Saladin attempted to besiege Beirut from land and sea, and Baldwin raided Damascene territory, but neither side did significant damage.

Saladin attempted another siege in 1184, but Baldwin repelled that attack as well, and Saladin raided Nablus and other towns on the way home.

He attempted to negotiate with Saladin, but, this was unsuccessful.

Later in the year, a group of Egyptian soldiers and emirs attempted to assassinate Saladin, but having already known of their intentions, thanks to his intelligence chief Ali bin Safyan, he had the chief conspirator, Naji, Mu ' tamin al-Khilafa — the civilian controller of the Fatimid Palace — arrested, and killed.

As head of the Zengids, including Gumushtigin, he regarded Syria and Mesopotamia as his family estate and was angered when Saladin attempted to usurp his dynasty's holdings.

Heavily outnumbered, Saladin initially attempted to make terms with the Zengids by abandoning all conquests north of the Damascus province, but they refused, insisting he return to Egypt.

Initially, Saladin attempted to organize his men into battle order, but as his bodyguards were being killed, he saw that defeat was inevitable and so with a small remnant of his troops mounted a swift camel, riding all the way to the territories of Egypt.

Saladin soon found himself being more independent than ever before in his career, much to the dismay of Nur al-Din who attempted to influence events in Egypt.

Mas ' ud attempted to align himself with the Artuqids of Mardin, but they became allies of Saladin instead.

Saladin besieged Tiberias in the eastern Galilee on July 3, 1187 and the Crusader army attempted to attack the Ayyubids by way of Kafr Kanna.

After the rout Saladin was able to regroup and attempted to resume skirmishing, startled back by the Crusaders ' quick and agile response he was now even less willing to risk a full scale attack.

Saladin later attempted to unite Cairo and Fustat into one city by enclosing them in massive walls, although this proved to be largely unsuccessful.

More troops were certainly needed, since Saladin was finally able to gain control of Aleppo, and with peace in his northern territories he could focus on Jerusalem in the south.

Tamar sought to make use of the weakness of the Byzantine Empire and the crusaders ' defeat at the hands of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in order to gain Georgia's position on the international stage and to assume the traditional role of the Byzantine crown as a protector of the Christians of the Middle East.

Saladin was able to knock down portions of the walls, but was unable to gain entrance to the city.

* 1171: Saladin deposes the last Fatimid Caliph Al -' Āḍid, initiating the Ayyubid dynasty.

He was beheaded by Shirkuh, the uncle of Saladin, and his head was placed in a silver box and sent to the Caliph of Baghdad as a gift.

He was beheaded by Shirkuh, the uncle of Saladin, and his head was placed in a silver box and sent to the Caliph of Baghdad as a gift.

Recognizing the Abbasid Caliph as his theoretical superior, Saladin took the title of Sultan in 1174, though from this point until the Ottoman conquest, supreme power in the caliphate would come to rest with the Sultan of Egypt.

Saladin himself had been strengthening his hold on Egypt and widening his support base there.

It was finally agreed that Arslan's daughter would be sent away for a year and if Nur al-Din failed to comply, Saladin would move to abandon his support for him.

" Saladin stressed that all this would happen by the will of God and instead of asking for financial or military support from the caliph, he would capture and give the caliph the territories of Tikrit, Daquq, Khuzestan, Kish Island, and Oman.

Mas ' ud then sought the support of Pahlawan bin Muhammad, the governor of Azerbaijan, and although he did not usually intervene in the region, the possibility of it induced Saladin to be cautious about attacking Mosul.

In 1169, a fleet from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with support from the Byzantine Empire, attacked the port, but it was defeated by Saladin.

With Artuqid support, however, Saladin eventually took control of Mosul as well.

He first achieved distinction as an officer in Nur ad-Din Zengi's army during his uncle Shirkuh's third and final campaign in Egypt ( 1168 – 1169 ); following Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Al-Adil governed Egypt on behalf of his brother Saladin and mobilized that country's vast resources in support of his brother's campaigns in Syria and his war against the Crusaders ( 1175 – 1183 ).

Together with his father and brothers, Alexios had conspired against Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos ( c. 1183 ), and thus he spent several years in exile in Muslim courts, including that of Saladin.

In 1183, a census was taken of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, to ascertain the number of men and amount of money that could possibly be raised against an invasion by Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria.

The inexperienced Guy led the Frankish army against Saladin's incursions into the kingdom, but neither side made any real gains, and Guy was criticized by his opponents for not striking against Saladin when he had the chance.

Raymond of Tripoli allied with Saladin against Guy and allowed a Muslim garrison to occupy his fief in Tiberias, probably hoping that Saladin would help him overthrow Guy.

Raymond and Guy finally agreed to attack Saladin at Tiberias, but could not agree on a plan ; Raymond thought a pitched battle should be avoided, but Guy probably remembered the criticism he faced for avoiding battle in 1183, and it was decided to march out against Saladin directly.

Richard was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade, leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and scoring considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin, although he did not reconquer Jerusalem.

Richard had kept 2, 700 Muslim prisoners as hostages against Saladin fulfilling all the terms of the surrender of the lands around Acre.

After establishing himself in Egypt, Saladin launched a campaign against the Crusaders, besieging Darum in 1170.

While ill, he asked Saladin to pay him a visit to request that he take care of his young children, but Saladin refused, fearing treachery against the Abbasids, and is said to have regretted his action after realizing what al-Adid had wanted.

Saladin claimed he withdrew amid Fatimid plots against him, but Nur ad-Din did not accept " the excuse.

His death left Saladin with political independence and in a letter to as-Salih, he promised to " act as a sword " against his enemies and referred to the death of his father as an " earthquake shock.

In the wake of Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin faced a difficult decision ; he could move his army against the Crusaders from Egypt or wait until invited by as-Salih in Syria to come to his aid and launch a war from there.

In this emergency, the emir of Damascus appealed to Saif al-Din ( a cousin of Gumushtigin ) of Mosul for assistance against Aleppo, but he refused, forcing the Syrians to request the aid of Saladin who complied.

The combined forces of Mosul and Aleppo marched against Saladin in Hama.

After his victory against the Zengids, Saladin proclaimed himself king and suppressed the name of as-Salih in Friday prayers and Islamic coinage.

In the spring of 1180, while Saladin was in the area of Safad, anxious to commence a vigorous campaign against the Kingdom of Jerusalem, King Baldwin sent messengers to him with proposals of peace.

Saladin was later enraged when he received a message from Arslan accusing Nur al-Din of more abuses against his daughter.

In early April, without waiting for Nasir al-Din, Saladin and Taqi al-Din commenced their advance against the coalition, marching eastward to Ras al-Ein unhindered.

In return for a diploma granting him the city, Nur al-Din swore allegiance to Saladin, promising to follow him in every expedition in the war against the Crusaders and repairing damage done to the city.

Saladin captured Raynald de Châtillon and was personally responsible for his execution in retaliation for his attacks against Muslim caravans.