Saladin was one of those strange and superior beings who, by their qualities and by their very defects, make a strong impression upon the imaginations of men, whether friends or foes.
His Mussulman fanaticism was quite as impassioned as the Christian fanaticism of the most ardent crusaders.

When he heard that Reginald of Chatillon, Lord of Karat, on the confines of Palestine and Arabia, had all but succeeded in an attempt to go and pillage the Caaba and the tomb of Mahomet, he wrote to his brother Malek-Adhel, at that time governor of Egypt, "The infidels have violated the home and the cradle of Islamism; they have profaned our sanctuary.

Did we not prevent a like insult (which God forbid!) we should render ourselves guilty in the eyes of God and the eyes of men.

Purge we, therefore, our land from these men who dishonor it; purge we the very air from the air they breathe." He commanded that all the Christians who could possibly be captured on this occasion should be put to death; and many were taken to Mecca, where the Mussulman pilgrims immolated them instead of the sheep and lambs they were accustomed to sacrifice.

The expulsion of the Christians from Palestine was Saladin's great idea and unwavering passion; and he severely chid the Mussulmans for their soft-heartedness in the struggle.
"Behold these Christians," he wrote to the Khalif of Bagdad, "how they come crowding in! How emulously they press on! They are continually receiving fresh re-enforcements more numerous than the waves of the sea, and to us more bitter than its brackish waters.