Kingdom Of Heaven - 20th Century Fox
Saladin, son of a high-ranking Kurdish officer in Nur al-Din's army, was an Arab by culture, language and inclination. Born in Tikrit, Iraq, in 1138, he was called Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Yusuf son of Ayyub) but later assumed the additional name of Salah al-Din (Rectifier of the Faith). From these beginnings, he became one of the few Muslims of the times famous enough to win a westernized version of their names. The crusaders, and later all of Europe, shortened Salah al-Din to Saladin—the name under which he was later romanticized in the West in countless poems and legends.

Although Saladin had all the wealth of Egypt and Syria at his disposal, the trappings of power had no attraction for him. When he became supreme ruler of Egypt after the death of the Fatimid caliph, for instance, he preferred a small simple house to the caliph's fabulous palace (4,000 rooms, a 120,000-volume library and sackfuls of jewels). Knowing that others liked ostentation, however, he gave away most of the contents of the palace.

Saladin, a character from the Kingdom of Heaven movie, is based on the historic figure, Saladin, the 12th century Kurdish Muslim military general who found the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria. Salah ad-Din means the Righteousness of the Faith. Saladin was famous in both the Christian and Muslim worlds for his leadership and military skill tempered by his courtesy and compassionate nature during the Crusades.