Saladin

📍Citadel of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

“I made the Citadel of Cairo my seat of power after I became Sultan of Egypt and Syria, commanding a view of the entire Nile valley. It was a fortress, yes, but also a palace and a centre of learning — I established schools of Islamic jurisprudence within its walls and welcomed scholars from across the Muslim world. When I rode into Jerusalem in 1187, I ordered that no Christian be harmed — I remembered what the Crusaders had done when they took the city eighty-eight years before, and I chose a different path.”

Sources: Lyons, M. & Jackson, D. Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War (1982), Cambridge University Press; Maalouf, A. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (1984), Saqi Books