Saladin faced a threat to his assassins

Early in the summer of 1174, Nur ad-Din was assembling an army and reportedly preparing an assault on Saladin's Egypt by sending summonses to Mosul, Diyar Bakr, and the Jazira. Upon learning of these preparations, the Ayyubids convened a council to assess the potential threat, and Saladin gathered his own forces outside of Cairo. After becoming unwell the previous week, Nur ad-Din passed away on May 15 and as-Salih Ismail al-Malik, his eleven-year-old son, took over as-Salih Ismail al-leadership. Malik's Saladin gained political independence after his death, and in a letter to as-Salih, he made a vow to "act as a sword" against his adversaries and described his father's passing as a "earthquake shock."

Saladin was threatened while he was quietly ruling in the year 1175. This was an Ismaili division known as "the Assassins," under the command of Rashid ad-Din Sinan. Saladin became convinced that a murderous conspiracy was being carried out as a result of a number of occurrences.

While he was sleeping in his tent, a poisoned knife was discovered nearby. On another occasion, two assassins dressed as soldiers stabbed him with a dagger, leaving him with serious injuries. Saladin's soldiers discovered the assassins' headquarters and threatened to destroy their fort in order to put an end to these threats. An agreement for peace was suggested once the warning was taken seriously. Saladin and Sinan signed the pact, establishing cordial ties between the two.