ABSTRACT
In 1154, six years after Damascus had successfully resisted the Crusaders, Nur ad-Din, Zangi’s son, realized his father’s old dream and became ruler of the Syrian metropolis without bloodshed. From here and from his ancestral home, Aleppo, he put new enthusiasm and efficiency into the fight against the Crusaders. Fighting continued, with mixed fortunes, for twenty years, until Nur ad-Din’s death in 1174. For some time before this date his reputation had paled before the new star shining in Egypt: Saladin. This obscure official at Nur ad-Din’s court was destined to crown with success a century of Muslim struggles against the Christian invaders. Ibn al-Athīr gives an idealized picture of Nur ad-Din, as he did of his father. We can credit him with at least one quality not shared by Zangi: a certain spiritual awareness and humanity.
