Salah al-Din served with his uncle, Shirkuh, under Nur al-Din Zangi. At the age of 31 he was made Commander of Syrian forces and Chief Minister of Egypt and in 1186 assumed sole rule of all Egypt and Muslim Syria. Salah al-Din sent his brother, Turan Shah, with an army into al-Hijaz which he conquered along with Yemen. He now turned to the Christians. He first attacked Tiberias and took it on 1 July, 1187. Crusaders with a large army came to meet him. He fell on them with .such a fury that he cut them to pieces and captured the King of Jerusalem

Salah al-Din, however, killed, with his won sword, Reginald of Chittilon, a treacherous Christian nobleman, who had broken his words to Salah al-Din, again and again, ill treated Muslims, looted caravans of pilgrims and molested the innocents and the weak. The Muslim troops advanced rapidly, winning a decisive victory at the battle of Hattin, captured Jerusalem, together with a number of other Crusading outposts. Jerusalem was taken by Muslims after 88 years. The fall of Jerusalem made a tremendous impact on both Islam and Christendom. From Europe it brought the Third Crusade, and a mighty but vain effort to recover what had been lost. After hard fighting and protracted negotiations, the two sides came to terms on 2-3 September, 1192. The peace recognized Salah al-Din's gains. All Palestine, save a coastal strip, was now Muslim, the Crusaders reserving only the right of unarmed pilgrimage to the holy places. Salah al-Din died in 1193 in Damascus.