Taqi al-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim Ibn Taymiyyah al-Harrani, together with a brief mention of some of his merits and writings—may Allah be pleased with him; compiled by the shaykh, imam, and ḥāfiẓ Shams al-Din Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Maqdisi—may Allah continue to spread the benefit of his works.’

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (1) relates: ‘Al-Mizzi said, “I never met him without learning something from him.”’ A similar statement from al-Dhahabi will follow.

2 – Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH):
He, too, was one of his teachers. He said (2): ‘An outstanding jurist, a skilful Qur’an-reciter, a ḥadith scholar and ḥāfiẓ, an accomplished grammarian, a man of many sciences.’

He also said: ‘He has heard a great deal, devoted himself to the disciplines of ḥadith and the study of its transmitters; his mind is keen, and he has memorised a number of works, produced compositions and useful notes. He copied from me and I benefited from him. May Allah reform him and grant him happiness.’

And he said (3): ‘The unmatched imam and ḥāfiẓ, master of many fields, Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi … he focused on narrators and hidden defects, excelled, collected (knowledge) and assumed a leading role in teaching and pursuing Qur’an recitation, ḥadith, fiqh, uṣūl, and grammar. He possesses broad learning and a fluently productive mind.’