As Saladin delighted in his victory at the battle of Hattin in early July 1187 he would have had few illusions as to the likely consequences of this seismic event. The destruction of the Frankish field army meant the Kingdom of Jerusalem lay open, and the capture of the Holy City itself, his primary target, became highly probable. He also knew that the response of Christian Europe would be formidable, in the event drawing in the crowned heads of Germany, France, and England, along with swathes of nobles and knights from across the Latin West.

Considerable attention tends – rightly – to be focused on the siege of Acre, which started in August 1189, and especially the stage that involved Philip Augustus and Richard the Lionheart from the summer of 1191 onwards. While this phase is manifestly important, this chapter will review the period prior to Acre, with the intention of offering, from Saladin's perspective, a fuller context for events in the Holy Land, and revealing how the sultan prepared for the imminent onslaught. While it will mostly consider episodes in and around the Holy Land and Syria, it will also try to understand the sultan's position vis-à-vis his wider empire; in other words, to remember that the Ayyubid confederation stretched from the Jazira, through Syria, Palestine, and Transjordan to Egypt, as well as Yemen. In conjunction with facing the crusade, therefore, Saladin had the responsibility of governing these territories. Given that some of these places had been brought under his authority by force, not all were guaranteed to be fully compliant. There were also neighbouring lands such as the Abbasid dominions centred on Baghdad, the Seljuk sultanate of Iraq and the Ildegüzids, the Seljuks of Iconium, the Danishmendids, numerous Turkmen and Kurdish tribes, the Byzantines, the Almohads of the Maghreb, and the Ethiopians, to name but several. Some of these might be supportive of the Ayyubids, some indifferent, others hostile; they might also, of course, shift allegiances as well.