Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad

Baha al-Din Yusuf ibn Rafi ibn Shaddad was an accomplished Shafi'i jurist who served as military judge (qadi al-askar) in Saladin's army during the Third Crusade. Accompanying Saladin on major campaigns, including the Siege of Acre and the negotiations with Richard the Lionheart, he witnessed the decisive diplomatic and military turning points of the era firsthand.

His celebrated biography of the Sultan, Al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya wa-al-Mahasin al-Yusufiyya (The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin), is revered for its intimate, compassionate, yet remarkably objective eyewitness record. After Saladin's death, Baha al-Din served as supreme judge in Aleppo, where he founded colleges and fostered scholarship until his death at nearly ninety.