The brother of Saladin who inherited and consolidated the Ayyubid empire — an able administrator and diplomat known to the Crusaders as Saphadin.
Life
Al-Adil (reigned 1200–1218), the younger brother of Saladin, served as his general and governor before securing the Ayyubid sultanate for himself after a struggle among Saladin's heirs. A shrewd administrator and diplomat, he stabilized and unified the empire across Egypt, Syria, and the Jazira, and preferred negotiated truces with the Crusader states to open war. He died in 1218 as the Fifth Crusade attacked Egypt.