الرحلةThe Journey

نور الدين محمود زنكي

Nur al-Din Zangi (RH)

Nur al-Din Mahmud Zangi

Also known as: Nur ad-Din, Nuruddin Zanki, Nureddin

511–569 AH · 1118–1174 CE

Reigned 1146–1174 CE

Rulers

Ruler of Syria who united it against the Crusaders and founded madrasas, a hospital and the first Dar al-Hadith.

Nur al-Din succeeded his father Zangi at Aleppo in 1146 and in 1154 took Damascus, uniting Muslim Syria against the Crusader states. He sent his commander Shirkuh, with Shirkuh's nephew Salah al-Din, to Egypt, preparing the way for its union with Syria.

He was famed for his justice and piety. He abolished unlawful taxes and founded many madrasas, the great hospital of Damascus (al-Bimaristan al-Nuri), and the first Dar al-Hadith, a school devoted to the study of hadith, where the historian Ibn 'Asakir taught.

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Life journey

  1. 1118 CE Aleppo (Halab) حلب
    His birthplace is not recorded; he grew up at his father Zangi's court and ruled from Aleppo from 1146.
  2. 1154 CE Damascus دمشق
    Died 1174 CE · 569 AH
    Took Damascus in 1154 and made it his capital; died and was buried there.

Places in their life

The courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
The courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

  • Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh
  • Abu Shama, Kitab al-Rawdatayn
  • Carole Hillenbrand, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives (1999)
Draft, awaiting scholarly review.
His birthplace is not recorded; the light is shown at Aleppo from his birth.