You resemble Jerusalem today and it is in the hands of the invaders, the Jerusalem of the twelfth century AD, occupation in the name of the Lord and crimes committed and stupor hangs over the Arabs, and from where to ear the voice of Ibn Sana King congratulates Saladin Ayyubi liberated at the time from the Crusader occupation, he says:
And by the son of Job, every kingdom
was condemned by forgiveness and reconciliation, or by war and war.
All that is left for us is daydreaming, and only images made by filmmakers of yesterday's Salah are left to the eye, and Salah today is long overdue.
Because of the large number of dreamers, the images varied and differed between one film and another or between one cinematic style and another, so we find them in cartoons, documentaries and narrative films, or differed from one culture to another, so we find Arab, Turkish, Persian and Western images until Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi became one of the most inspiring historical figures for directors. When was the cinematographer a historian so that we would demand that he respect the facts of history while he was forming his material?
He has an artistic vision that we cannot but discuss in its harmony, in its connotations and dimensions, not in its conformity with reality or history. This is the case with our paper, which examines the image of Salah al-Din from the perspective of history, insofar as this narrow space allows, of course, and makes it a fulcrum in understanding the transformations that the directors wanted for her and their dimensions.
Saladin (1138-1193 AD) was associated with countering the crusades led by the papacy
"Nasser". Suppressor of internal revolutions and external invasion
The mention of Saladin (1138-1193 AD) is associated with countering the crusades led by the papacy under one banner to conquer the East and control its holy lands for almost two centuries, spanning the period between 1096-1272 AD.
After the death of his uncle, Al-A'id, the last of the Fatimid caliphs, chose him to take over the ministry and command the army, so he faced internal strife, conspiracies and rebellions, and repelled the attack of the Crusaders on Damietta, so the Caliph granted him the title of "Al-Nasir".
When the matter settled for him, he cut off his sermon, and addressed the Abbasid caliph Al-Mustadhi bi-Amr Allah, so he ended his caliphate in (1171 AD / 567 AH), and on the ruins of the Shiite Fatimid state the foundations of the Ayyubid state, which will last from 1174 AD to 1252 AD, and then will be succeeded by the Mamluk state.
The Muslims in the era of Saladin were scattered between two figurehead caliphates, a Sunni Abbasid in Baghdad controlled by the Seljuks, and a Shiite Fatimid in Egypt dominated by ministers, and the East was torn between small kingdoms and emirates in Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Baalbek, Nawa, Mosul, Yemen and Hijaz, so they fought among themselves and defended the Crusaders and took refuge in them, and there was no love for no reason. He united most of them and included them in his nascent state extending east of the Mediterranean.
The Crusaders were no better than the Muslims at the time, as the child Baldwin V, who ruled the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1186 AD, died of leprosy. His age was a spark that ignited a struggle between rival princes to wrest the throne of the kingdom from him.
The King of Jerusalem died of leprosy, so the struggle between the princes to wrest the throne of the kingdom intensified
Battle of Hattin. Nasser's attractive image of cinema
The glory of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in the Arab imagination today is associated with the events of the Battle of Hattin (1187 AD / 583 AH) in particular, in which he achieved a brilliant victory in the summer, and then entered Jerusalem as an autumn liberator after a short siege. Contrary to what many think, Saladin did not end the Crusader presence in the Levant, but broke their thorn and drew a turning point in the history of their presence there, and inaugurated the stage of their decline, which will continue for eighty years after his death.
The Crusaders committed terrible massacres when they entered Jerusalem in 1099 AD, killing everyone who came across them and destroying mosques within their law established by Pope Urban II, and says that killing infidels grants forgiveness and opens the way to heaven. In return, Saladin pardoned the invaders and let their families leave the city after paying a moderate ransom, redeeming from his own money those who had no money and allowing the displaced Jews to return to the holy city.
Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi represented in his days a model of honor, leadership and skill, but in our days, his life has become an attraction for drama in search of charming stories and great biographies to attract the audience, so the spectator finds a long list of works, including series, cartoons, documentaries and fictional films. We chose to study Al-Nasir Salah al-Din (1963) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005), comparing the features of his image between two civilizations and cultural environments, and in mind many other works that we glimpse from time to time.
The film "Nasser Salah al-Din" (1963), directed by Youssef Chahine, was limited to the Second and Third Crusades
"Al-Nasir Salah al-Din". Revenge battles for pilgrim caravans
Al-Nasir Salah al-Din (1963), directed by Youssef Chahine, in which Ahmed Mazhar played Saladin and Hamdi Ghaith played Richard the Lionheart, was limited to the Second and Third Crusades. Saladin has cut the truce held with the King of Jerusalem because of the raid of the French Prince of Tripoli Reynald de Chatillon, known as "Reno" on the convoys of Muslim pilgrims, and killed many of them, and in revenge for the dead besieged Saladin Karak Castle, the stronghold of the Crusaders, and was able to capture the aggressor with King Guy de Lusignan, the first prominent and killed him and released the second.
Announces the desire of Richard, King of England to invade the East the beginning of the third campaign, attacks his alliance - in which Philip Augustus participates - on Acre and occupies Ascalon, then dispersed gathering invaders and plagued by internal disputes, defeated Richard's armies in front of Saladin at the walls of Jerusalem, he equipped a weapon that destroys the towers of Westerners, forcing Richard defeated to sign the Treaty of Ramla (1192 AD), which grants the sovereignty of Jerusalem to Muslims and gives Christians the freedom of pilgrimage to the city, and announces the end of the Third Crusade and the end of the film.
Good runner. Infiltrate the enemy camp to treat the opponent
The image of Salah al-Din in the film "Al-Nasser Salah al-Din" is embodied in several dimensions, perhaps the good military leadership will be the first, as his justice ensures the harmony of leaders and creates the necessary harmony between them, and his values make them believe that the issue is the issue of a homeland first, regardless of religion or race, so Issa the Christian engages in his army, and contributes to the defense of the city.
One of the manifestations of Saladin's military efficiency is his tight planning for battles, which he decides with skill more than he wins with equipment and equipment, and the battle of Ashkelon, in which he worked to lure the enemy to achieve a great victory over Richard's army, impose a truce and leave the English king from the land of the Levant, is evidence of that.
The political level represents the second dimension of this picture, as Saladin exercises governance within a moral horizon, so Richard invites his opponent to Hajj, and when his guest is hit by a treacherous arrow, he sneaks into the camps of the Crusaders in disguise and treats him himself, making the film of his behavior towards his opponent a way to compare two civilizations.
To perpetuate the image of Saladin, the "leader leader", he adapts historical events and quotes them with a large margin of freedom, Richard did not conclude a truce in 1192 AD due to the collapse of his army as in the film, but was keen to save his throne after he reached the alliance of his brother John with Philip Augustus, King of France, who left Jerusalem for his country, and his work to seize power.
The reality of the regional environment. Political investment in history
Youssef Chahine did not shape the events of the past but his eyes focused on the present time, taking into account the Egyptian interior, as the Copts represented at the time almost one-tenth of Egypt's population, and the country could engage in a war to liberate Jerusalem at all times. Within this horizon, we understand why Jesus makes a Christian and makes the English Louisa abandon her homeland for him, but historical references indicate that Jesus Al-Awam is a Muslim man who died while entering besieged Acre across the sea by swimming, to provide support to Saladin's army.
At the same time, Yusuf Chahine also takes into account the regional environment, making the Emir of Acre a traitor and an accomplice, handing over the city to the Crusaders without resistance, but the references prove that the governor of Acre at the time was Bahaa al-Din al-Asadi, known as Qaraqosh, one of the ministers of Saladin.
The film was a political investment in history, serving Gamal Abdel Nasser's vision of the Arab renaissance and the liberation of Palestine. Saladin's speech is almost at odds with that of Gamal Abdel Nasser, where he addresses in public: "O Arabs, it is a battle of honor," or refers to his companions, "Only unity among Arab countries can we liberate the sacred." He makes Arabism the title of his wars, saying of the Crusaders "use Christ as a mask", while he is free to worship within a secular horizon, "religion belongs to God and the earth is for all".
Nasser Salah El-Din's film was a political investment in history, serving Gamal Abdel Nasser's vision for the Arab renaissance and the liberation of Palestine.
"Comrade Saladin, will you return?" Driving Projections
Historians differed in Saladin's lineage, some making him a Kurd, others making him descended from Azerbaijan, although the film makes him an Arab, makes his army Egyptian, and often made the Egyptian flag the background for some of its events.
The film also created a symmetry between the two leaders, which is confirmed by the title that combines their names, as Gamal Abdel Nasser is nothing but an extension of Salah al-Din al-Nasser, and heralds the liberation of Jerusalem by the former in the present, as the latter liberated it in time.
Indeed, the film succeeded in consolidating the link between the two men, Firthi Nizar Qabbani Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1971, on the anniversary of his birth in his poem, which he read:
Your time is a garden, your age is green
and your memory is a bird from the heart pecking
He says:
Comrade Saladin, will you return
, the Roman armies will end and order
Your friends in the Jordan Valley tightened their
saddles and your soldiers in Hattin prayed and grew up
Kingdom of Heaven directed by Ridley Scott
The journey of the East to purify the soul from sin. The Other Face of War
British director Ridley Scott makes the same period the subject of his 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven. His story revolves around the French blacksmith Balian, who entrusted his role to the British actor Orlando Bloom. This faithful Christian sought forgiveness for him and his wife, after both of them had committed a great sin that can only be forgiven by a greater act of faith: his wife committed suicide, and he killed his brother to mutilate her corpse. What is there greater than traveling with the Crusader armies to the East to participate in fighting the Muslims and reclaiming Jerusalem from them, to cleanse himself of sin, and to save his wife from hell?
When Balian arrives in Jerusalem, he has the reasons to become a majestic leader who arouses the envy of rivals and is exposed to their machinations, but he discovers another side of the holy war for which he came, for the Crusaders who fight it in the name of the Lord and Christ came to the East only to commit the most heinous crimes and plunder his resources, and the defense of churches and Christian pilgrims is only a pretext to justify the invasion and mobilize fighters. After the death of the leprosy king of Jerusalem who maintained the truce with Saladin (Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud), he refuses to participate in the plot to liquidate his opponent Guy de Lusignan, despite knowing that he is plotting against him.
As for his opponent, he marries the sister of the late King Sybil and inherits his throne, and engages with his ally Reynald de Chatilon in reckless military adventures that feed his religious hatred and lust to kill Muslims, violating their truce with Saladin, changing a caravan of Muslim pilgrims, and working the sword in the necks of innocent unarmed people.
Salads.. The Anger of a Just Leader Turns Events
After the raid on the convoys of pilgrims, allies Guy de Lusignan and Reynald de Chatilon face the wrath of Saladin and are defeated, while Balian takes over the defense of Jerusalem despite his awareness of the inevitability of defeat, and he does well in that good affliction, to protect the Christians and improve the terms of negotiation, then the city falls, but unlike the Crusaders, who were deeply criminal when they entered it a century ago, Saladin meets the bad with good, pardons them and releases them.
Salah al-Din appears only in the middle of the film and does not represent the center and focus of the story, and this is natural, as from the perspective of the director represents the other that the story mentions casually, so he does not attend in a direct way, however, the film drops a number of historical events that highlight the magnanimity of the Ayyubid Sultan Saladin, such as paying the tax for Christians who were unable to pay it, while all the spotlight is shed on the European side and portrays its view of this war and the Muslims.
"Ridley Scott".. A fair image holding the stick from the middle
Director Ridley Scott did not return to the distant past to discuss – through suggestion and illusion of storytelling – the status quo of Jerusalem, defending a bold thesis that Jerusalem was occupied in the name of religion by barbaric gangs motivated by greed, and that its sanctity for different religions does not prevent peaceful coexistence, and that there is no solution to the conflict in it today except through peace that guarantees the salvation of man and frees him from the manipulation of religious pretenders.
This film is credited with the positive image it presents to Muslims and Arabs, despite some arbitrary Arab critical articles, as it defends the Arabism of Jerusalem and breaks with the stereotype that Hollywood cinema has perpetuated of them as barbarians, terrorists and sexually repressed, so that the New York Times did not hide its grumbling when it was shown, and wrote that the film's release time is inappropriate due to confrontations between Muslims and foreigners in Jerusalem and in other Muslim countries.
Fairness requires that we acknowledge that "Ridley Scott" formed a brighter and more proud image of Saladin than that proposed by Yusuf Chahine in "Al-Nasir Saladin", whereby he made him a beggar for peace from Richard the Lionheart without imposing on him, instead begging him to be in the "Kingdom of Heaven" imposing peace and offering his pardon from a position of power and magnanimity.
The images of Salah al-Din in the films that inspired his story reflected the obsessions of the photographer behind the camera
"Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi". Romantic Adventures in Turkish Cinema
Salah al-Din's photographs were as numerous as the films that inspired his story, reflecting the concerns of the photographer behind the camera more than the image of the photographer in history. Take, for example, the Turkish film Selahattin Eyyubi, directed in 1970 by Egyptian director Tayseer Abboud.
The founder of the Ayyubid state in the film was a handsome man who fascinates women and kills evil people, and instead of liberating Jerusalem, he is busy freeing Richard the Lionheart's fiancée from her captivity after she fell in love with him, reflecting the filmmakers' desire to lure as many superficial entertainers as possible into theaters for commercial purposes free from the stakes of knowledge and culture. Imaginary cinema is free to shape the image of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi with what it sees, and it has to be liberated from the controls of the past, what has become known today as historical imagination - theater, novel or cinema - does not adhere to the professionalism of history, and considers its events stimulating creativity and a reason through which we call the past to refer to the current and its issues, and there is no doubt about that.
Those who want history must address their investigations, but this freedom must be exercised from the logic of responsibility. The director is held accountable for his artistic and intellectual vision. Those who dare to draw inspiration from Saladin's biography are required to do something that matches the symbolism of the man in the Arab conscience and in Western thought as well.
Therefore, Mustafa Al-Akkad – who was preparing a film about Salah al-Din before he was hit by a suicide bombing – admonishes Youssef Chahine, and tells Al-Riyadh newspaper, saying: The film "Salah al-Din", despite its quality, remains a local film, and when I watched the film, I sympathized with Richard the Lionheart more than I sympathized with Saladin.
Indeed, the impression that the film worthy of Salah al-Din has not yet come out remains, terrorism may have missed an important opportunity, but the future will certainly give us other opportunities.