al-Malik al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub ibn al-Kamil

Al-Malik al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub ibn al-Kamil, an Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. He took it after his brother al-Adil when he was deposed ¹.

Al-Maqrizi says that al-Malik al-Salih founded al-Salihiyya at the edge of the sands between Egypt and Syria in 644 AH, and built palaces, a mosque and a market there, so that the armies would have a camp when they came out of the desert ².

He says that he built the citadel of al-Rawda and moved into it from the Citadel, and that he endowed the al-Salihiyya madrasas between the two palaces in Cairo, with four teaching posts for the Shafi'i, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali schools ³.

He says that the Franks landed at Damietta in Safar 647 AH, and that he died at al-Mansura, facing them, on Sunday, 14 Sha'ban. His wife Shajar al-Durr, mother of his son Khalil, concealed his death and summoned his son Turan Shah ³.

Al-Suyuti says that he died on the night of mid-Sha'ban 647 AH while the Franks had taken Damietta, and that his concubine Shajar al-Durr hid his death ¹.

Ibn al-Imad adds that he was at al-Mansura and was angry with its people for leaving Damietta, until he hanged sixty of their notables, and that his death was kept secret for days until his son al-Mu'azzam Turan Shah arrived ⁴.

Ibn al-Imad says he was born in 603 AH in Cairo, and that his father made him sultan of Amid, Harran, Sinjar and the fortress of Kifa. He describes him as of great dignity and majestic awe ⁴.