Imam Abu Shamah Abdur Rahman Al-Maqdisi Rahimahullah wrote about Sultan Nuruddin Zangi Rahimahullah:
In times of war, he was the first to fight and he used to say, “I fought many battles and wished to be a martyr but I did not obtain my wish.” On hearing him, Imam Qutb Ad-Din An-Naysaburi told him, “I adjure you in the name of Allah not to risk your life, Islam and the Muslims- for you are their backbone. Were you to be killed in a battle. the Muslims would be murdered and their lands would be invaded.”
Nuruddin Zangi Rahimahullah replied, “What is all this about? Who am I to be considered so important? There is The One Who saved Islam and its lands before me; it is the Almighty and there is no god but He .”
(Noble Dynasties, The History of Nuruddin and Salahuddin, English, p.17)
Saheehus-Seerah 