‘Help! Help! He’s going to kill me!’
Hearing the screams, Shirkuh ran through the dark streets of
the town. Suddenly he came around the corner of a building.
A soldier was holding a knife to a woman’s neck. Her eyes were
wild and afraid. Shirkuh didn’t stop to think. In a minute, the
two men were fighting for the knife. In another minute, the
soldier was dead, his blood bright red on the ground.
Late that night, Ayyub heard a soft knock at the door. It was his
brother Shirkuh asking for news.
‘The baby hasn’t come yet. The mother’s having a bad time.’
The father looked at his brother. ‘Why are you hurrying?’
‘Ayyub. I’ve just killed a man by mistake, but I was angry.’
‘Shirkuh! Why did you do this? It’ll be difficult for us here in
Tikrit. The man’s family will make trouble.’
‘I couldn’t stop myself. While I was coming home, a woman
called out for help. A soldier was going to kill her. I didn’t want
to hurt him. It was an accident. But now Governor Zengi says
that all our family must leave at once or we’ll be in danger.’
‘Oh, Shirkuh! You’re a fighter. You’re stronger than most men.
But when you’re angry, you stop thinking. It’s always been this
way, but I can’t leave until the child arrives.’
Just then they heard a cry. Ayyub hurried away to the women’s
side of the house. ‘What news?’ he asked his sister.
‘Good news, thank God! The child is born. But look at him.
He’s very small and weak. I don’t think that he’ll live through
the night. The mother too is very ill,’ she said.
‘There’s nothing to be done. We must go now!’ Ayyub held his
new son. ‘I’ll call you Yusuf because you must find a new life
away from where you were born, like the Prophet Yusuf did in
Egypt long, long ago.’
Baalbek – 1145
‘Please, please tell us the story again! Please!’ The three brothers
were with their father, Ayyub, in the garden of his fine house in
the old town. Turan Shah, the oldest boy, was next to his father.
Yusuf, now seven years old, held Al-Adil, the baby, in his arms
and sat as near as he could to listen.
Ayyub smiled and began:
Six years before our Yusuf here was born, I was near the river
Tigris catching some birds for your mother to cook for dinner.
Suddenly, I saw a man on the other side of the water. He was having
trouble running. He had blood all over his face and clothes, but he still
carried his sword. Behind him I could see many soldiers riding fast
horses. I thought quickly. Near me was a small fishing boat. I jumped
in and pushed it across the river with a long stick.
Just then, the soldiers started to get near the water. I called to the
man and helped him into the boat. I pushed the boat quickly into
the river while the soldiers started shooting at us. Arrows hit the
boat, but with God’s help we weren’t hurt! At last we got to the
other side. Dirty, wet and tired, we ran back home. Your mother and
sisters cooked us a wonderful meal that we enjoyed silently. The next
morning I learned the name of my guest. It was the great Zengi
himself! His army lost the battle the day before and all his soldiers
were dead or prisoners. He wanted to hurry back to Mosul to make
sure that the town was safe so I gave him new clothes and my best
horse. Riding away, he said, ‘I’ll never forget your help and will
always be a true friend to you and your family.’
‘What was the horse like, Father?’ asked Yusuf.
‘All you think about is horses, Yusuf,’ said Turan Shah.
‘He was the brother of the wind. It’s good to give with open
hands. Zengi has been our friend since then. I’m Governor of
Baalbek and we’re safe and comfortable here because of him.’
‘Yusuf! You must come now. It’s time to go to school.’
‘Oh, Al-Adil, I don’t want to go! Look at my horse, Aneed! I
don’t know why Turan Shah says that he’s bad. He’s going to be
very good at polo. He always knows what to do!’
The boy of fourteen rode quickly up to the ball with the stickThe old teacher looked up angrily when Yusuf hurried into the
room. He was very late. ‘You’ll have to stay this afternoon to do
all the work that you’ve missed, boy!’
Yusuf sat next to Turan Shah. ‘Where are we?’ he asked.
Turan Shah showed Yusuf the words in the holy Koran that
the boys were reading. ‘It’s the story of the Prophet Yusuf and
how his brothers left him in the desert because they didn’t like
him,’ he smiled, not very kindly.
‘Stop talking and learn!’ The teacher’s stick hit both boys. It
hurt. Turan Shah cried out, but Yusuf said nothing.
‘What am I going to do with you, Yusuf?’ said his father later
that day. ‘Your teacher tells me that you’re clever and quick to
learn, but that you’re never at school. I know that you’re always
with the horses, but you’re not a child any more. You must learn
to be a man and a soldier. I’m going to send you to my brother
Shirkuh. You know that now he’s an important general
working for Zengi’s son, Nuradin, up in Aleppo.’
‘Can I take Aneed with me?’
‘No! Since we came to Damascus you’ve only played. Now you
must work. Get ready. We leave in an hour.’
Chapter 2 – A chance to prove himself
Aleppo, Syria – 1152
Yusuf felt sad saying goodbye to his mother and sisters before
he left Damascus with his father. At first he was excited to be
starting a new life, but after four days of hard travel on hot dry
roads, he was worried. He asked himself over and over again,
‘Will I be a good soldier?’
‘Yusuf, look! That’s where you’ll live,’ his father said while
they rode through some small villages just outside Aleppo.
On a high hill in the middle of the town, the boy saw the tall
walls of the castle climb up towards the sky. They made Yusuf
feel very small and unimportant. The building looked like it was
growing even taller while he rode through the town towards it.
Yusuf wanted to go back home, but he knew that he couldn’t say
anything to his father. Ayyub rode up into the castle and Yusuf
followed silently. They found the general talking to his men in a
large room full of swords. Shirkuh was an ugly man, with only
one eye. No one could say that he looked like a general, but he
was brave and he knew everything about the best ways to fight
and win.
After the soldiers left, the general turned to the boy.
‘Well, Yusuf, are you sure that you want to be a soldier?’
‘I’ll do my best, Uncle.’
‘If you want to be one of my soldiers, you’ll do what I tell you.
Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Uncle.’
Shirkuh now turned to his brother.
‘Ayyub, I’ll take the boy, but only because you and I are
brothers. I don’t think that he’ll be a good fighter or a soldier,
but we’ll see. If he’s any trouble, he goes home – at once!’
Yusuf wanted to do well, but it was difficult. He tried hard to
learn. But he was still
small and weak and he
found the fighting hard.
His sword was heavy.
The other soldiers were
fast and strong. His uncle
was often angry.
‘Hey, Yusuf! You’ll
never be a soldier if you
fight like that! I can’t
use you as you are. Go
and try to understand
how the law works from
Governor Nuradin. I
don’t want to see you
here again until you can
do something better than
this! Work hard or you’ll
go back home.’
Yusuf did what his
uncle said. He thought,
‘I’ll never be a soldier.
What will my father say
if I have to go home? Learning the law is so boring, but Uncle
Shirkuh thinks I can’t do anything else. Oh, I want to be strong
like other boys!’
Now he stood for long hours in the governor’s rooms in
the castle watching people asking Nuradin for help. At first
everything was hard to understand, but soon Yusuf saw that
Nuradin was a great man. The governor always listened to
everybody – poor people, and women and children, too – not
just rich and strong men. The governor studied the law and
talked about difficult problems with wise men. He thought
about their words and took time to find the right answer.
After three months, the governor saw that Yusuf learned
quickly. People liked the boy because he was friendly to
everyone. His thin face usually looked sad when he was alone,
but when he spoke to people, he had a kind and happy smile.
He also always tried to help anyone with troubles. Nuradin
began to talk to the boy about the problems of the castle, the
town and the army. The governor also talked to Yusuf about
his great hope:
'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. He
wanted to show his uncle that he wasn’t just a good student of
law, but also a real soldier.
One day, Nuradin asked Yusuf to play polo with him. The
boy ran to find a horse. He was so excited, and he forgot about
everything – his uncle, the law, and even fighting the Franks!
They played inside the castle walls. Everyone watched Yusuf
and his horse following the ball closely, without a mistake.
Polo was like a battle, fast and dangerous. Many horses
fell, men were hurt, and one died when a horse ran