Abu al-Fath Ismail bin Nur al-Din Mahmud bin Imad al-Din bin Aq Sunqur al-Zangi (Arabic: أبو الفتوح إسماعيل بن نور الدين محمود بن عماد الدين بن آق سنقر الزنكي) commonly known as As-Salih Ismaʿil al-Malik (Arabic: الصالح إسماعيل) (Full name: (1163–1181) was the Zengidemir of Damascus and emir of Aleppo in 1174, the son of Nur ad-Din.
Biography
He was only eleven years old when his father died in 1174. As-Salih came under the protection of the eunuch Gümüshtekin and was taken to Aleppo, while Nur ad-Din's officers competed for supremacy. In Egypt, Saladin recognized as-Salih as his lord, although he in fact was eager to unite Egypt and Syria under his own personal rule.[citation needed] In 1174, Saladin took Baalbek after a four-month siege[1] and then entered Damascus, proclaiming himself to be Ismail's true regent. In 1176, Saladin defeated the Zengids outside the city, married Ismat ad-Din Khatun, and was recognized as ruler of Syria. As-Salih died in 1181 of illness.[2][3] According to crusader legend, his mother was the sister of Bertrand of Toulouse, Razi Khatun, who had been captured by Nur ad-Din in the aftermath of the Second Crusade; a similar legend existed concerning the mother of Zengi, as-Salih's grandfather.[2][3][4]
^ ab"Zangids". islamiccoins.ancients.info (in Arabic).
^ abThe Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi. H.A.R. Gibb, 1932 (reprint, Dover Publications, 2002)
^The Crusades, The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land, Thomas Asbridge, 2010
.svg){kind=small}