The historian Yaacov Lev sums up the state of Egypt as "The Sick Man on the Nile". The weakness of the Isma'ili Fatimid regime was noticed by its Sunni rivals, the Abbasids of Baghdad: in 1154, the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtafi () issued a diploma appointing the Zengid ruler of Syria, Nur al-Din (), as the nominal ruler of Egypt.
Egypt is described by historian Yaacov Lev as "The Sick Man on the Nile". The vulnerabilities of the Isma'ili Fatimid government were recognized by its Sunni adversaries, the Abbasids of Baghdad: in 1154, the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtafi () issued a decree appointing the Zengid ruler of Syria, Nur al-Din (), as the nominal ruler of Egypt.