The Book of Saladin

Islam Quintet #2

by Tariq Ali

The Book of Saladin is the fictional memoir of Saladin, the Kurdish liberator of Jerusalem, as dictated to a Jewish scribe, Ibn Yakub. Saladin grants Ibn Yakub permission to talk to his wife and retainers so that he might present a full portrait in the Sultan’s memoirs. A series of interconnected stories follows, tales brimming over with warmth, earthy humor and passions in which ideals clash with realities and dreams are confounded by desires.

At the heart of the novel is an affecting love affair between the Sultan’s favored wife, Jamila, and the beautiful Halina, a later addition to the harem. The novel charts the rise of Saladin as Sultan of Egypt and Syria and follows him as he prepares, in alliance with his Jewish and Christian subjects, to take Jerusalem back from the Crusaders. This is a medieval story, but much of it will be uncannily familiar to those who follow events in contemporary Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad. Betrayed hopes, disillusioned soldiers and unrealistic alliances form the backdrop to The Book of Saladin .

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle East, Islam, Historical, Novels, Egypt

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Tariq Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: طارق علی) is a British-Pakistani historian, novelist, filmmaker, political campaigner, and commentator. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and regularly contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books.

He is the author of several books, including Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991) , Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007) and the recently published The Duel (2008).

Reviews

[Amina Halilovic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do not recommend. I'm not sure exactly what this was supposed to be (about), but it reads like some sort of light porn for medieval teenage boys. The history and the life of one of the most important leaders in the Islam is obviously amazing, but the fact that you can't turn a page without someone having some kind of perverted sex (including repeated references to bestiality) was just too much of a distraction for me. Plus, some 97% of characters are gay or bi, which I thought was a bit excessive.
I understand that all that was probably to make the book more appealing to the western reader.

If you want to read about Saladin, i suggest you find a different book.

The worst thing is that when I was reading the reviews before I took the book, everyone kept saying this exact same thing, but I kept thinking „what prudes, relax! “. But yeah, everyone is right, this was completely unnecessary.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These reviews are super predictable!

BAD reviews: devout Muslims, homophobes, those in total denial about the existence of homosexuality in Muslim societies, those naive enough to believe that Muslim leaders, religious and secular, didn't commit any "sins"

GOOD reviews (or at least average): secularists, people who don't confuse historical fiction with history or biography, people who understand that one's public and private lives can be two different things.

Sometimes Goodreads makes me so depressed about the state of literacy in this world.

[Sayed Khadri · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I picked up this book for reading , I was thinking about reading the biography of one of the greatest hero of Islam - Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb better known in the Western world as Saladin but biography of greatest hero in fictional form by Tariq Ali is shallow, test less and base. Even Wikipedia gives better biography of Saladin than this book. Why, you ask? here is why.

I am really, really disgusted by the numerous allusions to homosexuality, sodomy, prostitution described in this novel. This not the disgusting part, the disgusting part is suggestion that those closest to Saladin including imams and advisers were involved in these heinous acts.

Agreed that these things occur in this world, but when you are writing a biography of great military leader and liberator of Jerusalem and using such a shameful language and behavior is really disgusting, shallow, test less and base.

The way Tariq Ali describes the love life of Saladin is really shameful, as I was reading I started to feel the Tariq Ali really doesn’t know much about who Saladin was and even if he knew, I think he hates him so much that he thought of writing a book to just show his hatred towards him. Don’t know what exactly was going through his mind while writing this book.

Most of the book is filled with sub plots or sub stories and these stories doesn’t add much to Saladin’s biography apart from filling the pages and making book more dense.

I honestly won’t recommend this book to any one. I won’t be reading any other books by Tariq Ali.

I honestly believe that Wikipedia entry on Saladin is better than this book.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Ibn Yakub is chosen to be scribe to Salah Al-Din (Saladin). He is with him for around 20 years, covering the period of the wars against the Franj (Franks or Crusaders) for control of Al-Kuds (Jerusalem). The book is in his voice as he recounts his life at Salah Al-Din’s side.

I enjoy Tariq Ali’s writing without being blown away by it. The book is full of inconsequential side stories, most of which are quite entertaining, but the main focus is on Salah Al-Din’s life. I knew little about the Crusades before reading this. I was taught the Western propaganda version - Christians good, Muslims bad - but the Crusaders often treated Muslims and Jews with savage inhumanity and showed total disrespect for their religious beliefs. By contrast, although not innocent of brutality, when Salah Al-Din regained control of Jerusalem, he assured the inhabitants their religious freedom. We learn that ‘the Believers’ weren’t a homogenous group. Many didn’t support Salah Al-Din, thinking their future more assured if they sided with the Franj. Nor did the Crusaders always share an agenda. There was plenty of infighting amongst them too and they had their share of traitor spies providing inside information to the enemy.

This book is as much about relationships and human frailty as it is about the fight for control over Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Salah Al-Din’s character is multifaceted and believable and I enjoyed this journey through his life. I’ll look forward to reading the next book in the quintet.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Saladin is the second book of Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet. The first was set in late 15th century Spain; this was set in late century 12th century Egypt during the rise and fall of Salah al-Din (Saladin). This story is roughly based on Salah al-Din's life; however, his wives are absent from historical narratives, unlike his 16 sons. The women in this book, then, are Ali's inventions.

The Book of Saladin has a compelling storyline and interesting characters: Salah al-Din is a compassionate, courageous, and wise leader, who lived abstemiously and was generous to a fault with friends and strangers. (Wikipedia said that he died without enough money to bury him.) Ibn Yakub is a Jewish scribe chosen to document Salah al-Din's life: “I need someone I can trust, and a person who will not flinch from revealing the truth after I have turned to dust.” The Sultana Jalima, Salah al-Din's first wife, was wise, beautiful, sharp as a razor – and willing to step off the beaten path intellectually and sexually: Her [writing] contained blasphemies so flagrant that even the Sultan would have found it difficult to protect her from the wrath of the sheikhs. She fell in love with Halima, another woman from Salah al-Din's harem – until the birth of Halima's son, when Halima became depressed and paranoid.

One of the Amazon reviews I read of The Book of Saladin complained terribly about its inaccuracies and blasphemous descriptions of Salah al-Din. As Ali included many sexual and eliminatory referents about Salah al-Din, his wives, and family members, The Book of Saladin could easily be predicted to offend. That's interesting, as this Western reader found most of the characters especially engaging and admirable. (Christians did not fare well, but this book was set during the Crusades.) Given that there is nothing known about the women in Salah al-Din's life – and probably little about the men – Ali's decisions to include sex and other taboo topics was designed either to offend or, I suspect, to humanize.

What does it say about us when attempting to humanize historical figures is a blasphemous act?

While the first book in the Islam Quintet ended with a bang (unfortunately, literally), this one fizzled. This was fitting given that Salah al-Din was disheartened and physically weak by the end of his life – and Ibn Yakub, our narrator, was depressed and grieving following the death of his family. Nonetheless, Tariq Ali's writing and The Book of Saladin are engaging, as he is pitch perfect in describing these larger than life characters, neither exaggerating nor diminishing them.

Unlike the offended Amazon reviewer, I will be continuing with this series.

[Olethros · Rating 4 out of 5]

-De un personaje histórico y de su época.-

Género. Novela histórica.

Lo que nos cuenta. El erudito historiador Isaac Ibn Yakub recuerda cuando conoció al sultán Yusuf Salah-ud Din ibn Ayyub (llamado Saladino por los infieles) y se convirtió en el escriba de confianza a quien relataría sus memorias. Pero a Ibn Yakub le gustaba contrastar y averiguar más allá de la única fuente del sultán, por lo que mientras redactaba el relato fue conociendo a diferentes personas, escuchando distintos relatos y siendo testigo de acontecimientos muy relevantes en la Historia que completarán el cuadro ante los ojos de Ibn Yakub y los del propio lector de la novela. Segundo volumen de la serie Quinteto del Islam pero que puede leerse de forma totalmente independiente.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tariq Ali's "The Book of Saladin" is a rich and teeming chronicle set in the twelfth-century Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem. The Book of Saladin is a fictional memoir of Saladin, the Kurdish liberator he Muslim leader during the Crusades, was one of the best known figures of the Middle Ages. The West accepted him as a worthy opponent; Islam was indebted to him for the recovery of Jerusalem. Ali brilliantly weaves a fiction tale around the historical figure Saladin.
A series of interconnected stories follow, tale brimming over with warmth, earthly humour and passions in which ideals clash with realities and dreams are confounded by desires.
The novel charts the course of Saladin as Sultan of Egypt and Syria and follows him as he prepares in alliance with his Jewish and Christian subjects to take Jerusalem back from the Crusaders.

Tariq Ali's genius strikes once again, painting a very different and dynamic Islamic Empire, with ideas of liberalism and tolerance , a much needed lesson for today's world. A world where all faiths coexisted harmoniously, justice was swift and no person was immune to the worldly temptations the very characteristics which make us human.

Tariq Ali's "The Book of Saladin" is the second in his "quintet" about Islam. It next after Shadows Under the Pomegranate Tree.

[Yazeed AlMogren · Rating 4 out of 5]

في هذه الرواية يعيد طارق علي كتابة تاريخ شخصية صلاح الدين بأسلوبه الروائي الخاص، الرواية احتوت بالطبع على أحداث من خيال الكاتب والعديد من القصص الجنسية التي لا أعلم هل اضافتها كانت تشويق للقارئ أم أن هذا هو أسلوب الكاتب وهو السبب الذي أعتقده، لاحظت قبل قراءتي للرواية بأن العديد من القُراء مستاء من الأحداث الخيالية التي أضيفت للكتاب ولا أعتقد أن هذا الإستياء منطقي لأن الكاتب أراد الكتابة عن شخصية صلاح الدين بأسلوب روائي ولم يرغب بأن يكون كتابه كبحث تاريخي بسبب وجود العديد من كتب التاريخ التي تحدثت عن شخصية صلاح الدين

[Nahla Elhawashi]

برغم أهمية موضوع الرواية وجمال السرد والتشويق الذي يتسم به أسلوب الكاتب طارق علي الا إني لم استطع وضع تقييم لهذه الروايه بسبب كم القصص الجنسية في الرواية بدون داعي والتي قللت كثيراً من أهمية الرواية... لم اقتنع بأن هذه الروايات الجنسية حدثت في الحقيقة متجمعة بهذا الشكل بالرغم من تأكيد الكاتب في المقدمة بأن الروايه مأخوذه من أحداث حقيقية
لم استفد بأي شئ من هذه الحكايات سوى التقزز للأسف .

[Peregrino · Rating 3 out of 5]

El título del libro explica perfectamente su contenido. Una novela sobre la vida de Saladino. Cincuenta y cinco años de uno de los más poderosos sultanes de oriente resumidos en historias marginales de su vida. El autor nos novela la vida diaria de Saladino, intercalando algunos pasajes en los que hace reflexionar a los personajes, fundamentalmente a los femeninos (es decir, los de auténtica ficción).

A través de la vida del judio Ibn Yakub, que se convierte en el escriba de la vida de Saladino asistimos a una descripción desde dentro de la vida en la corte del sultán, de las relaciones entre sus consejeros y familiares, así como de la sultana y del resto del harén. Se trata de una corte tolerante en temas sexuales (probablemente se incida demasiado en la obra en este aspecto), así como en lo religioso. El único objetivo es expulsar a los diablos francos de los territorios conquistados noventa años antes. Se nos confronta la delicadeza de la corte del sultán con la brutalidad e incultura de los francos.

La lucha con los francos y con otros rivales ocupa pocas páginas, y parece marginal ante las historias personales contadas. la toma de Jerusalem, la batalla de Hattin, el sitio de Acre y de otras importantes ciudades son relatados casi de refilón.

Esperaba encontrarme con una novela histórica, pero se trata de una novela sin más. Interesante porque se aprenden algunos aspectos de la vida del sultán y de su época, pero quizá no suficientes,

[Jonfaith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I certainly expected more from this when I encountered it at Twice Told back in 2004. It was by the numbers historical fiction with the standard authorial flourishes but little else. Syncretism is the order of the day. This is a reworking by Ali to meet some kinder, gentler view of the controversial figure form the Crusades: as if, there were any saintly personages in the record of such. I eventually gave this and a few other unread novels by Ali to my friend Ed.

[Sharon Coyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrator's voice adds a lot to the novel; he is an outsider and so his perspective, both neutral and "fresh" helps the reader follow the complicated historical chain of events.

[عمر الحمادي · Rating 4 out of 5]

مثل كثير من الروايات التاريخية، هناك الكثير من الخيال الذي قد لا يكون وفياً للحقائق التاريخية بشكل كامل، فملئ الفراغات قد يصيب أو يخطأ، ويكون فيه الرهان على عقل القارئ المتربص لمعقولية الحبكة من عدمها.

[Mohamed Gomaa]

بداية فالرواية جيدة ولها نية حسنة في محاولة إيضاح السلام الذي ينشده المسلمون في عالمهم فكاتب السلطان يهودي وطبيبه يهودي والمسيحيون منتشرون في الإطار ، كما أن الرواية مبذول مجهود في الاطلاع على أحداثها ومصادرها العربية والغربية ، هذا مشهود لا شك فيه.
أما الشخوص فلقد صدمني طارق علي في (صلاح الدين) بتلك التشنجات الجنسية التي غلبت عليه في كتابة الرواية فلم ينجُ من شخوصها أحد منها ، قد يكون مطلوبا عند الروائيين والقراء أن تحفل الرواية بشيء من هذا ولكن ليس بهذا الإسراف ، وقد يملك الروائي حق التصرف في أحداث الرواية – لو كانت تاريخية أو تمس شخوصا تاريخية – فيما صمت عنه التاريخ وفيما لا يمس السمات التي تتسم بها الشخصية تاريخيا. ليت شعري على أي مصدر معتمد اعتمد طارق علي في أن يوصم العماد الأصفهاني بالشذوذ وعشق الغلمان ، وعلى أي سند استند في صبغ السلطانة بصبغة الشذوذ والسحاق ، لست أدري!!
هناك بعض التفصيلات التاريخية قد شابها الخطأ كوجود مخدر البانجو وظهور الشاي ... الخ والتي لم تكن قد ظهرت بعد.
أما عن الترجمة فكسولٌ صاحبها لم يستطع أن يكلِّف خاطره ويثبت الأصول العربية للأقوال والأشعار والخطب والفقر المتخذة من الكتب العربية علما بأن الكاتب أثبت مصادرها بما لا يُجهِد مُتَحَرِّ الدقة ومحرر الصنعة. لجأ المترجم إلى الاستسهال فترجم المترجم.

محمد جمعة

[Sadiq. PhD · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Book of Saladin" is the second book in Islamic quintet by Tariq Ali. It is the chronicle of Islamic warrior Salah Ud Din Ayubi or Saladin for western people, set in the twelfth-century Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem. The Book of Saladin is a fictional memoir of Saladin, the Kurdish liberator, the Muslim leader during the Crusades, was one of the best known figures of the Middle Ages. The West accepted him as a worthy opponent; Islam was indebted to him for the recovery of Jerusalem. though it's a brilliant effort by Tariq Ali to portray the life of Salah ud Din through his wives and retainers but their is too much fiction in this book, and i don't think the reality was this much true, especially the women dominance in harem and sexual relationships between women and men. that's why i gave this book only three stars.(though i might be wrong).

[Tarun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. This book explores Salahuddin Ayyubi's life and times. Story is narrated by his scribe Ibn Yakub.
Sultana Jamila deserves a book of her own.

[Ali Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

ANY FICTIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF the life of a historical figure poses a problem for the writer. Should actual historical evidence be disregarded in the interests of a good story? I think not. In fact the more one explores the imagined inner life of the characters, the more important it becomes to remain loyal to historical facts and events, even in the case of the Crusades, where Christian and Muslim chroniclers often provided different interpretations of what actually happened.

The fall of Jerusalem to the First Crusade in 1099 stunned the world of Islam, which was at the peak of its achievements. Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad were large cities with a combined population of over two million—advanced urban civilisation at a time when the citizens of London and Paris numbered less than fifty thousand in each case. The Caliph in Baghdad was shaken by the ease with which the barbarian tide had overwhelmed the armies of Islam. It was to be a long occupation.

Salah al-Din (Saladin to Western ears) was the Kurdish warrior who regained Jerusalem in 1187. The principal male characters of this story are based on historical personages. They include Salah al-Din himself, his brothers, father, uncle and nephews. Ibn Maymun is the great Jewish physician-philosopher, Maimonides. The narrator and Shadhi are creations of the writer.

The women—Jamila, Halima and all the others—have all been imagined. Women are a subject on which medieval history is usually silent. Salah al-Din, we are told, had sixteen sons, but nothing has been written about their sisters or mothers.

[Augusto Delgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro.
Ali mejora su narrativa y ,en una atmósfera de las mil y una noches -incluyendo harén, eunucos y las incomparables Halima y Jamila la herética sultana-, recrea la heróica yihad de Salah al Din en la reconquista de Palestina invadida por los, literalmente sucios, católicos francos. La historia del sultán viene revestida de humor y comedia, e incluso las tragedias tienen esa nube de sensualidad musulmana medieval.

[Muawiyah Yousuf · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know it's fiction, but this book utterly trashes my previous understanding of Saladin, and it does so in the worst possible way. It's nothing more than a sex-fueled trainwreck, and not even a well-written one at that. Yes, immorality existed back then, just as it does today, and sure, Saladin had his flaws like any human being. But almost every chapter in this book revolves around one or more explicit, lewd acts. Sex, sex, and more sex. It gives the impression that back then sex was all there was to life. The plot goes so far as to waste time on figuring out if a former Templar is gay—something completely absurd for a state fighting the Crusaders.
Yes, Homosexuality existed back then but that doesn't mean every person out there was a homosexual!!!
And the Qadi – the Qadi, who is supposed to be the Sultan's moral compass – is part of this ridiculous farce!

Tariq's depiction of harems is deeply rooted in Orientalist misconceptions. He perpetuates the sensationalist and demeaning stereotype that harems were solely centers of intrigue, hedonism, and rampant promiscuity, reducing them to nothing more than erotic fantasies.

The first book in the quintet was enjoyable, mainly because it was set in post-Moorish Spain. I expected the setting of this novel to make it interesting too, which is why I gave it a shot. But instead of focusing on the clash between Saladin and the franks, which he does in small doses, Tariq wastes time on pathetic harem drama, bombarding the reader with vivid, unnecessary images of sexuality and even bestiality! If I were Kurdish, I wouldn't hold back in this review. Not sure if I should try reading the next installment in this series...

[sawsan bhaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

لحد نصها كنت عاوزة اقيمها بنجمتين بس الحقيقة لما اندمجت ف الاحداث بعد كده فانا اتشديت لها جدا وكنت مصرة انها تخلص
عندي اعتراض ع اسم خماسية الاسلام لانه ده تاني عمل اقراه منها ومش حاسة باي اسلام يعني .. الشخصيات عايشة حياة غاية ف العربدة لدرجة مخيفة ..
الرواية فيها شوية ايروتيكية كنت شايفة ملهمش لازمة ع الاطلاق وكانوا مضايقيني جدا ⁦🤦🏻‍♀️⁩
ممتعة للي بيحبوا الرواياات التاريخية ..

[Francisco Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho, recuerda mucho al ambiente sensual y escatológico de las "Mil y una noches", aunque no se si es deliberado o no. Es una buena novela histórica, nos acerca al personaje sin el agobio de contrastar las fuentes.

[Francisco Spinoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela que se olvida de su adjetivo "histórica". Novela que se concentra más en incomodar a sus lectores musulmanes al referir la historia de la sexualidad en Oriente Medio. Esa historia sí que le interesa. Su mayor virtud radica en proporcionarnos parte de la filosofía árabe y en darle vida a Maimónides.

[Julelilolu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free free Palestine

[David Raz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Book of Saladin by Tariq Ali
Hebrew review follows ביקורת בעברית בהמשך

This is probably the worst Historical Fiction book I ever read. And contrary to the name, this is not a book about Saladin. The author managed to take an important historical figure, Saladin, and push it so much into the background it almost disappeared. The Saladin story line is covered in maybe 10% of the writing. The majority of the book is about the fictionalized Jewish scribe and other imagined people of the court.

These other characters are portrayed as paper thin figures, with abnormal interest in "deviant" sex. Everyone is into either bestiality, necrophilia, homosexuality or plain fornication. I'm sure people always had sex, but I'm also sure 12th century people also did other things beside sex. Whatever else happens to these characters is completely random and unjustified. People fall in love, leave each other, kill and die with zero explanation or purpose.

Even when the author goes into historical characters, the book does not care much about accuracy. I don't know about Saladin, but I do know about Ibn Maimon (Maimonides), and what was written is extremely unlikely. I am left with assuming the rest is just as inaccurate.

I'll add to that the change of form the author does close to the end, from a fictionalized memoir to a series of letters. This has no reasonable explanation and contributes nothing. The end of the book was a real drag, and I was really tempted not to finish the book, something I very rarely do.

All in all, the reader is left with knowing very little about Saladin and hoping for a better book which will shed light on this historical figure.

On the good side, the book promotes coexistence and cooperation between Muslims and Jews, free thinking and general freedom. Quite a rare sight and we do need more of these. For that, an extra star, 2 in total.

זהו כנראה ספר הבדיון ההסטורי הגרוע ביותר שקראתי מעודי. ובניגוד לשמו של הספר, זה לא ספר על צלאח א-דין. המחבר הצליח לקחת דמות היסטורית חשובה, צלאח א-דין, ולדחוף אותה כל כך חזק לתוך הרקע שהיא כמעט נעלמת לחלוטין. קו הסיפור העוסק בצלאח א-דין מכוסה אולי 10% מהטקסט. רוב הספר הוא על הלבלר היהודי הבדיוני ואנשי חצר אחרים של צאלח א-דין.

הדמויות האלו מתוארות כדמויות דקות כמו נייר, עם עניין חריג ומוגזם במין "סוטה". כולם עוסקים בנקרופיליה, הומוסקסואליות או ניאוף רגיל. אני בטוח שאנשים תמיד קיימו יחסי מין, אבל אני גם בטוח שאנשים במאה ה-12 עשו עוד דברים מלבד סקס. שאר הדברים שקורים לדמויות הללו הם אקראיים ובלתי מוצדקים לחלוטין. אנשים מתאהבים, עוזבים אחד את השני, הורגים ומתים עם אפס מטרה או הסבר.

גם כשהמחבר כותב על דמויות הסטוריות, עושה רושם שהדיוק אינו ממש נר לרגליו. אני לא יודע הרבה על סלאח א-דין, אבל אני יודע מעט על הרמב"ם (שמופיע כדמות משנית בספר), ומה שהמחבר כותב עליו הוא מאוד לא סביר. אני מניח מזה שהשאר מדוייק באותה מידה.

אוסיף לכך את שינוי צורת הכתיבה שהמחבר עושה סמוך לסוף, מספר זכרונות בדיוניים לסדרה של מכתבים. גם לזה אין שום הסבר או טעם הגיוני וזה לא תורם כלום לספר - הכל סתם. סופו של הספר נגרר ונמשך ובאמת התפתיתי לא לסיים את הספר, משהו שאני עושה לעתים מאוד רחוקות.

בסיכומו של דבר, אני כקורא נותרתי עם מעט מאוד ידע על צלאח א-דין ועם תקווה שספר טוב יותר ישפוך אור על הדמות ההיסטורית זו.
בצד החיובי הספר מטיף לקידום הדו-קיום ושיתוף פעולה בין מוסלמים ויהודים, ובכלל לחשיבה חופשית וחופש. זה מחזה די נדיר ואני חושב שראוי לעידוד. רק על זה, כוכב נוסף, שניים ביחד.

[Sarah Parkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read these books out of order - this #2 but I read both #1 (Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree) and #3 (A Sultan in Palermo) first. I'm glad of that, because both of those are better than this. All have compelling protagonists and evokatively drawn settings, and it's refreshing to read books in English written from the point of view of Muslims living through major historical shifts. But The Book of Saladin bears the worst examples of the series' biggest flaw: when it comes to women and sexual politics, it becomes infuriating.

Women are only physically described if they are particularly beautiful. The narrator's wife, Rachel, is mostly ignored until she has an affair and fills her husband with jealousy. We barely see anything of her as an independent person outside of her husband - then she and her daughter die to give the narrator a reason to leave Salah al-Din's side. Jamila and Halima are the most significant female characters (both described in terms of their rapturous beauty), and it is set up by Halima telling the narrator that if she wanted to show Jamila she was ready for a relationship she would stop shaving her pubes. Hairy lesbians in the 21st century, everyone. Then some time after Halima's death when Jamila has found another lover, the narrator describes the fickleness of women because she happens to have moved on. Like Salah al-Din hasn't been sleeping with women and then moving on to the next one of the harem for decades.

The worst comes with a woman who is never even named. Shadhi is a completely invented character, so he has been deliberately written into this story. Why, then, is his tragic story about the time he got drunk and raped the girl who wouldn't marry him? The fact that he felt so bad afterwards that he never married is supposed to make him sympathetic - to paraphrase, the narrator says "rape is common but it made him sad and I respect him more for that". The author purposefully chose to write a female character who is raped and commits suicide in service of her rapist's emotional journey. That's inexcusable.

The exploitation of eunuchs and young men is a running theme which often becomes a joke. Again, everyone loves Shadhi for proving that a Cathar is capable of abusing a boy by sending a boy into his room.

It's hard to believe that any of this is written as a comment on the standards of the time, as it always goes unchallenged. In A Sultan in Palermo, the two principal female characters who are sisters, stunningly beautiful and just happen to be desperate to sleep with the middle-aged scholarly protagonist. One of the things that I liked about Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree was that it gave the female characters a life within the home and developed their relationships; I think it's important to paint them as part of the fabric of the community, but the fact is that every female character could be removed from all three of the books I've read so far and the plots would be unaltered.

It's frustrating to be drawn into a captivating story and then repeatedly pulled out of it by issues like this that could be handled with just the slightest bit of sensitivity.

[Minci (Ayurveda) Ahmetovic]

Džepovi u našem pamćenju su zaista nevjerovatni. Stvari, davno zaboravljene, skrivene po ćoškovima, iznenada izbijaju na svjetlo dana. I sada, sve to vidim, tako jasno, kao da vrijeme nije ni proticalo.

Sada imamo jednog boga, pa se opet - iz nužde - moramo i oko njega boriti. I sve se svelo na rat oko tumačenja.

Okruženi smo dušmanima. Nemamo vremena da mislimo ni na šta drugo sem kako da preživimo - i tek u miru čovjek sebi može dopustiti da se osami sa svojim mislima.

Sudbina i istorija su se udružile da me učine onim sto sam sada.
Nema rješenja tog problema - jer rješenje se krije u samom problemu. Nije li tako.

Kako to postići kad su naši muslimani tako duboko medjusobno podijeljeni? Ima dva halifata – jedan u Bagdadu, koji vlada samo formalno, a drugi u Kairu, a taj je vrlo slab.
Pad halifata je doveo do toga da na sve strane niknu nova kraljevstva. Naša uzajamna netrepeljivost bila je strašno duboka. I žešće smo se borili medju sobom nego što smo se odupirali Francima.

Samo želim da kažem da smo svi vezani sudbinom i da su nam životi odredjeni vremenom u kojem živimo. Naši životopisi su omedjeni okolnostima.

Kreni u boj samo kad nema druge. Narod uvijek strada više od nas. Mi često zaboravljamo da je čak i neophodni rat za narod velika nesreća.

Jedino pustolovi mogu nešto da postignu u ovom svijetu. Ako mirno sjediš na jednom mjestu, samo će te sunce spržiti i od toga ćeš umrijeti.

Što li mi zaboravljamo neke ključne činjenice, a drugi nam se dogadjaji tako urežu u pamćenje.
Sama pomisao da je smrtan izazivala je u meni jezu – uvijek bih zadrhtao, želio sam da ga zagrlim, poljubim mu obraz, zaplačem mu na ramenu i vrisnem:
Neću da ikada umreš. Usne ostanu nijeme, srce bespomoćno.

Raheline potrebe nisu ništa manje vazne od tvoje želje da budes dio istorije. Pronadji mjeru.
Sreća je kao dobro zdrvlje. Zapaziš da ti nedostaje tek kad je izgubiš.

Rekao sam joj da je bolje znati i spavati nego moliti se i ne znati. Nije li svijet brz snova gori od pakla.

Cudno je da covjek sto se vise izlaze naporu manje osjeca umor. Nakon 2h jahanja mogao sam da jasem cijeli dan.

Zasto uopste ikoga ubiti? Ljubav je uzvisena stvar i nema zakona hvala Allahu koji moze da sprijeci da se dvoje ljudi zavole.

Nisam ni sa kim mogao o njoj da razgovaram, jer u svijetu snova u kome sam ja tada živio, vjerovao sam da niko i ne zna. Bila je to samo naša tajna.

Prije svake odluke provjeravao je svaku pojedinost, vagao svaku mogućnost, pažljivo proučavao mape naročito napravljene za njega. Za razliku od svog oca on nikada nije dozvolio da kapljica vina umrlja njegove usne.

Nikad mi nismo gospodari svojih životnih puteva. Allah nas gura u odredjenom smjeru i mada hrabrost i umijeće naših komandanata mogu promijeniti tok bitke, u krajnjem slučaju mnogo zavisi od sudbine.

Muka je počela da me hvata od nemara dokonog života i počeh da žudim za bojištem. Kako nas je samo sudbina slomila u paramparčad kao komadiće stakla.

Bilbais je sir, a Kairo puter.

Njegova smrt je cijena koju je platio za pretjerivanje u mesu i vinu. Od dana kad sam ga vidio kako umire, gadi mi se prevelika količina mesa na stolu. Sada razumiješ zašto toliko držim do umjerenosti u hrani.

Ibn Majmon tvrdi da u stanju uzbudjenja čovjek vidi i čuje zamišljenje stvari vezane za predmet njegovih osjećanja.

Kako su samo krhka i nepouzdana naša osjećanja. Ne znam kako bih se ja osjećala da sjećanje na Mesuda nije u meni i dalje tako moćno. Džemila misli da je Mesud fantazija koju hranim da bih sačuvala zdrav razum. Ja znam da prošlost gubi moć nad našim srcem, ali meni se to još nije desilo.

Bez kontole nad novcem, vlast je teško sačuvati.

Dovoljno dugo živim da znam da je od svih Allahovih (svt) stvorenja, ljudski stvor najnepredvidljiviji.

Moj me otac naučio da dvije vojske sa dva komandanta nikad ne mogu dugo opstati zajedno. Prije ili kasnije, uz Allahovu volju, jedna ili druga mora preuzeti komandu.

Nevolja sa našom velikom religijom je što isključuje pola stanovništva i ono zato ne može da obogati našu zajednicu.

Ibn Rašd i njegovi prijatelji u Al Andalusu koji su proučavali, razumjeli i dalje razvili grčku filozofiju, takodjer su bili skloni sumnji. Božansko ukazanje je u svim našim velikim knjigama jedan vid mudrosti. Oslanja se na tradiciju kako bi stvorio pravila, kodeks ponašanja, po kojem svi moramo da živimo. Ali tu je i druga vrsta mudrosti, kojoj nas uče stari Grci, to je mudrost koju svi možemo da vidimo, a da se ne obraćamo nebesima. Ta mudrost, to me je jednom podučio moj učitelj zvala se razum.

Vjera i razum često su u sukobu, zar ne Ibn Jakube.
Za razliku od razuma, božanska istina se ne može dokazati. Zato istina uvijek mora biti slijepa, inače prestaje da bude istina.

Ibn Rašd je jednom zapazio da kada bi se ženama dopustilo da misle, pišu i rade, zemlje nas vjernika bile bi najjače i najbogatije na svijetu.

Smrt nas na mnoge načine iznenadjuje. Najmanje nas brine bojno polje. Tu čovjek očekuje da umre.
Ako Allah dzs. odluči da nije još došlo tvoje vrijeme, živjet ćeš i dalje, kako bi se borio, a smrt će ti doći nekog drugog dana.

Često se pitam kako se desi da jaki vladari obično za sobom ostave slabe dinastije. Je li to možda usud naše vjere da nas je Allah osudio na stanje stalne nestabilnosti i haosa? Prve halife nisu izabrane prema načelu nasljedstva, već odlukom Prorokovih prijatelja. Dinsatije koje su uspostavili Umajidi i Abasidi dovele su do katastrofe. Sultani i veziri hrane rast kraljevstva za svoju djecu, a šta ako su djeca nesposobna da vladaju, kao što smo vidjeli toliko puta od smrti našeg Proroka? Ja ponekad mislim da nam je potrebno Vijeće mudrih koje će se sastojati od ljudi poput Fadila i Imadudina. Ti mudri ljudi treba da odredjuju nasljednika.

Oni se toliko boje i pomisli da će izgubiti svoju moć da će radije predati svoj grad neprijatelju.

Odlučio sam da ne gubim vrijeme. Često se naši vladari toliko zaokupe slavljenjem jedne jedine pobjede da ne vide da ih slavlje košta cijelog kraljevstva.

Sultan nikada nije prekršio svoju riječ mada su njegovi neprijatelji to zloupotrebljavali često. Franci su npr. vjerovali, dobri hrišćani kakvi jesu - da ih ni jedno obećanje dato vjernicima ne obavezuje. Ti podli obožavaoci ikona prekršili bi sporazum kada god im je to odgovaralo. Naš sultan je bio previše častan. Ja mislim da je za to krivo njegovo porijeklo. U planinama, kurdska riječ, jednom data nikada se ne prekši.

Dato mi je da nadjem pa izgubim neprocjenjivo blago. Nijednu ženu ja nisam nikada pogledao ni dotakao poslije toga. Allah ima svoje načine da nas kazni.

Ima budala koje kupuju knjige, koji su takve neznalice da to kupuju prema težini, a ne prema sadržaju.

Navike i običaje covjek teško mijenja. Ponekad sam se hvatao kako bescilljno lutam kao slijepac do sultanovih odaja a onda se polako vracam gotovo kao odani pas kojeg je nemarni gospodar ostavio za sobom.

Ja moram pripadati sebi. Zar ne mozes razumjeti moju zelju da opet budem svoja.

Gubitak bliskog prijatelja sa kojim je covjek dijelio sve i u kojeg je imao potpuno povjerenje, mnogo je veći udarac od lišenosti fizickog kontakta.

Drugim riječima postala je tvoj posjed najvrijedniji, a posjedu nije dozvoljeno da pobjegne.

Saladin je obično savjetovao ljudima da se ne svete. Jednom sam ga čuo kako kaže da je činiti nešto iz čiste osvete uvijek opasno, nalik eliksiru koji preraste u naviku. Nepolitično je i ne izdvaja vjernike od varvara. Iskazivao je ta gledišta često mada tiho, ali kada bi se njegovi komandanti i emiri suprotstavili njegovom savjetu, nisu uspjevali savladati ona najniža osjećanja, nikad ih nije kažnjavao.

Šadi više nije sa nama, ali će živjeti u meni. Nema trajnog rastanka. Njegov ću glas čuti dok sam živ. Ja sam pokušao da zavirim u budućnost. Njegov glas, smijeh, podrugljivi ton, duh često drzak i nadmen, nespremnost da podnosi budale, i uobražene vjerske učenjake, grube šale, tragična priča o njegovoj ljubavi. Kako bih ikada mogao da ga zaboravim?

Rahela je znala da je on bio moj jedini istinski prijatelj u sultanovoj pratnji.

Džemilin um djelovao je na mene kao afrodizijak. Kada se ona sa mnom smije sunce mi obasja srce.

Sultanija dobro razumije da se i pamet ne krije u penisu, već u mozgu muskarca.

Rekla sam da razumijem da se izgubljeno ne moze ozivjeti.

On je napisao da osjećanja utiču na tijelo i izazivaju znatne promjene našeg zdravlja.
Ako se osjećaji koji uzrokuju nezadovoljstvo i poremećaje ne smire, razbolijevamo se i nismo u miru sa sobom i bližnjima.

Rotkve u ti kao ljudi svakojakog oblika i veličine. Većina su rotkve sa polja koje nism ja uzorao.
Šta god da je Allah svt. za nas odlučio, bilo pobjedu ili poraz, naša djeca i njihova djeca nikad ne smiju zaboraviti šta smo mi žrtvovali za njihovu budućnost.

Zavrsite posao koji vam je Allah zadao i nikada ne dopustite da neprijatelj misli da vas smrt jedne osobe moze skrenuti sa puta.

Ja nisam sklon hvalisanju jer to je za muslimane slabost. Ipak gorim od samopouzdanja.

Mozda imate pravo sto strahujete, ali oni koji oklijevaju predugo, koji idu samo do pola puta, obicno zavrse kopajući sopstveni mezar. Nikome od nas nije ostalo previše vremena.

To je zivotna cinjenica, malo je nas koji mozemo reci da se ostvarilo sve sto smo zeljeli.

Stablo mora biti zasticeno od vrelih vjetrova kako bi naraslo i dalo plodove.

Prijedlog je razbjesnio Saladina za kojeg je odanost porodici bila ključni test nečijeg karaktera.

Čudno je kako naša najdublja i najtananija osjećanja mogu biti tako prolazna.

U arapskoj i perzijskoj literaturi, ako se pravoj ljubavi promijeni tok, onda ona silom otputuje dolinom ludila. Ljubavnik lišen onoga koga, voli gubi razum.
Ljudi vole, njihova ljubav biva odbijena. Oni pate. Ljubav je muzika koju prvo čuje naša duša, a onda se polako prenese na srce. Ja znam slučajeve gdje ostavljeni ljubavnik zapada u duboki mrak i cijeli mu se život promijeni. Trpi mučne glavobolje koje nikada ne prestaju, a um mu je umrtvljen od osjećaja gubitka.

Čudno je kako neku osobu vidjaš svaki dan, a ne znaš ništa o njoj.

Čudesno je kako udaljenost od boli može naše najdublje rane izliječiti bolje nego išta drugo.

Spise Al Farabija - on je osnažio moju instinktivnu vjeru da je ljudski razum superioran nad svim religijama, uključujući i našu.

Ja mislim da je pouka te tvoje priče kako je lako čak i muškarcu najuzvišenijeg uma potonuti u najniži blud.

Oni će shvatiti da ništa knjizi ne pričinjava veće zadovoljstvo do da ide od ruke do ruke.

Oni koji teže bogatstvu teže mu samo da bi odagnali strah od siromaštva.
Drugi teže slavi da bi se oslobodili straha od prezira.
Neki teže čulnim zadovoljstvima da pobjegnu od muke lišenosti.
Neki teže znanju da se oslobode nesigurnosti neznanja.
Drugi uživaju da prisluškuju vijesti i tudje razgovore, jer time žele da odagnaju tugu samoće i izopštenosti.
Ukratko, čovjek jede, pije, ženi se, gleda, igra se, živi pod krovom, jaše, šeta, i miruje sa jednim jedinim ciljem da otjera ono što su njegove suprotnosti i uopšte sve druge tjeskobe.
Ipak svaka od ovih radnji je neizbježni rasadnik novih tjeskoba.

Nije dobro biti rob emocija Ibn Jakube, slažeš li se sa mnom? A opet, teško je osloboditi ih se.

Mnogima nije bilo ni 30, a vidjeli su dovoljno strahota da im potraje cijelog života, čak i na onome svijetu. Neki su vidjeli nesretne ljude po gradovima i selima koje su franački vitezovi opljačkali pa prognali. Proživjeli su bitke, a u sjećanju su ostala samo tijela saboraca nagomilanih jedno preko drugog pred grupnu dženazu.

Snaga volje, uvjerenje da si na Allahovom putu su odlučujući.

Ti si Ibn Jakube bez nadmenosti i lažnog ponosa, veseo.
Za razliku od vas mi ćemo biti pravedni i nećemo se prepustiti eliksiru osvete.
Zaliječit ćemo rane što ste ih ostavili na džamijama i jevrejskim sinagogama, a crkve nećemo skrnaviti.

Nije krivica bila u kamenju koje je činilo njene zidove, već u nama.

Ljubav ima moć da nas otjera u ludilo. Ljubomora je njeno najluđe čedo.
Ima li života potpuno lišenog bola?

Ljubomora je otrov koji se mora ukloniti da bi u glavi bilo mjesta za uzvišene misli.

Većina srca govore čudnom mješavinom stvarnosti i snova mada je njihov odnos uvijek promjenjiv pošto na kraju sve odredjuju spoljne okolnosti. Srce nije knjiga koju možeš uvijek otvoriti na istoj stranici. Ako je slomljeno, može krvariti danima, a onda se iznenada pretvori u kamen.

Bila je uistinu žena koja za razliku od svog cijenjenog muža nije vjerovala u zarobljavanje ljudi.
Franački je vitez bez konja kao strijelac bez luka.

Šadi je podučio sultana da slaviti pobjedu prije nego je osvojena donosi lošu sreću.
Jedna od najvažnijih pobjeda u analima islama proticala je iznenadjujuće mirno.
Prizor naših mrtvih i ranjenih vojnika duboko me je potresao.

Bio sam izgubljen za ovaj svijet - izgubio sam osjećaj za vrijeme. Živio sam iz dana u dan ne očekujući ništa i ne dajući ništa.

Naša vjera je emotivna i impulsivna.
Nema ništa dosadnije nego slušati odraslog čovjeka kako kuka zbog slomljenog srca kao da mu je 15 godina i kao da je prvi puta otkrio bol.

Samo budale smatraju da se ne smije sumnjati. Svijet bez sumnje ne može naprijed.

Čudno je zar ne, kako se čovjek može vratiti u neko mjesto nakon dugog odsustva i ustanoviti da je sve po starom.

Starkelja nije mogao da prihvati pomisao da je odbijen pa je našao žrtvenog jarca. To mi se gadi i rekla sam tvom sultanu da je najbolje da svog sekretara kastrira. Ni jedan momak u Damasku nije siguran kad to ostarjelo tijelo obuzme želja.

Upravo suprotno od opšteg vjerovanja Ibn Majmone, nestalnost ženskog srca, nešto je u čemu ih mi nikada nećemo dostići.

Čudna stvar se dešava čovjeku kada udje u pedesetu. Prestane da misli o budućnosti, i sve više vremena provodi razmišljajući o prošlosti. Smješka se na lijepe uspomene i muče ga iznova ludosti što ih je počinio.

Kada ga gledam ovih dana, liči mi na svijeću koja još uvijek gori jasnim plamenom mada postepeno samu sebe sagorijeva.

Gotovo kao da je vjera tako duboko usadjena u nas da ne osjećamo obavezu da vjerujemo u bilo šta drugo.

Nakon poraza, mi zapadamo u samo srce dubokog očaja.
Ono što ne shvatamo jeste da nema pobjeda bez poraza.

Svaki veliki osvajač u istoriji je imao poraze. Mi nismo sposobni da budemo dosljednji. Nakon nekoliko poraza, naš moral strada, naš duh slabi, naše discipline nestane.
Zar je okrutna sudbina nama odredila stalnu nestabilnost?
Kako da odgovorimo Džibrilu na Sudnjem Danu kada nas upita: o sljedbenici velikog proroka Muhameda, zašto, kada ste jedno drugome bili najpotrebniji, niste jedan drugome pomogli da pobijedite dušmane?

Samo me to uči da će se ljudi boriti za cilj veći od njihovog sopstvenog interesa samo kada su istinski ubijedjeni da se bore za nešto što će im svima donijeti dobro.

Franačke vodje su odgovorile nečasno i to ih je zauvijek zabilježilo, još od trena kada su došli u ove krajeve.

Ali lav, dragi prijatelju, nije najplemenitiji medju Allahovim (svt) stvorovima.

Pogubljenje naših zatvorenika je bio akt šakala, a ne lava.

Nikad ne zaboravi da se naši uspjesi temelje na podršci naroda.
Ako se odvojiš od naroda, nećeš dugo trajati.

Mislim da ću se opravdati slabim zdravljem i vratiti u Kairo da obnovim svoje misli i provedem neko vrijeme u razmišljanju o životu čovjeka čiji nas je odlazak sve ostavio u mraku.

[reabdimation · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly admire Shalahuddin. He is one of my hero..

(I prefer using Shalahuddin instead of saladin, because the meaning of 'shalah' and 'Ad-Diin' behind his name)

As far as i know, A mujahid means sumone who totally gave his life in a way of Jihad. Being Mujahid means to obey every commands of Allah. Allah gave victory to us because of our faith, and our obedience to Allah. early generation of Moslems was won on Battle of Badr, even they number are less than kuffars, because of their faith and their obedience to Allah. Instead, they also lost in the war of Hunayn, because they feel satisfied of their quantity ..

I start asking myself, if Shalahuddin is a person like tariq Ali described, How can he won palestine?

Well, i had no objection, as long as Tariq Ali writes his novel based on a valid reference.. but, if he's not... (do anyone of you have any reference or answer of these?). Well, it quite dissatisfies me bacause there are no reaction of 'ulama about these book (instead of salman rushdi's). It distribute widely, right? Is that means Tariq Ali has a valid reference?

yeah, i dont mind if he's right. I still admire Shalahuddin. no matter what.. I focused on people's accomplishment, not their stains.

The bigger fact that anyone already know about crussade, was not humiliated (he can write differently to shame Shalahuddin, but he didnt. why?). Shalahuddin won palestine, he let people move from there, he has not butchering people like his opponent before.. well, it keeps me arguing, even thariq Ali is rebellious, is HE really writes this book validly, or he keeps the bigger part to make people believe in the other part? (ie shalahuddin's characters)

Yaaahh.. the funniest part of this book, that me and my sister get laugh together everytime we discuss about it, is Thariq Ali description about King Richard.. (Richard-si-perogol-bokong? suer, gue gak pernah baca buku ttg perang salib yang mendeskripsikan raja richard kayak gini) gue nggak tahu lagi entah tariq Ali bener2 sedeng, seenaknya, atau emang valid nulis nih buku.. kacau banget..

Tapi.. andai buku ini dianggap sebagai entitas yang terpisah dari sejarah yang sesungguhnya (anggaplah in fiksi of nowhere), buku ini cukup memberikan wacana baru buat gue..

PS: gue nyuri2 baca buku tariq ali yang laen (women of stone, the book of promegranate tree, sultan in palermo).. dan gue nggak ngelanjutin baca et causa bosen. Cuma the book of saladin yang menurut gue menarik untuk dibaca ampe selesai..

[Fuat · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I have read many books about the kings of old. The ruler is usually portrayed as god or devil, depending on whether the account is written by a courtier or an enemy. Books of this sort have no value. When truth and untruth lie embracing each other in the same bed it is difficult to tell them apart."

The Book of Saladin details the chronicle of Yusuf Salah al-Din ibn Ayyub (Saladin), a hero of the Islamic world, who widely known for regained Jerusalem in 1187. (And for screen-stealing the movie "Kingdom of Heaven"). The story was told through the eye of fictional Jewish writer named Ibn Yakub who was trusted as the sultan's personal biographer.

With the privilege from the Sultan, Ibn Yakub gain access to the palace, interviewing the sultan himself and even some of his trusted associates. Along the way, Ibn Yakub further gain Sultan's trust and even become close friend with the Sultan.

The book described Saladin as a modest leader, he wears modest clothing and eat very simple food. He was also portrayed as being a peaceful and religiously tolerant conqueror, his conquest of cities often said to be non violence and mostly through a diplomatic solution. The Christians and Jews are free to practice religion under his rule. All in contrast of the Christian crusaders who was depicted as monstrous and barbaric.

Some group of readers might have some issue with some edgy content in the book. It contains some fair amount of sexual content and also make casual remarks on homosexuality in that era. I'm not sure if it's for the sake of authenticity or just so to appeal to modern readers. Some issue of feminism also brought up, especially in the form of Sultan's wife, Jamila, who was portrayed as having a "dangerous mind" because she study and reads a lot.

I would say that I enjoy the book a lot. Despite it's serious historical content, it contains a high value of entertainment that makes the reading really engaging and enjoyable. I was again captivated by how civilized and progressive the Islamic world is at that time. It made me even more curious about the classical literature from middle eastern world which I hope to be even more accessible to English readers.

[Rabbia Riaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

KiOne thing about biographical fictions is that the protagonists dies at the end.Before reading this book I read the reviews about it and most of them were spoilers.But I continued to read this fiction.The first thing that attracted me was its first person narration who is a Jew. The writer has selected the Jew narrator to show the unbiased viewpoint of his own.The background of Muslims is presented very suplendid and actually it was!
The title is confusing as in start it does not seem to be the biography of Saladin rather I thought that it must be titled as "A Little Time With Saladin".
At start the reader remains confused as there is double plot with the shift of past into present and vice versa.Plus starting chapters seems to be the history of wars fought by the ancestors of Saladin.
Death of Saladin's uncle Shirkuh is the first saddening thing in this fiction.There is no suspense in the work as every chapter name suggests what does it contain.The last half of the book is full of tragedies like Shahdi's story,Ibn e Maymun involved with narrator's wife plus its effect on rest of the life of Ibn e Yakub the narrator,Shahdi's death and its effect,story of Jamila and Halima and the tragedy that fell upon narrator's family.
First half of the chapters have major theme of Adultery that teens have must enjoyed lol.

Video Review available on
https://youtu.be/1C0jS7CHAz0

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

663rd - 2011

Novel ini berupa narasi seorang juru tulis (fiktif) dari Sultan Saladin, yang mendapat tugas untuk menuliskan kisah hidup sang Sultan. Kisahnya dimulai beberapa tahun sebelum pertempuran Hattin dan perebutan Yerusalem, dan diakhiri dengan surat-surat sang juru tulis kepada sahabatnya mengenai serpihan peristiwa seputar Perang Salib III dan wafatnya sang Sultan.

Sebelum membaca buku ini aku sudah khatam serial medan laga Osprey mengenai Perang Hattin dan Perang Salib I s/d III terbitan KPG (serta Kartun Riwayat Peradaban-nya Larry Gonnick dan buku-buku Perang Salib lainnya), jadi boleh dibilang punya sedikit gambaran teknis dan historis mengenai hal-hal yang menjadi latar belakang novel ini. Yang membedakan buku ini dari buku-buku referensi di atas, buku ini mengupas kehidupan pribadi sang Sultan, termasuk kehidupan orang-orang di sekelilingnya.

Namanya novel sejarah, tentu mencampuradukkan fakta dan fiksi. Mengingat fakta-fakta dalam buku sejarah saja belum tentu benar adanya, jadi tak usahlah kita repot-repot memikirkan apakah hal-hal yang tidak tercantum dalam buku sejarah itu benar-benar terjadi atau hanya kreativitas penulisnya. Tugas kita sebagai pembaca adalah menikmati jalan cerita yang disajikan.