To understand the crusades from the perspectives of the Muslims in the Middle East, the historian needs to mine a variety of Arabic sources written in the crusader period and subsequent centuries. The majority of these sources were produced in greater Syria (Bilād al-Shām), north-western Mesopotamia (al-Jazīra) and Egypt. They provide not only eyewitness and contemporary accounts on chronology and details of events, but also reflect first-hand testimonies about the variety of Muslim responses to and interactions with the Franks that ranged from amity to animosity. Added to this is the contextualisation of the crusades in the broader sweep of Islamic history. As such, the historian is able to see not only the dynamics between Franks and Muslims, but also those among Muslims and sometimes among Franks in the wider setting of other events occurring in different parts of the Muslim world and the Eastern Mediterranean. This contextualisation is important because events elsewhere affected the region directly or indirectly, factored in the strategies and approaches of the various Muslim and Frankish actors and camps, and impacted relations between them.