Saladin's Defeat at Ramla

هزيمة صلاح الدين بالرملة

c. November 1177 CE · Jumada I 573 AH

In Jumada I 573 AH Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub set out from Egypt for the Syrian coast to raid Frankish lands. He reached Ascalon on the twenty-fourth of the month, and the army plundered, took captives and burned. Since no Frankish army appeared, they grew bold and scattered in raiding, feeling safe. Saladin reached Ramla, intending to besiege some of the Franks' fortresses; the people crowded to cross a river, and the Franks came down on them with their battle lines and champions while only some of the army was with him, most having dispersed in pursuit of spoil. Muhammad, Saladin's nephew, went forward and fought in front of his uncle, and a number of his companions were killed. Ahmad ibn Taqi al-Din, who had only just grown a full beard, charged and was killed as a martyr. The fiercest fighter that day was the jurist Isa al-Hakkari. The Muslims were routed, and some Franks charged at Saladin until they almost reached him. He fled, halting to let the army catch up, until night fell; then he took the desert road with a small party to Egypt. Many of the army's mounts died of hunger and thirst, and most of the raiders were killed or captured. Among the prisoners were the jurist Isa al-Hakkari, a notable of the Asadiyya, and his brother al-Zahir; Saladin ransomed them years later for sixty thousand dinars, along with a group of other captives. Saladin reached Cairo in mid-Jumada II. Ibn al-Athir saw a letter in Saladin's own hand to his brother Turanshah in Damascus describing the battle; it began with two lines of verse ¹.

Overview

In Jumada al-Ula 573 AH Salah al-Din marched from Egypt to the coast of Syria to raid the lands of the Franks. He reached Ascalon on the twenty-fourth of that month, and the army plundered, took captives and burned. ¹

The defeat

As no Frankish army appeared, the Muslims scattered on the raid, feeling safe. Salah al-Din reached Ramla, where the people crowded to cross a river, and the Franks came upon them. The defeat fell on the Muslims. ¹

Ibn al-Athir relates that Ahmad ibn Taqi al-Din was killed as a martyr, and that the jurist Isa al-Hakkari was the fiercest fighter and was then captured. Salah al-Din fled in the desert with a small group to Egypt. ¹

Some years later, Salah al-Din ransomed Isa and his brother for sixty thousand dinars, together with a group of captives. He reached Cairo in mid Jumada al-Akhira. ¹

Battle of Hattin

On Saturday, five days before the end of Rabi' al-Akhir in 583 AH, Saladin and the Muslims engaged the Franks, who were tormented by thirst and had lost heart. The Muslim vanguard shot arrows like locusts spreading across the ground and killed many of the Franks' horses. The Franks were heading for Tiberias to reach water, but Saladin blocked their path, drew up his army against them, and rode among the Muslims urging them on. One of his young Mamluks charged fiercely and fought until he was killed; then the Muslims launched a violent charge that broke the Franks. Some volunteers set fire to the dry grass, which was abundant; the fire burned, and the wind carried its heat and smoke toward the Franks, so that thirst, the heat of the day, the fire and the fighting came upon them together. The Muslims surrounded them like a circle around its diameter, and those who remained climbed a hill near Hattin, where they could pitch no tent except their king's. The Muslims took their great cross, which the Franks call the Cross of the Crucifixion and which they believe contains a piece of the wood on which Christ was crucified. Al-Malik al-Afdal, Saladin's son, recounts that he stood beside his father at the first clash: when the Franks charged repeatedly until they drove the Muslims back toward the tent, his father grew downcast, gripped his beard and cried, 'The Devil lied!'; al-Afdal, joyful, cried, 'We have defeated them!' His father turned to him and said, 'Be quiet; we will not defeat them until that tent falls.' When the tent fell, the sultan dismounted, prostrated in thanks and wept for joy. The king and his brother were captured, along with Prince Arnat, lord of Karak, the lord of Jubayl, the Grand Master of the Templars and a group of Hospitallers. Whoever looked at the dead would not think any prisoners had been taken, and whoever looked at the captives would not think anyone had been killed. Saladin gave the king iced water, and the king gave what was left of it to Arnat. Saladin said, 'He did not drink the water with my permission, so he will not obtain what he wishes'; he rebuked him for his wrongs, rose, and struck his neck, saying that he had twice vowed to kill him if he ever prevailed over him: once when Arnat meant to march on Mecca and Medina, and once when he seized the caravan treacherously. He ordered the Templar and Hospitaller prisoners gathered; two hundred were brought before him and their necks were struck, because they were fiercer than all the other Franks. Ibn al-Athir says that about a year later he passed the site of the battle and saw the ground full of their bones.

Saladin's Defeat at Ramla

At a glance

In time

Overview

The defeat

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Battle of Hattin