Second:
His Name and Lineage
He is the authoritative ḥāfiẓ, the foremost exegete, the reliable traditionist, the objective historian, and the jurist of ready command: ʿImād al-Dīn Abū al-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kathīr ibn Ḍawʾ ibn Dirʿ (1), al-Qurashī, al-Ḥaṣlī, al-Busrawī, al-Dimashqī, al-Shāfiʿī—widely known as Ibn Kathīr.

He is “al-Qurashī” because the Banī Ḥaṣla trace their lineage to the noble tribe of Quraysh and possess written genealogies. Shaykh Abū al-Ḥajjāj Jamāl al-Dīn al-Mizzī examined part of that pedigree, was pleased and delighted by it, and thereafter began to record Ibn Kathīr’s name with the designation “al-Qurashī.” (2)

He is “al-Busrawī” because his father was from Busra, an ancient Syrian town belonging administratively to Damascus, situated in the south-east of present-day Syria. It is the second city after Darʿā in the Ḥawrān region and lies about 137 km from Damascus.

Finally, he is “al-Dimashqī,” for he lived in Damascus, grew up there, and there he died and was buried.