Editing Saladin (section)

===Conquest of Damascus===
In the early summer of 1174, Nur ad-Din was mustering an army, sending summons to Mosul, [[Diyar Bakr]], and the [[al-Jazira, Mesopotamia|Jazira]] in an apparent preparation of an attack against Saladin's Egypt. The Ayyubids held a council upon the revelation of these preparations to discuss the possible threat and Saladin collected his own troops outside Cairo. On 15 May, Nur ad-Din died after falling ill the previous week and his power was handed to his eleven-year-old son [[as-Salih Ismail al-Malik]]. His death left Saladin with political independence and in a letter to as-Salih, he promised to "act as a sword" against his enemies and referred to the death of his father as an "earthquake shock".{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|pp=73–74}}

In the wake of Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin faced a difficult decision; he could move his army against the Crusaders from Egypt or wait until invited by as-Salih in Syria to come to his aid and launch a war from there. He could also take it upon himself to annex Syria before it could possibly fall into the hands of a rival, but he feared that attacking a land that formerly belonged to his master—forbidden in the Islamic principles in which he believed—could portray him as hypocritical, thus making him unsuitable for leading the war against the Crusaders. Saladin saw that in order to acquire Syria, he needed either an invitation from as-Salih or to warn him that potential anarchy could give rise to danger from the Crusaders.{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|pp=74–75}}

When as-Salih was removed to Aleppo in August, Gumushtigin, the emir of the city and a captain of Nur ad-Din's veterans assumed guardianship over him. The emir prepared to unseat all his rivals in Syria and the Jazira, beginning with Damascus. In this emergency, the emir of Damascus appealed to [[Ghazi II Saif ud-Din|Saif ad-Din]] of Mosul (a cousin of Gumushtigin) for assistance against Aleppo, but he refused, forcing the Syrians to request the aid of Saladin, who complied.{{sfn|Lane-Poole|1906|p=136}} Saladin rode across the desert with 700 picked horsemen, passing through al-Kerak then reaching [[Bosra]]. According to his own account, was joined by "emirs, soldiers, and Bedouins—the emotions of their hearts to be seen on their faces."{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|p=81}} On 23 November, he arrived in Damascus amid general acclamation and rested at his father's old home there, until the gates of the [[Citadel of Damascus]],{{sfn|Lane-Poole|1906|p=136}} whose commander Raihan initially refused to surrender, were opened to Saladin four days later, after a brief siege by his brother [[Tughtakin ibn Ayyub]].{{sfn|Lyons|Jackson|1982|p=83}} He installed himself in the castle and received the homage and salutations of the inhabitants.{{sfn|Lane-Poole|1906}}