 Although still nominally a vassal of Nur al @-@ Din , Saladin adopted an increasingly independent foreign policy . This independence became more publicly pronounced after Nur al @-@ Din 's death in 1174 . Thereafter , Saladin set out to conquer Syria from the Zengids , and on November 23 he was welcomed in Damascus by the governor of the city . By 1175 , he had taken control of Hama and Homs , but failed to take Aleppo after besieging it . Control of Homs was handed to the descendants of Shirkuh in 1179 and Hama was given to Saladin 's nephew , al @-@ Muzaffar Umar . Saladin 's successes alarmed Emir Saif al @-@ Din of Mosul , the head of the Zengids at the time , who regarded Syria as his family 's estate and was angered that it was being usurped by a former servant of Nur al @-@ Din . He mustered an army to confront Saladin near Hama . Although heavily outnumbered , Saladin and his veteran soldiers decisively defeated the Zengids . After his victory , he proclaimed himself king and suppressed the name of as @-@ Salih Ismail al @-@ Malik ( Nur al @-@ Din 's adolescent son ) in Friday prayers and Islamic coinage , replacing it with his own name . The Abbasid caliph , al @-@ <unk> , graciously welcomed Saladin 's assumption of power and gave him the title of " Sultan of Egypt and Syria " . 
