ABSTRACT
RISE OF AADIL several cities in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates. The 589-661 children of Shirkt1h were established at Emessa, and other A.H. important fiefs were held by other cadets of the family. Yemen was ruled by another brother of S,aladin. Had the sons of the great Sultan remained united, probably in spite of the division of the empire they would have been able to hand down the power to their descendants. Their dissensions and incapacity helped al-Aadil to acquire the dominions of his brother. The quarrels which broke out between Afzal and Aziz led to the former being driven fwm Damascus, which was then given to Aadil, Afzal resting content with the city of Sarkhad. On the death of Aziz, leaving a minor son, 1 Afzal was called to undertake his tutorship. Dissensions then broke out between Afzal and Aadil, who thereupon expelled both Afzal and his nephew Manst1r from Egypt. They received some fiefs in Mesopotamia, where they Accession and their descendants abode. Aadil established himself of A~dil. in Cairo on the 16th of the Rabi II. 596 A.H. Soon Fe~~uary, after he obtained possession of Syria, Eastern Mesopo-1200 A.C. tamia, Khilat, and Greater Armenia, and in 6 12 A. H. 1207-8 became master of Yemen, to which country he de-A.C. spatched (as governor) his grandson Yusuf.2 Saif ud-din 1215-16 (aI-Malik aI-Aadil) is described as a sovereign possessing A.C. great knowledge and foresight, and gifted with consummate prudence, always animated with the· best intentions, virtuous in his conduct, and resolute in his undertakings. Like his brother he was a patron of learning. AI-Aadil now became supreme sovereign of Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Arabia, with an empire almost as extensive as that of his great brother. The
Khutba was recited in his name from all the pulpits, and the coins bore his seal. l
Two years after the death of Saladin, Pope Celestine III. inflamed another Crusade. But with the conflict between Saladin and Richard, the wars of the giants had ended. Henceforth the struggles between Islam and Christendom were comparatively weak and spasmodic. In spite of the division that prevailed in the Moslem camp, this onslaught of the Franks proved as abortive as its predecessors. "All the powers of the West," says Michaud, "miscarried in an attempt upon a little fortress in Syria." In flagrant breach of the treaty concluded with Saladin, which had been solemnly sworn to by all the Christian princes then in Syria, a large force of Crusaders landed on the Phrenician coast and seized Beyrut. At this time, the sons of Saladin still held their kingdoms, but aI-Malik al-Aadil, as the most experienced champion of Islam, hastened from his principality to resist the Franks. He carried Jaffa by storm, whilst the Crusaders were besieging Tibnin. The siege ended in disastrous failure, and they were compelled to sue for peace. A truce of three years was accordingly concluded. This Crusade too was marked by the wildest excesses on the part of the soldiers of the Cross.
