萨拉丁(1137/1138～1193年)

Saladin

全名Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub

他是埃及、叙利亚、叶门和巴勒斯坦的库尔德人苏丹和阿尤布王朝的开国君主。年轻时喜欢学习宗教而不是军事，後在其叔父引导下开始军事生涯。他在叔父去世後命令将法蒂玛王朝的力量强大的沙韦尔杀害，成为了埃及的维齐尔。他在1171年废黜了什叶派法蒂玛王朝的哈里发并宣布在埃及恢复伊斯兰教逊尼派的教义。他从1174年起作为埃及和叙利亚的苏丹，成功地将埃及、叙利亚、美索不达米亚北部和巴勒斯坦统一。他的声望极高且被认为是有品德的人，其严厉的统治重新激起了穆斯林人对十字军的反抗。在1187年，他将自己的全部力量集中起来反抗拉丁的十字军王国，将八十八年来处於十字军统治下的耶路撒冷重新收回。当天主教军队滥杀无辜时，他的军队却有严明有礼的秩序。他的胜利震惊了西方世界，并导致了历史上的第三次十字军东征（1189～1192），使他同理查一世对抗。他们之间的对峙最终以和平结束，使十字军只得到了从克提尔到Yafo（雅法）的小片土地。萨拉丁被认为是最伟大的穆斯林英雄之一。

English version：

1137/1138～1193年

Saladin

Kurdish sultan of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Palestine and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Though as a youth he preferred religious to military studies, he began his military career under his uncle. On his uncle's death Saladin ordered Shawar, the powerful vizier of the Egyptian Fatimid dynasty, assassinated, and became vizier of Egypt. In 1171 he abolished the Shiite Fatimid caliphate and announced a return to Sunni Islam. From 1174, as sultan of Egypt and Syria, he succeeded in uniting Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and Palestine. His reputation as a generous and virtuous but firm ruler rekindled Muslim resistance to the crusaders. In 1187, turning his full strength against the Latin crusader kingdoms, he retook Jerusalem from the crusaders after 88 years. Whereas the Christian conquest had been marked by slaughter, Saladin's troops demonstrated courteous and civilized behavior. His victory deeply shocked the West and led to the call for the Third Crusade (1189-92), which matched him against Richard I; their stalemate resulted in a peace that gave the crusaders only a small strip of land from Tyre to Yafo (Jaffa). Saladin is considered one of the greatest of Muslim heroes.