias and all Palestine will have no one left to defend them or to impede our conquest. '
Thus he sought God's best (fortune) and set off, casting all delay aside. On Friday 24 rabi? ' II the Franks were on the march toward Tiberias with all their forces, moving as fast as if they were always going downhill. Their hordes rolled on, their lions roared, their vultures flew above them, their cries rose up, the horizon was hidden by the clouds of them, their heads sought eagerly for those who were to strike them off. They looked like mountains on the march, like seas boiling over, wave upon wave, with their crowding ranks, their seething approach-roads and mutilated barbarian warriors. The air stank, the light was dimmed, the desert was stunned, the plain dissolved, destiny hung over them, the Pleiades sent dust down upon them, the chargers' saddle-cloths brushed the ground and swept it, their hurrying hooves scored the earth. The knights clad in mail went with raised visors amid the swords, the hardened warriors and heroes of battle were loaded down with
In this account the Count expresses quite different loyalties from those described by Ibn al-Athi? r
1
on the eve of the battle.
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 79
the apparel of war, and their number was complete. Ahead of them the Sultan had drawn up his battalions and strengthened all his resolve for the fight. He set his army to face them and kept a watch on their vanguard in case they should charge; he cut off their access to water and filled in the wells, which caused them great hardship. He prevented their getting down to the water and set himself between them and their objective, keeping them at a distance. This was on a burningly hot day, while they themselves were burning with wrath. The Dog Star was blazing with merciless heat that consumed their water supplies and offered no support against thirst.
Night separated the two sides and the cavalry barred both the roads. Isla? m passed the night face to face with unbelief, monotheism at war with Trinitarianism, the way of righteousness looking down upon error, faith opposing polytheism. Meanwhile the several circles of Hell prepared themselves and the several ranks of Heaven congratulated themselves; Malik (the Guardian of Hell) waited and Ridwa? n (the Guardian of Paradise) rejoiced. Finally, when day dawned and the morning gleamed out, when dawn sent waves of light across the sky and the clangour of the trumpets startled the crow from the dust, when the swords awoke in their sheaths and the lances flamed with eagerness, when the bows stirred and the fire glowed, when blades were unsheathed and prevarication ripped away, then the archers began to scorch with their burning shafts men destined for Hell fire; the bows hummed and the bowstrings sang, the warriors' pliant lances danced, unveiling the brides of battle, the white blades appeared naked out of the sheath amid the throng, and the brown lances were pastured on entrails. The Franks hoped for a respite and their army in desperation sought for a way of escape. But at every way out they were barred, and tormented by the heat of war without being able to rest. Tortured by the thirst they charged, with no other water than the 'water' of the blades they gripped. The fire of arrows burned and wounded them, the fierce grip of the bows seized tenaciously upon them and struck them dead. They were impotent, driven off, pushed to extremes and driven back, every charge thrown off and destroyed, every action or attack captured and put in chains. Not even an ant could have escaped, and they could not defend themselves by charging. They burned and glowed in a frenzied ferment. As the arrows struck them down those who had seemed like lions now seemed like hedgehogs. The arrows beat them down and opened great gaps in their ranks. They sought refuge on the hill of Hitti? n to protect them from the flood of defeat, and Hitti? n was surrounded by the flags of destruction. The sword-blades sucked away their lives and scattered them on the hillsides; the bows found their targets, the wild fates stripped them, disasters crushed them, destruction picked them out, they became death's target and fate's prey. When the Count realized that they were defeated his anguish was clear to see. He gave up all effort and planned a way of escape. This was even before the main body of the army was roused and the embers were fanned, before the war was set alight and the flame burned. His band went off to find a way of escape and took the road across the wadi, refusing to stop. He went off like a flash of lightning in his folly, before the leak became too big; he fled with a few followers and did not return to the attack. Thus he absented himself from the fight, seized by an unconquerable terror that forced him to flee. The fighting grew more violent as lance crossed lance and sword struck sword. The Franks were surrounded whichever way they turned and completely encircled. They began to pitch their tents and to rally their troops, setting up their pavilions on Hitti? n, while the gallant archers hammered away at their swords. But they were prevented from planting
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and raising their tents, and plucked from the roots and branches of life. They hoped to improve their position by dismounting from their horses, and they fought tenaciously, but the swords went through them as a torrent flows and our army surrounded them as Hellfire surrounds the damned. Finally they resorted to saddling the ground, and their girth clasped the nipples of the plain. 1
The devil and his crew were taken, the King and his counts were captured, and the Sultan sat to review his chief prisoners, who came forward stumbling in their fetters like drunken men. The Grand Master of the Templars was brought in in his sins, and many of the Templars and Hospitallers with him. The King Guy and his brother Geoffrey were escorted in, with Hugh of Juba? il, Humphrey, and Prince Arna? t of al-Karak, who was the first to fall into the net. The Sultan had vowed to have his blood and had said: 'When I find him I shall kill him immediately. ' When the Prince was brought before him he made him sit beside the King, and reproached him for his treachery and paraded his wickedness before him. 'How often have you made a vow and broken your oath; how many obligations have you failed to honour, how many treaties made and unmade, and agreements reached and repudiated! ' The interpreter passed on this reply from him: 'This is how kings have always behaved; I have only followed the path of custom. ' Meanwhile the King was dying from thirst and was shaking with fear like a drunkard. But Saladin addressed him affably, calmed the wave of terror that had swept over him, assuaged his fear and reassured him in his heart; he sent for iced water for him, to soothe his burning throat and quench his tormenting thirst. Then the King passed the goblet to the Prince for him too to quench his thirst, and he took it in his hand and drank. The Sultan said to the King: 'You did not have my permission to give him drink, and so that drink does not imply his safety at my hand. ' Then he mounted his horse and left him to roast himself at the fire of his fear; he stayed out riding until his tent had been pitched, his standards and banners planted and his troops had returned from the battle to their base. Then he entered the pavilion, summoned the Prince, raised his sword and struck him on the shoulder, and as he fell ordered that his head should be struck off. He was dragged out by the feet. This was done in the King's presence and filled him with despair and terror. The Sultan realized that the King was consumed with fear and assaulted by terror and consternation, and so he called him to his side, made him come up close and reassured and calmed him. He put him at his ease as he stood at his side and calmed him by saying: 'This man's evil deeds have been his downfall, and as you saw his perfidy has been his destruction. He died for his sins and wickedness; the spark he struck from life is extinguished and the source of his being has dried up. '
This defeat of the enemy, this our victory occurred on a Saturday, and the humiliation proper to the men of Saturday was inflicted on the men of Sunday, who had been lions and now were reduced to the level of miserable sheep. 1 Of these thousands only a few individuals escaped, and of all those enemies only a few were saved. The plain was covered with prisoners and corpses, disclosed by the dust as it settled and victory became clear. The prisoners, with beating hearts, were bound in chains. The dead were scattered over the
Ibn al-Athi? r puts the meaning of this elegant metaphor in simpler words; they had dismounted, now 'they sat on the ground'.
I. e. the Christians were humiliated like despised Jews.
1
1
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 81
mountains and valleys, lying immobile on their sides. Hitti? n shrugged off their carcasses, and the perfume of victory was thick with the stench of them. I passed by them and saw the limbs of the fallen cast naked on the field of battle, scattered in pieces over the site of the encounter, lacerated and disjointed, with heads cracked open, throats split, spines broken, necks shattered, feet in pieces, noses mutilated, extremities torn off, members dismembered, parts shredded, eyes gouged out, stomachs disembowelled, hair coloured with blood, the praecordium slashed, fingers sliced off, the thorax shattered, the ribs broken, the joints dislocated, the chests smashed, throats slit, bodies cut in half, arms pulverized, lips shrivelled, foreheads pierced, forelocks dyed scarlet, breasts covered with blood, ribs pierced, elbows disjointed, bones broken, tunics torn off, faces lifeless, wounds gaping, skin flayed, fragments chopped off, hair lopped, backs skinless, bodies dismembered, teeth knocked out, blood spilt, life's last breath exhaled, necks lolling, joints slackened, pupils liquefied, heads hanging, livers crushed, ribs staved in, heads shattered, breasts flayed, spirits flown, their very ghosts crushed; like stones among stones, a lesson to the wise. 1
This field of battle had become a sea of blood; the dust was stained red, rivers of blood ran freely, and the face of the true Faith was revealed free from those shadowy abominations. O sweet rivers of victory over such evil! O burning, punishing blows on those carcasses! O sweet heart's comforter against that confusion! O welcome prayers at the joyful news of such an event! Such is the number of the slain that the tongues of all the peoples would not be capable of counting and enumerating them; as for the prisoners, all our tents could not produce enough tent-cords to bind and fetter them, and I saw thirty or forty on a single rope, led by a single rider, and in one place a hundred or two hundred captives guarded by a single man. Here rebels became prisoners, enemies were denuded, sovereigns made subject, great men humiliated, Counts reduced to game, horsemen hunted down, honoured men reviled, the faces of the infernal Templars ground in the dust, skulls trampled underfoot, the bodies they were blessed with hewn to pieces and scattered. How many proud men were taken, how many leaders bound and led, how many polytheists were grinding their teeth, how many infidels filled with gloomy thoughts, how many Trinitarians cut in half, how many impious enquirers after God had their arms bound; how many wounders were wounded, and injurers injured, and kings enslaved, and profaners profaned, and destroyers destroyed, and plunderers plundered, and noble lords in fetters, and violent men in chains, and freemen in servitude, and followers of error in the hands of the followers of truth!
THE CAPTURE OF THE GREAT CROSS ON THE DAY OF BATTLE
At the same time as the King was taken the 'True Cross' was also captured, and the idolaters who were trying to defend it were routed. It was this cross, brought into position and raised on high, to which all Christians prostrated themselves and bowed their heads. Indeed, they maintain that it is made of the wood of the cross on which, they say, he whom they adore was hung, and so they venerate it and prostrate themselves before it. They had housed it in a casing of gold, adorned with pearls and gems, and kept it ready for the festival of
Our author must surely have considered this macabre tirade one of the most successful examples
1
of his literary style.
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the Passion, for the observance of their yearly ceremony. When the priests exposed it to view and the heads (of the bearers) bore it along all would run and cast themselves down around it, and no one was allowed to lag behind or hang back without forfeiting his liberty. Its capture was for them more important than the loss of the King and was the gravest blow that they sustained in that battle. The cross was a prize without equal, for it was the supreme object of their faith. To venerate it was their prescribed duty, for it was their God, before whom they would bow their foreheads to the ground, and to which their mouths sang hymns. They fainted at its appearance, they raised their eyes to contemplate it, they were consumed with passion when it was exhibited and boasted of nothing else when they had seen it. They went into ecstasies at its reappearance, they offered up their lives for it and sought comfort from it, so much so that they had copies made of it which they worshipped, before which they prostrated themselves in their houses and on which they called when they gave evidence. So when the Great Cross was taken great was the calamity that befell them, and the strength drained from their loins. Great was the number of the defeated, exalted the feelings of the victorious army. It seemed as if, once they knew of the capture of the Cross, none of them would survive that day of ill-omen. They perished in death or imprisonment, and were overcome by force and violence. The Sultan encamped on the plain of Tiberias like a lion in the desert or the moon in its full splendour.
THE CONQUEST OF THE CITADEL OF TIBERIAS
He sent men to the citadel to receive its surrender with a promise of safe-conduct, and established the Faith there in place of the falsehood that had dwelt there before. The Lady, the Countess of Tiberias, had defended it and carried there all her property and possessions. He granted her a safe-conduct for the journey for her companions and property, and she left with her women and men and luggage, taking everything to Tripoli, the city that belonged to the Count her husband. So once again Tiberias was inhabited in safety by the people of the Faith, and Sarim ad-Din Qaima? z an-Najmi, one of their greatest dignitaries, was appointed its governor. Meanwhile Saladin encamped outside Tiberias, after having cured all mankind of its ills, and his army covered the whole plain.
SALADIN'S TREATMENT OF THE TEMPLARS AND HOSPITALLERS, BEHEADING THEM AND CAUSING GENERAL REJOICING AT THEIR EXTERMINATION1
On the morning of Monday 17 rabi? ' II, two days after the victory, the Sultan sought out the Templars and Hospitallers who had been captured and said: 'I shall purify the land of these two impure races. ' He assigned fifty dinar to every man who had taken one of them prisoner, and immediately the army brought forward at least a hundred of them. He
This episode, described by our eye-witness with his usual stylistic embellishments, is a blot on Saladin's renowned magnanimity; the reason for the slaughter was the hatred aroused in the Muslim camp by the two warrior orders by conduct in war certainly no more humane and 'Christian' than that of their enemies.
1
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ordered that they should be beheaded, choosing to have them dead rather than in prison. With him was a whole band of scholars and sufis and a certain number of devout men and ascetics; each begged to be allowed to kill one of them, and drew his sword and rolled back his sleeve. Saladin, his face joyful, was sitting on his dais; the unbelievers showed black despair, the troops were drawn up in their ranks, the ami? rs stood in double file. There were some who slashed and cut cleanly, and were thanked for it; some who refused and failed to act, and were excused; some who made fools of themselves, and others took their places. I saw there the man who laughed scornfully and slaughtered, who spoke and acted; how many promises he fulfilled, how much praise he won, the eternal rewards he secured with the blood he had shed, the pious works added to his account with a neck severed by him! How many blades did he stain with blood for a victory he longed for, how many lances did he brandish against the lion he captured, how many ills did he cure by the ills he brought upon a Templar, how much strength did he give to the leaders whom he supported, how many banners did he unfurl against disasters that retreated! I saw how he killed unbelief to give life to Isla? m, and destroyed polytheism to build monotheism, and drove decisions through to their conclusion to satisfy the community of the faithful, and cut down enemies in the defence of friends!
The Sultan sent the Frankish King to Damascus with his brother, and Humphrey, and the ruler of juba? il, and the Grand Master of the Temple and all the great barons who had been captured, to be imprisoned there and immobilized after all their activity; the army dispersed with its prisoners, and the embers of the assembled unbelievers faded and were extinguished.
Jerusalem Reconquered
(IBN AL-ATHI? R, XI, 361-6)
When Saladin had completed his conquest of Ascalon and the surrounding regions he sent for the Egyptian fleet and a large detachment of troops under Husa? m ad-Din Lu'lu' al-Hajib, a man well known for his courage, energy and initiative. This force set out by sea, intercepting Frankish communications; every Frankish vessel they sighted they attacked, and captured every galley. When they arrived and Saladin could rely on their support, he marched from Ascalon to Jerusalem. The venerable Patriarch,1 who carried greater authority than the King himself, was there and so was Balia? n ibn Barza? n, ruler of ar-Ramla,2 who was almost equal in rank to the King. The knights who had survived Hitti? n had also concentrated there. The inhabitants of that region, Ascalon and elsewhere had also gathered in Jerusalem, so there was a great concourse of people there, each one of whom would choose death rather than see the Muslims in power in their city; the sacrifice of life, possessions and sons was for them a part of their duty to defend the city. During that interval they fortified it by every means to hand, and then all mounted the walls, resolved to defend them with all their might, and showed determination to fight to the limit of
1 Heraclius.
2 Balia? n of Ibelin.
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their ability in the defence of Jerusalem. They mounted catapults to ward off attempts to approach the city and besiege it.
During Saladin's advance one of the ami? rs went ahead with his band of men without taking any precautions to defend himself; a troop of Franks who had left Jerusalem on reconnaissance came face to face with him and in a battle killed him and some of his men, which caused great grief and sorrow to the Muslims. Half-way through rajab/September 1187 they besieged Jerusalem. As they approached they saw on the walls a terrifying crowd of men and heard an uproar of voices coming from the inhabitants behind the walls that led them to infer the number of people who must be assembled there. For five days the Sultan rode round the city to decide on the best point for the attack, for the city was more strongly defended than ever before.
Raymond III.
Eschiva, Countess of Bures.
Baldwin IV (1174-85).
Baldwin V, died in 1186 after a few months of nominal rule.
Sibylla, sister of Baldwin IV, mother of Baldwin V, in second marriage wife of Guy of Lusignan.
1 2 3 4 1
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and asked to account for the moneys collected during his regency. He swore that he had spent them on the young King's behalf, but his loyalty to the new King was strained so far that he reached a position of open secession and rebellion. He began a correspondence with Saladin, established a cordial relationship with him and turned to him for help in achieving his ambition to rule the Franks. Saladin and the Muslims were pleased and Saladin promised to help him and to give him every possible assistance in his plans. He guaranteed to make him King of all the Franks. He freed some of the Count's knights whom he held prisoner, which made the best possible impression on Raymond, who openly displayed his obedience to Saladin. A certain number of Franks followed his example, which led to discord and disunity and was one of the chief reasons why their towns were reconquered and Jerusalem fell to the Muslims, as we shall narrate. Saladin sent guerrilla bands from the Tiberias region who devastated the Frankish lands and returned unscathed. This weakened the Franks but gave the Muslims energy and enthusiasm for attacking them.
PRINCE ARNA? T'S TREACHERY
Prince Arna? t of al-Karak2 was one of the chief Frankish barons and one of the most arrogant; a violent and most dangerous enemy of Isla? m. Saladin knew this and on several occasions attacked him and sent raiding parties into his territories. Arna? t humbled himself to sue for peace, which Saladin conceded, and both swore to observe a truce which would allow caravans to move freely between Syria and Egypt. In 582/1186-7, however, a great caravan passed close to his territory, richly laden and accompanied by a great host of people and a large armed escort. This infamous man broke the truce and attacked them, captured the whole caravan, seized the booty, animals and weapons, and threw all his prisoners into dungeons. Saladin sent letters rebuking him and reproaching him with his treachery, and threatening him with reprisals if he did not release the prisoners and their possessions. The Count persistently refused to comply. Saladin vowed that if ever he laid hands on him he would kill him, and what followed will be recounted, God willing.
SALADIN ATTACKS AL-KARAK
In 583/1187 Saladin wrote to all the provinces to call them to arms in the Holy War. He wrote to Mosul in the Jazira, to Arbela and other eastern states, to Egypt and to the Syrian domains, calling them to arms and exhorting them to fight in the Holy War, and commending as many as possible to arm themselves for battle. At the end of muharram/ April 1187 he and his army and the Damascene guard left Damascus and marched to Ras al-Ma', where the Syrian contingents joined them. He gave his son al-Malik al-Afdal 'Ali command of them and marched with a contingent of his own troops to Busra. This was because he had heard that Arna? t of al-Karak was going to attack the pilgrims and cut off their advance, making it clear that once he had dealt with them he would return to bar the way to the Egyptian army and prevent its joining up with the Syrians. Saladin therefore
Al-Karak in Moab, Transjordan, a fort dominating the overland route between Egypt and Syria,
2
and Syria and the Hijaz.
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 71
marched on Busra to prevent Arna? t's attack on the pilgrims and to make him stay quietly at home for fear of the Sultan. Among the pilgrims was a whole group of Saladin's relations, including the son of one of his sisters: Muhammad ibn Laji? n. When Arna? t learned that Saladin was at the boundary of his territories he stayed where he was and abandoned his plans, and so the Pilgrimage went through in safety. When it had passed and all was quiet in that region Saladin marched on al-Karak and sent his raiding parties throughout the regions of al-Karak, ash-Shaubak and elsewhere, pillaging, breaking and burning, while the Prince was besieged and powerless to defend his lands, and fear of al-Afdal's army kept the other Franks immobilized at home. So Saladin was free to besiege and pillage, burn and ravage the whole region, which he did.
AN INCURSION INTO THE REGION OF ACRE
Saladin sent orders to his son al-Afdal to send a large detachment of the army into the region of Acre to plunder it and lay it waste. He took Muzaffar ad-Din Kio? kbari? ibn Zain ad-Din, ruler of Harra? n and Edessa, with Qaima? z an-Najmi and Yildiri? m al-Yaquti, two of the leading ami? rs, and several others. They left by night at the end of safar/May 1187 and attacked Saffuriyya in the morning. A body of Templars, Hospitallers and others came out of the city to repulse them and a terrible battle followed. God gave the Muslims victory at last and the Franks turned and fled. Some were killed and the rest captured. Among the dead was the Grand Master of the Hospital,1 one of the most famous Frankish noblemen, who had done much harm to the cause of Isla? m.
The Muslims sacked the regions round about, then returned safe and sound with their booty and prisoners to Tiberias, where the Count was. He had done nothing to prevent the Christians' defeat. It was a great victory, for the Templars and Hospitallers were the backbone of the Frankish armies. The joyful news spread far and wide.
SALADIN RETURNS TO HIS ARMY AND INVADES FRANKISH TERRITORY
When Saladin received the joyful news that the Templars and Hospitallers had been defeated and many of them slaughtered or taken prisoner he returned from al-Karak to the army under al-Afdal's command, where all the other ami? rs and troops were gathered. There he reviewed his army and estimated that he had 12,000 cavalry with regular fiefs and military stipends, as well as volunteers. The Sultan disposed the army in battle order, with a central column and two wings, a vanguard and a rearguard. He assigned to each man a post and commanded him not to desert it, and so marched out and encamped at Uqhuwana near Tiberias. We have already said that the Count was on Saladin's side. Saladin received a stream of letters from him with promises of help and support; 'But the Devil makes promises to them only to deceive them'. 1 Now when the Franks saw the Muslim armies
Roger des Moulins. Qur'a? n XVII, 66.
1 1
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and realized that they were bent on attacking them, they sent the Patriarch, with priests and monks and a large number of knights to Raymond to reproach him with having taken Saladin's side. 'You must have become a Muslim,' they said, 'otherwise you could not have endured what the Muslims have just done to the Franks by massacring and enslaving those Templars and Hospitallers, nor could you let them pass through your lands without objecting or intervening to stop them. ' The local militias of Tiberias and Tripoli joined in the remonstrances and the Patriarch threatened, among other things, to excommunicate him and to annul his marriage. When the Count saw what a serious situation he had created he took fright and said that he repented. They accepted his apologies, forgave him for his defection and begged him to join them against the Muslims and to give them. his help in the defence of their lands. The Count agreed to make his peace and be reunited with them and returned with them to the Frankish King, and so peace was restored between them after all that had happened. But God saw to it that it did them no good. Infantry and cavalry mustered and marched from Acre to Saffuriyya, but they were reluctant and demoralized.
The Battle of Hitti? n
(IBN AL-ATHI? R, XI, 351-5)
While the reunited Franks were on their way to Saffuriyya, Saladin called a council of his ami? rs. Most of them advised him not to fight, but to weaken the enemy by repeated skirmishes and raids. Others however advised him to pillage the Frankish territories, and to give battle to any Frankish army that might appear in their path, 'Because in the East people are cursing us, saying that we no longer fight the infidels but have begun to fight Muslims instead. So we must do something to justify ourselves and silence our critics. ' But Saladin said: 'My feeling is that we should confront all the enemy's forces with all the forces of Isla? m; for events do not turn out according to man's will and we do not know how long a life is left to us, so it is foolish to dissipate this concentration of troops without striking a tremendous blow in the Holy War. ' So on Thursday, 23 rabi? ' II/2 July 1187, the fifth day after we encamped at Uqhuwana, he struck camp and moved off up the hill outside Tiberias, leaving the city behind him. When he drew near to the Franks, however, there was no one to be seen, for they had not yet left their tents. So he went back down the hill with his army. At night he positioned troops where they would prevent the enemy from giving battle and then attacked Tiberias with a small force, breached the wall and took the city by storm during the night. The inhabitants fled for refuge to the citadel, where the Countess and her children were, and defended themselves there while the lower town was sacked and burned.
When the Franks learned that Saladin had attacked Tiberias and taken it and everything in it, burning the houses and anything they could not remove, they met to take counsel. Some advised the King to meet the Muslims in battle and chase them out of Tiberias, but the Count intervened to say: 'Tiberias belongs to me and my wife. There is no question that Saladin is master there now and that only the citadel remains, where my wife is immured. For my part, if he takes the citadel, my wife and all my possessions there and then goes away I shall be happy enough. By God, I have observed the armies of Isla? m over the course of the years and I have never seen one equal to Saladin's army here in numbers or
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 73
in fighting power. If he takes Tiberias he will not be able to stay there, and when he has left it and gone away we will retake it; for if he chooses to stay there he will be unable to keep his army together, for they will not put up for long with being kept away from their homes and families. He will be forced to evacuate the city, and we will free our prisoners. ' But Prince Arna? t of al-Karak replied: 'You have tried hard to make us afraid of the Muslims. Clearly you take their side and your sympathies are with them, otherwise you would not have spoken in this way. As for the size of their army, a large load of fuel will be good for the fires of Hell. . . . ' 'I am one of you,' said the Count, 'and if you advance then I shall advance with you, and if you retreat I shall retreat. You will see what will happen. ' The generals decided to advance and give battle to the Muslims, so they left the place where they had been encamped until now and advanced on the Muslim army. When Saladin received the news he ordered his army to withdraw from its position near Tiberias; his only reason for besieging Tiberias was to make the Franks abandon their position and offer battle. The Muslims went down to the water (of the lake). The weather was blazingly hot and the Franks, who were suffering greatly from thirst, were prevented by the Muslims from reaching the water. They had drained all the local cisterns, but could not turn back for fear of the Muslims. So they passed that night tormented with thirst. The Muslims for their part had lost their first fear of the enemy and were in high spirits, and spent the night inciting one another to battle. They could smell victory in the air, and the more they saw of the unexpectedly low morale of the Franks the more aggressive and daring they became; throughout the night the cries Alla? h akbar (God is great) and 'there is no God but Alla? h' rose up to heaven. Meanwhile the Sultan was deploying the vanguard of archers and distributing the arrows.
On Saturday 24 rabi? ' II/4 July 1187 Saladin and the Muslims mounted their horses and advanced on the Franks. They too were mounted, and the two armies came to blows. The Franks were suffering badly from thirst, and had lost confidence. The battle raged furiously, both sides putting up a tenacious resistance. The Muslim archers sent up clouds of arrows like thick swarms of locusts, killing many of the Frankish horses. The Franks, surrounding themselves with their infantry, tried to fight their way toward Tiberias in the hope of reaching water, but Saladin realized their objective and forestalled them by planting himself and his army in the way. He himself rode up and down the Muslim lines encouraging and restraining his troops where necessary. The whole army obeyed his commands and respected his prohibitions. One of his young mamlu? ks led a terrifying charge on the Franks and performed prodigious feats of valour until he was overwhelmed by numbers and killed, when all the Muslims charged the enemy lines and almost broke through, slaying many Franks in the process. The Count saw that the situation was desperate and realized that he could not withstand the Muslim army, so by agreement with his companions he charged the lines before him. The commander of that section of the Muslim army was Taqi ad-Din 'Umar, Saladin's nephew. When he saw that the Franks charging his lines were desperate and that they were going to try to break through, he sent orders for a passage to be made for them through the ranks.
One of the volunteers had set fire to the dry grass that covered the ground; it took fire and the wind carried the heat and smoke down on to the enemy. They had to endure thirst, the summer's heat, the blazing fire and smoke and the fury of battle. When the Count fled the Franks lost heart and were on the verge of surrender, but seeing that the only way to
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save their lives was to defy death they made a series of charges that almost dislodged the Muslims from their position in spite of their numbers, had not the grace of God been with them. As each wave of attackers fell back they left their dead behind them; their numbers diminished rapidly, while the Muslims were all around them like a circle about its diameter. The surviving Franks made for a hill near Hitti? n, where they hoped to pitch their tents and defend themselves. They were vigorously attacked from all sides and prevented from pitching more than one tent, that of the King. The Muslims captured their great cross, called the 'True Cross', in which they say is a piece of the wood upon which, according to them, the Messiah was crucified. 1 This was one of the heaviest blows that could be inflicted on them and made their death and destruction certain. Large numbers of their cavalry and infantry were killed or captured. The King stayed on the hillside with five hundred of the most gallant and famous knights.
I was told that al-Malik al-Afdal, Saladin's son, said: 'I was at my father Saladin's side during that battle, the first that I saw with my own eyes. The Frankish King had retreated to the hill with his band, and from there he led a furious charge against the Muslims facing him, forcing them. back upon my father. I saw that he was alarmed and distraught, and he tugged at his beard as he went forward crying: "Away with. the Devil's lie! " The Muslims turned to counter-attack and drove the Franks back up the hill. When I saw the Franks retreating before the Muslim onslaught I cried out for joy: "We have conquered them! " But they returned to the charge with undiminished ardour and drove our army back toward my father. His response was the same as before, and the Muslims counter-attacked and drove the Franks back to the hill. Again I cried: "We have beaten them! " but my father turned to me and said: "Be quiet; we shall not have beaten them until that tent falls! " As he spoke the tent fell, and the Sultan dismounted and prostrated himself in thanks to God, weeping for joy. ' This was how the tent fell: the Franks had been suffering terribly from thirst during that charge, which they hoped would win them a way out of their distress, but the way of escape was blocked. They dismounted and sat down on the ground and the Muslims fell upon them, pulled down the King's tent and captured every one of them, including the King,1 his brother, and Prince Arna? t of Karak, Isla? m's most hated enemy. They also took the ruler of Juba? il, the son of Humphrey (of Toron), the Grand Master of the Templars, one of the Franks' greatest dignitaries,2 and a band of Templars and Hospitallers. The number of dead and captured was so large that those who saw the slain could not believe that anyone could have been taken alive, and those who saw the prisoners could not believe that any had been killed. From the time of their first assault on Palestine in 491/1098 until now the Franks had never suffered such a defeat.
When all the prisoners had been taken Saladin went to his tent and sent for the King of the Franks and Prince Arna? t of Karak. He had the King seated beside him and as he was half-dead with thirst gave him iced water to drink. The King drank, and handed the rest to the Prince, who also drank. Saladin said: 'This godless man did not have my permission to drink, and will not save his life that way. ' He turned on the Prince, casting his crimes in
According to the Qur'a? n, which preaches the Docetic doctrine, it was not the true person of Christ, but only a simulacrum, that was crucified.
Guy of Lusignan.
The Grand Master, Gerard of Ridfort.
1
1 2
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 75
his teeth and enumerating his sins. Then he rose and with his own hand cut off the man's head. 'Twice,' he said, 'I have sworn to kill that man when I had him in my power: once when he tried to attack Mecca and Medina, and again when he broke the truce to capture the caravan. ' When he was dead and had been dragged out of the tent the King began to tremble, but Saladin calmed and reassured him. As for the ruler of Tripoli, when he escaped from the battle, as we have described, he went to Tyre and from there made his way to Tripoli. He was there only a few days before he died of rage and fury at the disaster that had befallen the Franks in particular, and all Christendom in general.
When Saladin had brought about the downfall of the Franks he stayed at the site of the battle for the rest of the day, and on the Sunday returned to the siege of Tiberias. The Countess sent to request safe-conducts for herself and her children, companions and possessions, and he granted her this. She left the citadel with all her train, and Saladin kept his word to her and let her escape unmolested. At the Sultan's command the King and a few of the most distinguished prisoners were sent to Damascus, while the Templars and Hospitallers were rounded up to be killed. The Sultan realized that those who had taken them prisoner were not going to hand them over, for they hoped to obtain ransoms for them, and so he offered fifty Egyptian dinar for each prisoner in these two categories. Immediately he got two hundred prisoners, who were decapitated at his command. He had these particular men killed because they were the fiercest of all the Frankish warriors, and in this way he rid the Muslim people of them. He sent orders to his commander in Damascus to kill all those found in his territory, whoever they belonged to, and this was done.
A year later I crossed the battlefield, and saw the land all covered with their bones, which could be seen even from a distance, lying in heaps or scattered around. These were what was left after all the rest had been carried away by storms or by the wild beasts of these hills and valleys.
THE SULTAN SALADIN AND HIS ARMY ENTER FRANKISH TERRITORY ('IMA? D AD-DIN, 18-29)
In the morning the Sultan began to review the army in the field, like a cloud heavy with rain, a tempestuous sea of dust, a swelling ocean of whinnying chargers, of swords and cuirasses. He marshalled his gallant knights and his battalions who swept like a cloud over the face of the earth, making the dust fly up from earth to the Pleiades and sending the crows, to escape the dust, flying as far as Vega. The plain broke the seal of dust, lethal messages of impending disasters were fixed on the messenger-pigeons of death; the ribs of the bows longed to enclose their embryos the arrows, the curved arrow was careful to keep to its place on the right, the shot arrow was united to the bow-string; the bows were faithful to their oaths of vengeance and every battalion rose up in search of retribution. On the day of the review the Sultan came forward to set the army in order, to divide it into sections and to draw up its ranks far and near. To every ami? r he assigned a duty, to every knight a post, to every lucky champion a station, to every ambush a place, to every combatant an opponent, to every burning spark someone to extinguish it, to every company (of Franks) someone to destroy it, to every flintstone someone to strike it, to every blade someone to
76 Arab Historians of the Crusades
whet it, to each action a command, to each arrow a point, to each right hand a sword, to each sword a hilt, to every courser an arena, to every outrider a defence, to every archer a target, to every leader a follower, to everything rising a place to which to rise, to every name an object. To each ami?
r he assigned a place on the left or the right from which he was not to move, whence his body was not to absent itself, nor was any one of them to depart. He brought forward the front line of gallant archers of each battalion, advising each section of what would bring it into contact with another section. He said: 'When we enter the enemy's terrain this is our army's battle order, our method of advancing and retreating, the position of our battalions, the place where our knights rise up, where our lances are to fall, the paths by which to direct our horses, the arenas for our coursers, the gardens for our roses, the site of our vicissitudes, the outlets of our desires, the scene on which we shall be transfigured. ' He reinforced men's hopes with the amounts of his largesse and realized, by fulfilling his promises and crowning his intentions, the desires of his men. When the ranks were drawn up and the arms distributed he made gifts of war-horses and scattered largesse, devoted himself to making donations and giving coveted prizes, scattered stores of gifts and emptied quivers of arrows, spent hidden reserves, using the choicest and best parts, and distributed bundles of arrows, of which the soldiers received more than a quiverful. He made chargers gallop and brought forth an ample harvest of troops. He spurred on brave coursers and called on the witnesses to bear witness, he drew up in succession his squadrons' virtues and won over to his side the sympathies of the swords; he strengthened the cutting blades, gave drink to the terrible lances, and returned to his tents happy and content, received with welcome and gratitude, generous and appreciated after having deployed and organized his men, arrayed them in squadrons and platoons, confirmed and well-established, with pious works, well-founded hopes, perfume poured out, glowing face, fragrant odour, radiant aspect, certain of victory and in firm possession of certainty; saying 'amen' to the auguries that demanded it, drawing auspicious omens from the white markings of his headstrong coursers, clearly drawing up his terms for recovering the debt owed to the Faith. He delighted in the beauty of the war-horses and in the voices wishing him well, and his spirit rejoiced at the prospect of the march; he tightened the belts of firmness and confirmed a definite decision; he ordered his men to mount for the journey and harnessed the Arab steeds to cross the desert. He left on Friday 17 rabi? ' II/27 June 1187, accompanied by victory, aided by unfailing supplies, supported by power, buttressed by good fortune, augmented by luck, with success in attendance, conversant with glory, the companion of victory, with the thanks of Isla? m and the support of God Almighty. He advanced with his ranks of embattled squadrons drawn up as we have said, each platoon flanked by others, ordered ranks, well-arranged formations, long-bodied horses on leading- reins, lethal arrows in quivers, drawn swords in hand, old wolves, cleaving blades, runners in sandals, rending lions; the tents of Khisf in wept, there where God was bringing near the eclipse and downfall of the enemy, the darkening and disappearance of unbelief. Thus he passed the night surrounded by radiant faces and eyes watchful on God's path, the hands unsheathing the mighty swords, the tongues giving thanks for God's goodness, the hearts flowering with devotion, the souls conversing in heavenly love, the feet guided by the destiny they were to fulfil. In the morning he marched forward and descended to the Jordan, determined to attack and sure of his defence; the vast sea of his army surrounded the lake of Tiberias, while the spread of his tents made that plain seem narrow. The earth
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 77
adorned itself in its new clothes, heaven opened so that the angels could descend from its gates; the ship-like tents rode at anchor in this expanse and the battalions flooded in wave upon wave. A second sky of dust spread out, in which swords and iron-tipped lances rose like stars. Uqhuwana was changed into burgeoning flowerbeds and flowering orchards by bay chargers and knights like proud lions, by crescent swords like arches of myrtle, by Yemeni blades like garden trees, by yellow banners like unfurled pennons of jasmin, by standards red as anemones and coats of mail glittering like pools, by swords polished white as streams of water, by feathered arrows blue as birds and curved as branches, by helmets gleaming like sweet-smelling many-petalled camomile flowers, by helmets like bubbles on a sea of breastplates, by neighing horses like eagles, roused to delight at the sight and sound of war.
The Franks meanwhile had ranged their standards at Saffuriyya and unfurled their banners. Their javelins were like bridges over the billows of their slim curvetting chargers, and their swords kindled in the shadowy clouds of dust. They were deployed in circles around their centres, to protect them with their bows and swords. They had mustered their hordes, drawn up their army, with spirits strengthened, cavalry and infantry, lancers and archers side by side, the pennons on their lances unfurled to the wind, the champions of error assembled, the 'True Cross' elevated, with the adorers of the false God gathered around it, the delirious madmen of human and divine nature. They had recruited the army in the lands of the Hypostatics,1 and raised the Sublime Cross on high in adoration; no one with a stick to call his own was exempt from the summons, and they set out in numbers defying account or reckoning, numerous as pebbles, 50,000 or even more, they and their scheming plots. They assembled at Sa'i? d, where they gathered from far and near. There they remained, unwilling to move or depart, and every morning the Sultan Saladin marched to within sight of them and opened fire on them from a commanding position and harassed them openly to make them confront him in an attempt to remove his sword from their necks and his floods from their throats. But they had supplies of water and would not move, but sat where they were, for if they had ventured out, death would have come out of its lair to slaughter them. And they would have met someone who would strike them down and hand them over to death. They were terrified by the situation in which they found themselves, and fled shamefully from what should have made them glow with ardour. Then the Sultan decided to bathe in the waters of Lake Tiberias and from there to dominate the region with lance and sword, to take possession of the land and make himself its master. So he brought the lance-handles to the Jordan and made the dust rise over the lake from the hooves of the chargers, with which he found it easy without any difficulty to take the lovely Arab women by surprise. He gave orders to his troops, the ami? rs and leaders of his army, to station themselves in front of the Franks and to bring them crisis in place of calm. If they came out to fight the Muslims would fall on them with just vengeance; if they moved anywhere the Muslims would spring on them like lions on hares; if they tried to reach Tiberias to defend it and seek help there they would betray the fact at once and the Muslims would immediately set out to attack them.
1I. e. Christians; those who venerate the three Hypostates or divine persons.
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THE FALL OF TIBERIAS
Saladin surrounded Tiberias with his personal guard and his most faithful troops. He advanced the infantry and sappers, the Khurasani and the artillery, surrounded the walls and began to demolish the houses, giving battle fiercely and not sparing the city in the attack. This was Thursday, and he was at the head of his troops. The sappers began to mine one of the towers. They demolished it, knocked it down, leapt on to it and took possession of it. Night fell, and while the dawn of victory was breaking for them, the night of woe was darkening for the enemy. The citadel put up resistance and the Countess shut herself up there with her sons. When the Count heard that Tiberias had fallen and his Princedom been taken he was seized with consternation and lost all his strength of purpose, putting himself completely in the hands of the Franks. 'From today onwards,' he said, 'not to act is no longer possible. We must at all costs drive the enemy back. Now that Tiberias is taken and the whole Princedom with all my possessions, acquired or inherited, is lost, I cannot resign myself or recover from this reverse. '1 The King was his ally and offered no opposition, but consented to this without hypocrisy, with sincere and unmixed affection, in a friendly manner completely lacking in coldness. He gave him precise promises without having to be asked twice, and set out on the march with his army, his sight and his hearing, his dragons and demons, beasts and wolves, the followers of his error and the faction of his evil deeds. The earth trembled beneath their feet, the heavens were clouded with the dust thrown up by them. News came that the Franks had mounted and were on the move with the ranks of their steadfast faith, who leapt into the attack, drawn up for battle and flooding over the ground, creeping forward on the defensive, kindling the fire of war, responding to the cry of vengeance, running to reach their dwellings. This was Friday 24 rabi? ' II. As soon as the news was verified the Sultan confirmed that his decision, based on his earlier judgment, was accurate, and rejoiced to hear that they were on the march; 'If our objective is gained,' he said, 'our request will have been heard in full and our ambition will have been achieved. Thanks be to God, our good fortune will now be renewed, our swords sharp, our courage valiant, our victory swift. If they are really defeated, killed and captured, Tiberias and all Palestine will have no one left to defend them or to impede our conquest. '
Thus he sought God's best (fortune) and set off, casting all delay aside. On Friday 24 rabi? ' II the Franks were on the march toward Tiberias with all their forces, moving as fast as if they were always going downhill. Their hordes rolled on, their lions roared, their vultures flew above them, their cries rose up, the horizon was hidden by the clouds of them, their heads sought eagerly for those who were to strike them off. They looked like mountains on the march, like seas boiling over, wave upon wave, with their crowding ranks, their seething approach-roads and mutilated barbarian warriors. The air stank, the light was dimmed, the desert was stunned, the plain dissolved, destiny hung over them, the Pleiades sent dust down upon them, the chargers' saddle-cloths brushed the ground and swept it, their hurrying hooves scored the earth. The knights clad in mail went with raised visors amid the swords, the hardened warriors and heroes of battle were loaded down with
In this account the Count expresses quite different loyalties from those described by Ibn al-Athi? r
1
on the eve of the battle.
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 79
the apparel of war, and their number was complete. Ahead of them the Sultan had drawn up his battalions and strengthened all his resolve for the fight. He set his army to face them and kept a watch on their vanguard in case they should charge; he cut off their access to water and filled in the wells, which caused them great hardship. He prevented their getting down to the water and set himself between them and their objective, keeping them at a distance. This was on a burningly hot day, while they themselves were burning with wrath. The Dog Star was blazing with merciless heat that consumed their water supplies and offered no support against thirst.
Night separated the two sides and the cavalry barred both the roads. Isla? m passed the night face to face with unbelief, monotheism at war with Trinitarianism, the way of righteousness looking down upon error, faith opposing polytheism. Meanwhile the several circles of Hell prepared themselves and the several ranks of Heaven congratulated themselves; Malik (the Guardian of Hell) waited and Ridwa? n (the Guardian of Paradise) rejoiced. Finally, when day dawned and the morning gleamed out, when dawn sent waves of light across the sky and the clangour of the trumpets startled the crow from the dust, when the swords awoke in their sheaths and the lances flamed with eagerness, when the bows stirred and the fire glowed, when blades were unsheathed and prevarication ripped away, then the archers began to scorch with their burning shafts men destined for Hell fire; the bows hummed and the bowstrings sang, the warriors' pliant lances danced, unveiling the brides of battle, the white blades appeared naked out of the sheath amid the throng, and the brown lances were pastured on entrails. The Franks hoped for a respite and their army in desperation sought for a way of escape. But at every way out they were barred, and tormented by the heat of war without being able to rest. Tortured by the thirst they charged, with no other water than the 'water' of the blades they gripped. The fire of arrows burned and wounded them, the fierce grip of the bows seized tenaciously upon them and struck them dead. They were impotent, driven off, pushed to extremes and driven back, every charge thrown off and destroyed, every action or attack captured and put in chains. Not even an ant could have escaped, and they could not defend themselves by charging. They burned and glowed in a frenzied ferment. As the arrows struck them down those who had seemed like lions now seemed like hedgehogs. The arrows beat them down and opened great gaps in their ranks. They sought refuge on the hill of Hitti? n to protect them from the flood of defeat, and Hitti? n was surrounded by the flags of destruction. The sword-blades sucked away their lives and scattered them on the hillsides; the bows found their targets, the wild fates stripped them, disasters crushed them, destruction picked them out, they became death's target and fate's prey. When the Count realized that they were defeated his anguish was clear to see. He gave up all effort and planned a way of escape. This was even before the main body of the army was roused and the embers were fanned, before the war was set alight and the flame burned. His band went off to find a way of escape and took the road across the wadi, refusing to stop. He went off like a flash of lightning in his folly, before the leak became too big; he fled with a few followers and did not return to the attack. Thus he absented himself from the fight, seized by an unconquerable terror that forced him to flee. The fighting grew more violent as lance crossed lance and sword struck sword. The Franks were surrounded whichever way they turned and completely encircled. They began to pitch their tents and to rally their troops, setting up their pavilions on Hitti? n, while the gallant archers hammered away at their swords. But they were prevented from planting
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and raising their tents, and plucked from the roots and branches of life. They hoped to improve their position by dismounting from their horses, and they fought tenaciously, but the swords went through them as a torrent flows and our army surrounded them as Hellfire surrounds the damned. Finally they resorted to saddling the ground, and their girth clasped the nipples of the plain. 1
The devil and his crew were taken, the King and his counts were captured, and the Sultan sat to review his chief prisoners, who came forward stumbling in their fetters like drunken men. The Grand Master of the Templars was brought in in his sins, and many of the Templars and Hospitallers with him. The King Guy and his brother Geoffrey were escorted in, with Hugh of Juba? il, Humphrey, and Prince Arna? t of al-Karak, who was the first to fall into the net. The Sultan had vowed to have his blood and had said: 'When I find him I shall kill him immediately. ' When the Prince was brought before him he made him sit beside the King, and reproached him for his treachery and paraded his wickedness before him. 'How often have you made a vow and broken your oath; how many obligations have you failed to honour, how many treaties made and unmade, and agreements reached and repudiated! ' The interpreter passed on this reply from him: 'This is how kings have always behaved; I have only followed the path of custom. ' Meanwhile the King was dying from thirst and was shaking with fear like a drunkard. But Saladin addressed him affably, calmed the wave of terror that had swept over him, assuaged his fear and reassured him in his heart; he sent for iced water for him, to soothe his burning throat and quench his tormenting thirst. Then the King passed the goblet to the Prince for him too to quench his thirst, and he took it in his hand and drank. The Sultan said to the King: 'You did not have my permission to give him drink, and so that drink does not imply his safety at my hand. ' Then he mounted his horse and left him to roast himself at the fire of his fear; he stayed out riding until his tent had been pitched, his standards and banners planted and his troops had returned from the battle to their base. Then he entered the pavilion, summoned the Prince, raised his sword and struck him on the shoulder, and as he fell ordered that his head should be struck off. He was dragged out by the feet. This was done in the King's presence and filled him with despair and terror. The Sultan realized that the King was consumed with fear and assaulted by terror and consternation, and so he called him to his side, made him come up close and reassured and calmed him. He put him at his ease as he stood at his side and calmed him by saying: 'This man's evil deeds have been his downfall, and as you saw his perfidy has been his destruction. He died for his sins and wickedness; the spark he struck from life is extinguished and the source of his being has dried up. '
This defeat of the enemy, this our victory occurred on a Saturday, and the humiliation proper to the men of Saturday was inflicted on the men of Sunday, who had been lions and now were reduced to the level of miserable sheep. 1 Of these thousands only a few individuals escaped, and of all those enemies only a few were saved. The plain was covered with prisoners and corpses, disclosed by the dust as it settled and victory became clear. The prisoners, with beating hearts, were bound in chains. The dead were scattered over the
Ibn al-Athi? r puts the meaning of this elegant metaphor in simpler words; they had dismounted, now 'they sat on the ground'.
I. e. the Christians were humiliated like despised Jews.
1
1
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 81
mountains and valleys, lying immobile on their sides. Hitti? n shrugged off their carcasses, and the perfume of victory was thick with the stench of them. I passed by them and saw the limbs of the fallen cast naked on the field of battle, scattered in pieces over the site of the encounter, lacerated and disjointed, with heads cracked open, throats split, spines broken, necks shattered, feet in pieces, noses mutilated, extremities torn off, members dismembered, parts shredded, eyes gouged out, stomachs disembowelled, hair coloured with blood, the praecordium slashed, fingers sliced off, the thorax shattered, the ribs broken, the joints dislocated, the chests smashed, throats slit, bodies cut in half, arms pulverized, lips shrivelled, foreheads pierced, forelocks dyed scarlet, breasts covered with blood, ribs pierced, elbows disjointed, bones broken, tunics torn off, faces lifeless, wounds gaping, skin flayed, fragments chopped off, hair lopped, backs skinless, bodies dismembered, teeth knocked out, blood spilt, life's last breath exhaled, necks lolling, joints slackened, pupils liquefied, heads hanging, livers crushed, ribs staved in, heads shattered, breasts flayed, spirits flown, their very ghosts crushed; like stones among stones, a lesson to the wise. 1
This field of battle had become a sea of blood; the dust was stained red, rivers of blood ran freely, and the face of the true Faith was revealed free from those shadowy abominations. O sweet rivers of victory over such evil! O burning, punishing blows on those carcasses! O sweet heart's comforter against that confusion! O welcome prayers at the joyful news of such an event! Such is the number of the slain that the tongues of all the peoples would not be capable of counting and enumerating them; as for the prisoners, all our tents could not produce enough tent-cords to bind and fetter them, and I saw thirty or forty on a single rope, led by a single rider, and in one place a hundred or two hundred captives guarded by a single man. Here rebels became prisoners, enemies were denuded, sovereigns made subject, great men humiliated, Counts reduced to game, horsemen hunted down, honoured men reviled, the faces of the infernal Templars ground in the dust, skulls trampled underfoot, the bodies they were blessed with hewn to pieces and scattered. How many proud men were taken, how many leaders bound and led, how many polytheists were grinding their teeth, how many infidels filled with gloomy thoughts, how many Trinitarians cut in half, how many impious enquirers after God had their arms bound; how many wounders were wounded, and injurers injured, and kings enslaved, and profaners profaned, and destroyers destroyed, and plunderers plundered, and noble lords in fetters, and violent men in chains, and freemen in servitude, and followers of error in the hands of the followers of truth!
THE CAPTURE OF THE GREAT CROSS ON THE DAY OF BATTLE
At the same time as the King was taken the 'True Cross' was also captured, and the idolaters who were trying to defend it were routed. It was this cross, brought into position and raised on high, to which all Christians prostrated themselves and bowed their heads. Indeed, they maintain that it is made of the wood of the cross on which, they say, he whom they adore was hung, and so they venerate it and prostrate themselves before it. They had housed it in a casing of gold, adorned with pearls and gems, and kept it ready for the festival of
Our author must surely have considered this macabre tirade one of the most successful examples
1
of his literary style.
82 Arab Historians of the Crusades
the Passion, for the observance of their yearly ceremony. When the priests exposed it to view and the heads (of the bearers) bore it along all would run and cast themselves down around it, and no one was allowed to lag behind or hang back without forfeiting his liberty. Its capture was for them more important than the loss of the King and was the gravest blow that they sustained in that battle. The cross was a prize without equal, for it was the supreme object of their faith. To venerate it was their prescribed duty, for it was their God, before whom they would bow their foreheads to the ground, and to which their mouths sang hymns. They fainted at its appearance, they raised their eyes to contemplate it, they were consumed with passion when it was exhibited and boasted of nothing else when they had seen it. They went into ecstasies at its reappearance, they offered up their lives for it and sought comfort from it, so much so that they had copies made of it which they worshipped, before which they prostrated themselves in their houses and on which they called when they gave evidence. So when the Great Cross was taken great was the calamity that befell them, and the strength drained from their loins. Great was the number of the defeated, exalted the feelings of the victorious army. It seemed as if, once they knew of the capture of the Cross, none of them would survive that day of ill-omen. They perished in death or imprisonment, and were overcome by force and violence. The Sultan encamped on the plain of Tiberias like a lion in the desert or the moon in its full splendour.
THE CONQUEST OF THE CITADEL OF TIBERIAS
He sent men to the citadel to receive its surrender with a promise of safe-conduct, and established the Faith there in place of the falsehood that had dwelt there before. The Lady, the Countess of Tiberias, had defended it and carried there all her property and possessions. He granted her a safe-conduct for the journey for her companions and property, and she left with her women and men and luggage, taking everything to Tripoli, the city that belonged to the Count her husband. So once again Tiberias was inhabited in safety by the people of the Faith, and Sarim ad-Din Qaima? z an-Najmi, one of their greatest dignitaries, was appointed its governor. Meanwhile Saladin encamped outside Tiberias, after having cured all mankind of its ills, and his army covered the whole plain.
SALADIN'S TREATMENT OF THE TEMPLARS AND HOSPITALLERS, BEHEADING THEM AND CAUSING GENERAL REJOICING AT THEIR EXTERMINATION1
On the morning of Monday 17 rabi? ' II, two days after the victory, the Sultan sought out the Templars and Hospitallers who had been captured and said: 'I shall purify the land of these two impure races. ' He assigned fifty dinar to every man who had taken one of them prisoner, and immediately the army brought forward at least a hundred of them. He
This episode, described by our eye-witness with his usual stylistic embellishments, is a blot on Saladin's renowned magnanimity; the reason for the slaughter was the hatred aroused in the Muslim camp by the two warrior orders by conduct in war certainly no more humane and 'Christian' than that of their enemies.
1
Part Two: Saladin and the Third Crusade 83
ordered that they should be beheaded, choosing to have them dead rather than in prison. With him was a whole band of scholars and sufis and a certain number of devout men and ascetics; each begged to be allowed to kill one of them, and drew his sword and rolled back his sleeve. Saladin, his face joyful, was sitting on his dais; the unbelievers showed black despair, the troops were drawn up in their ranks, the ami? rs stood in double file. There were some who slashed and cut cleanly, and were thanked for it; some who refused and failed to act, and were excused; some who made fools of themselves, and others took their places. I saw there the man who laughed scornfully and slaughtered, who spoke and acted; how many promises he fulfilled, how much praise he won, the eternal rewards he secured with the blood he had shed, the pious works added to his account with a neck severed by him! How many blades did he stain with blood for a victory he longed for, how many lances did he brandish against the lion he captured, how many ills did he cure by the ills he brought upon a Templar, how much strength did he give to the leaders whom he supported, how many banners did he unfurl against disasters that retreated! I saw how he killed unbelief to give life to Isla? m, and destroyed polytheism to build monotheism, and drove decisions through to their conclusion to satisfy the community of the faithful, and cut down enemies in the defence of friends!
The Sultan sent the Frankish King to Damascus with his brother, and Humphrey, and the ruler of juba? il, and the Grand Master of the Temple and all the great barons who had been captured, to be imprisoned there and immobilized after all their activity; the army dispersed with its prisoners, and the embers of the assembled unbelievers faded and were extinguished.
Jerusalem Reconquered
(IBN AL-ATHI? R, XI, 361-6)
When Saladin had completed his conquest of Ascalon and the surrounding regions he sent for the Egyptian fleet and a large detachment of troops under Husa? m ad-Din Lu'lu' al-Hajib, a man well known for his courage, energy and initiative. This force set out by sea, intercepting Frankish communications; every Frankish vessel they sighted they attacked, and captured every galley. When they arrived and Saladin could rely on their support, he marched from Ascalon to Jerusalem. The venerable Patriarch,1 who carried greater authority than the King himself, was there and so was Balia? n ibn Barza? n, ruler of ar-Ramla,2 who was almost equal in rank to the King. The knights who had survived Hitti? n had also concentrated there. The inhabitants of that region, Ascalon and elsewhere had also gathered in Jerusalem, so there was a great concourse of people there, each one of whom would choose death rather than see the Muslims in power in their city; the sacrifice of life, possessions and sons was for them a part of their duty to defend the city. During that interval they fortified it by every means to hand, and then all mounted the walls, resolved to defend them with all their might, and showed determination to fight to the limit of
1 Heraclius.
2 Balia? n of Ibelin.
84 Arab Historians of the Crusades
their ability in the defence of Jerusalem. They mounted catapults to ward off attempts to approach the city and besiege it.
During Saladin's advance one of the ami? rs went ahead with his band of men without taking any precautions to defend himself; a troop of Franks who had left Jerusalem on reconnaissance came face to face with him and in a battle killed him and some of his men, which caused great grief and sorrow to the Muslims. Half-way through rajab/September 1187 they besieged Jerusalem. As they approached they saw on the walls a terrifying crowd of men and heard an uproar of voices coming from the inhabitants behind the walls that led them to infer the number of people who must be assembled there. For five days the Sultan rode round the city to decide on the best point for the attack, for the city was more strongly defended than ever before.
