Asad ad-Dīn Shīrkūh, Emir of Homs

Asad ad-Dīn Shīrkūh bin Shādhī (in Arabic: أسد الدين شيركوه بن شاذي‎), also known as Shirkuh, Shêrkoh, or Shêrko (meaning "lion of the mountains" both in Persian and Kurdish) (died 22 February 1169) was a Kurdish military commander, and uncle of Saladin. His military and diplomatic efforts in Egypt were a key factor in establishing the Ayyubid family in that country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirkuh

Saladin in his Early Adulthood The expectation of life in the Middle Ages was short and the youth were given responsibilities of manhood at an early age. Saladin was fourteen years old when he got married. He was then sent to his uncle Shirkuh in Aleppo on a career that would lead to his becoming one of Nur al Din's emirs. The devout Nur al-Din soon became a great mentor for the young Saladin. Sultan Nur al-Din, who succeeded his father Zengi in 1146, respected scholars and endured knowledge and turned Syria into a large intellectual center. He built and funded schools and hospitals. In the presence of a scholar the Sultan was known to rise to his feet as a sign of respect and invite him to sit next to him. He promoted the divine values of Islam and governed in the light of the Qur'an. Nur al-Din lived austerely and had little money for himself. When his wife complained that she had no money to buy clothes, he replied, "I have no more. Of all the wealth I have at my disposal I am but the custodian for the Muslims, and I do not intend to deceive them over this and cast myself into hell-fire for your sake." He set up the Court of Appeals over which he presided in person to deal with administrative injustices. Saladin regularly attended the Court of Appeals as a student and to be associated with his master, Nur al-Din. In this Court, Saladin learned to appreciate the wisdom and justice of the Islamic Law as it applied to the injustices and criminals. Nur al Din was the first Muslim ruler who saw that the Jihad against the invading Crusaders could only be successful if Muslim states were united, and soon begun implementing this unity. Such was the man who, next to his own father, Saladin respected more than any others. Even though there were differences between Nur al-Din and Saladin over certain policies in Egypt, one thing was sure, he never ceased to follow Nur al-Din's example uniting his people, implementing the divine systems of Islam and keeping nothing for himself.

Saladin in his Adulthood Saladin, who learned his military lessons in Nur al-Din's militia at the hands of his uncle Shirkuh, soon began to stand out among Nur al-Din's leaders. In 1164, at the age of 26 he was an assistant to his uncle Shirkuh in an expedition to rescue Egypt from an invasion by Amalric, king of Jerusalem. Saladin made a lasting impression on his peers during this expedition. The expedition was able to escape the Crusader Castle of Kerak, which was precisely built to interrupt communication between Syria and Egypt and to attack Muslim merchant and pilgrim caravans. In 1169 Saladin with his uncle Shirkuh was on another expedition to Egypt to defend it against yet another Crusader attack. This time he was a second-commander-in-chief of the Syrian army. When Shirkuh died in the same year, Saladin assumed his uncle's position. Later, he was able to rule Cairo and defeat the Fatimid who ruled Egypt.

Egypt soon turned into an Ayyubid Dynasty. Among the local achievements he made was boosting the Egyptian economy and education. He mobilized Egypt to face the Crusaders and built a great number of Islamic schools all over Egypt. He gave school administrators and teachers good salaries. These schools soon attracted many scholars from Asia and Europe. The Jewish Physician Ibn Maymun, known as Maimonides (d.1204), who became Saladin's personal physician, had come from Andalusia. With so many scholars and schools, Egypt was soon developed into a large intellectual center. Saladin borrowed the idea of building intellectual centers from his father Ayyub and master Nur al-Din, who had earlier turned Syria into a large intellectual center. When Ayyub was in Baalbek, he built a Sufi-convert establishment there. He followed the standards of Sultan Zengi who had earlier built one in Musel. At the age of 45 Saladin was the most powerful figure in the Muslim world. When Nur ed-Din died in 1174, the Syrian princes gave their allegiance to Saladin and Damascus became his home. In Damascus, like his master Nur al Din before him, he presided every Tuesday and Thursday at the Hall of Justice. He rectified the wrongs, ordered the oppressor to recompense, and listened to his subject with his own ears, without an intermediary. If there was a matter which he himself was a part of, he surrendered his place to the judge and sat at the side of the plaintiff. If the judge ruled against him, he executed the order. In twelve years Saladin united Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, the Western parts of the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen under the Ayyubid Dynasty. Saladin used diplomacy and the administrative skills in piecing together this badly divided region. Furthermore, he only appointed rulers whom he trusted and who shared his vision. Their appointment was primarily to ensure that his back was secured when he faced the Crusaders and that a continuous supply of food and assistance could not be interrupted. When he felt that this strategy was weakened due to a governors' dispute or quarrel, he would soon work to remove the dispute by pleasing the disputants with more revenue or territories.

Saladin's scope of vision was that he gave each situation its due attention and weight, and he never broke a bridge of diplomacy or peace initiative with his opponents. The power or wealth he acquired never spoiled him. Power and position did not mean any thing to him. Despite his advisor's request to keep some of the revenues he received from Egypt and Syria, he never kept any of it. When he died, his wealth was only few dinars. All the revenues he received he channeled over to his soldiers and emirs to ensure their loyalty to him. Saladin was a man of restless energy geared to serve his goal in driving the invaders out of his country.