‘We also need a new commander,’ the Syrian generals said.
It was difficult. The Egyptians wanted one of their people
as vizier and commander of their army, and Nuradin’s men
couldn’t work for someone from anywhere but Syria.
‘I know,’ said someone, ‘Let’s make Yusuf the new vizier. He’s
only thirty, and knows nothing about ruling a country. We’ll tell
him what to do, and he’ll do it!’ Many agreed that Yusuf was the
right man for the job, and so he became both vizier of Egypt and
commander of the Syrian and Egyptian armies.
Not everyone was happy to see Yusuf in this important job.
A few soldiers went to Syria to tell Nuradin that the new vizier,
Yusuf, wanted to take over Egypt. Nuradin was angry. So, to
show that he was loyal to his old commander, Yusuf went with
the Caliph and the people to pray for Nuradin every Friday.
When his brother Turan Shah arrived from Syria, Yusuf
told him, ‘It’s not easy here
but, thank God, I learned
the law from Nuradin, and
how to organize armies from
my uncle because we have
enemies everywhere – not
just the Franks!’
Yusuf was right. One day,
one of his soldiers saw that
one of the Caliph’s men was
wearing very strange shoes
on his feet when he left the
Caliph’s great house. Inside
one of these shoes was a secret
letter which Yusuf opened
and read.