هزيمة صلاح الدين بالرملة

هزيمة صلاح الدين بالرملة

تقریباً نومبر 1177 عیسوی · جمادی الاول 573 ھ

الرملة

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.