'One day soon I want to make all the Muslim people stop
fighting each other. We must work together to take Jerusalem
back from the Franks. Palestine isn’t their land after all.
Nothing is more important than this, and we must all fight to
make it happen!'
Now Yusuf wanted to fight the Franks too. It was wrong
that they held the holy places. He also understood that Franks
sometimes made friends with some Muslims and together they
fought against other Muslims and took their houses, land and
animals. Nothing was safe. It was also very hard for Muslims to
go on pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah. The road was too
dangerous because of all the Frankish castles near it.
‘I must get into Nuradin’s army! But how can I do it when
Uncle Shirkuh thinks that I’m too weak? I’ll have to learn clever
ways to win against stronger men. I know that the Franks are
good fighters. Their horses are bigger, their soldiers wear a lot of
armour, and they have many castles. But I know that we’ll win
if we work together and make good plans.’
From that day, he borrowed a horse and learned to use his
sword day and night when he wasn’t working for Nuradin