authored by the shaykh, the Imām, the eminent scholar; the matchless ḥadith-master and independent jurist; the ascetic worshipper and exemplar; the Imām of the imams, paragon of the community; master of the scholars and heir to the prophets; the last of the mujtahids, unrivalled among the scholars of the religion; the blessing of Islam, the conclusive proof against the great, the decisive argument for the theologians; the one who silences innovators, revives the Sunnah, and through whom Allah has bestowed upon us a magnificent favor (1), by whom the case is established against His enemies, and through whose blessing and guidance the clear path has become manifest—Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām Ibn Taymiyya al-Ḥarrānī. May Allah exalt his standard and, through him, reinforce the pillars of the religion.

What can those who try to describe him really say, when his qualities defy all enumeration?
⦗5⦘ He is an overwhelming proof from Allah, the marvel of the age in our midst. He is a manifest sign for creation, whose lights outshine the break of dawn.

At the end of this book I also found a certificate (2) in al-Dhahabī’s own handwriting, in which he states: “He heard the entirety of this book from its author—our shaykh, the Imām, the unique erudite scholar, Shaykh al-Islām, mufti of the various schools, exemplar of the ummah, wonder of the age, ocean of knowledge, commentator on the Qur’an, Taqī al-Dīn, master of the devotees: Abū al-ʿAbbās (3) Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām Ibn Taymiyya al-Ḥarrānī—may Allah have mercy on him.”