after his name. Thus the eldest of his children was Ismāʿīl, and the youngest and last of them was likewise Ismāʿīl. May God have mercy on those who have gone before and grant a blessed end to those who remain. (1)
No information has come down to us about the members of this family except for three: the eldest brother Ismāʿīl, born to the first wife; the youngest brother Ismāʿīl—the well-known scholar and historian; and a third brother, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, the senior son of the second wife and the author’s full brother. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb took upon himself the care of the household, moving them to Damascus in search of livelihood and further learning. Ibn Kathīr describes him as gentle and compassionate. Among ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s children a daughter rose to prominence: Sitt al-Quḍāt Umm ʿĪsā (730–801 AH), celebrated for her knowledge and religious learning. She received ijāzahs from al-Qāsim ibn ʿAsākir, al-Ḥajjār, ʿAlī al-Wānī, al-Mizzī, al-Sharaf ibn Ḥāfiẓ and others. Distinguished scholars heard from her, and she granted an ijāzah to Ibn Ḥajar among those she authorized. (2)
As for the household Ibn Kathīr founded in Damascus, he chose a righteous wife and was blessed with dutiful children. They are:
[His Wife]
Amat al-Raḥīm Zaynab, daughter of Shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn al-Mizzī (d. 742 AH), who had been Ibn Kathīr’s teacher in ḥadīth. In al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah he does not record the date of their marriage; he merely cites her name and notes that she memorized the Qur’an together with her mother, Umm Fāṭimah ʿĀʾishah bint Ibrāhīm ibn Ṣiddīq, under the tutelage of the devout shaykha Umm Zaynab Fāṭimah bint ʿAbbās, who helped many women complete the Qur’an and died in 714 AH. Zaynab also auditioned numerous fascicles and lengthy works from her father, among them Tadhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmāʾ al-Rijāl, where her name appears among those who heard the book directly from its author. Ibn Kathīr records his mother-in-law’s death in 741 AH, and he transmits from his wife Zaynab the account of the passing of her father, Shaykh Abū al-Ḥajjāj al-Mizzī—may God have mercy on him. (3)(4)(5)
[His Children]
- ʿUmar, his eldest son. Ibn Ḥajar writes in his biography: “He devoted himself to jurisprudence, copied his father’s writings, served several times as muḥtasib, supervised endowments, taught in various places, and lived forty-five years, passing away in Rajab 783 AH.” (6)