An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior in the Period of the Crusades

USAMAH IN EGYPT 33
Al-?afir then invested him [Sayf-al-Din ibn-al-Sallar] with the
robes of the vizierate, giving him the title
al-Malik al-'Adil [the
equitable ruler]. Ibn-al-Sallar had full charge of affairs. Nevertheless,
al-£afir cherished aversion and repugnance toward him and
secretly entertained evil toward him.
The Fdtimite caliph conspires to kill his vizier. — Al-£afir now
planned to put al-'Adil to death. He concerted with a group of
young men from his special bodyguard, together with others whom
he won over to the scheme by distributing money among them,
that they attack al-'Adil in his home and put him to death. This
was in the month of Ramadan. 19 The conspirators convened in a
house adjoining that of al-'Adil, waiting for midnight and the
dispersion of his companions. That night I was staying with
him.
When his guests were done with the supper and dispersed,
al-'Adil, having been informed of the conspiracy by someone who
had taken part in it, summoned two of his attendants and ordered
that an attack be made immediately upon the conspirators in the
house where they were assembled.
This house, since it was Allah's
will that some be spared, had two doors: one near the home of
al-'Adil, and the other far off. One of the detachments made the
assault from the near-by door before the other detachment had
arrived at the second door. The conspirators were put to flight
and escaped through that door. Of those who escaped, some ten
men belonging to the special guard [of al-Hafiz]], being friends of
The town awoke the
my attendants, came to me seeking refuge.
second morning to find itself
the scene of a thorough search for
the fugitives — every one of them who was caught was executed.
Usamah saves a fugitive negro. — One of the amazing things
which I witnessed that day was the case of a Sudanese who had
been a party to the conspiracy and who sought refuge at the top
of my house, pursued by a few men with swords in their hands.
He looked down from that considerable elevation to the courtyard
where was a huge lote tree, jumped from the roof to that tree and
perched on it. Then he descended and entered through an adjacent
passage into the sitting room. As he entered, he tr-'pped
over a brass candlestick and broke it, but kept on until he got
u January, 1130 A.D.