Aleppo – 1163
Yusuf was twenty-five, and still working for his uncle, when
news came of trouble in Egypt. Vizier Shawar wanted Nuradin’s
help to keep the country out of the hands of his enemies. He
promised to give a lot of money to the Syrians to make them
come, but it was only when Amalric, the Frankish King of
Jerusalem, decided to move into Egypt that Nuradin began to
think about sending his army. ‘The Franks mustn’t get to Cairo
and use the money that they find there to make their armies in
the Holy Land stronger,’ he said.
Yusuf worked hard for months to get the soldiers ready for
the long journey to Egypt. There was a lot to do and General
Shirkuh was always busy. He spoke to Yusuf only to give him
more work and more difficult problems to put right. The young
man worried that he couldn’t go on the campaign, but he
worked as hard as possible to make ready all that the army
needed. The days went by and still Yusuf heard nothing about
going. He knew that the army was leaving in less than a week.
‘My uncle will leave me behind, and I’ll spend the rest of my
life counting swords and paying soldiers!’ he thought sadly