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Ayyubid Dynasty (1171-1260 CE)

This dynasty was established by Saladin (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn) following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate (see below).

  • Maḥmūd Diyāb’s (1932 – 1983, Egypt) play Bāb al-Futūḥ (‘Conquest Gate’, 1971). While the play is set in the age of the historical character Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, it centers on a different person: Usāmah Ibn Yaʿqūb. Usāmah is a young man fleeing from Andalusia who wants to present his revolutionary ideas to Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, but Ṣalāḥ’s personal historian rejects him. Usāmah still attracts a group of followers, but eventually falls into the authority’s hands and faces execution. The victory of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn shows to benefit only the rich, and Ṣalāḥ as a leader is detached from the people he leads. The play can be read as an allegory of the dramatic 1967 defeat / al-Naksah (reference).

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