Najm al-Din Ayyub

al-Malik al-Afdal Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb ibn Shādhi ibn Marwān (Arabic: الملك ألأفضل نجم الدين أيوب بن شاذي بن مروان, Kurdish: نەجمەدین ئەییووبی شادی مەڕوان, romanized: Necmeddin Eyûbî Şadî Meřiwan; died August 9, 1173), or simply Najmadin, was a Kurdish[1] mercenary and politician from Dvin,[2] and the father of Saladin.

He participated in a battle against the Seljuk Sultan near Tikrit and saved Zengi's life when he assisted his retreat across the Tigris.

In 1136, Shirkuh killed a Christian with whom he was quarrelling with in Tikrit, and the brothers were exiled (Ayyub's son Yusuf, later known as Saladin, was supposedly born the night they left).

Saladin offered the vizierate to him, but he refused, and instead was granted Alexandria, Damietta, and al-Buhayrah as personal fiefs.

According to Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad, Ayyub was "a noble, generous man, mild and of excellent character."

Ibn al-Qalanisi calls him "a man of resolution, intelligence and knowledge of affairs", who prudently handed over Baalbek to a superior force in return for rewards and honours.