Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn ibn Ghaylān, Sharaf al-Dīn, Abū Muḥammad, a Ḥanbalī from Baalbek, d. 730 AH:
Ibn Kathīr completed his memorization of the Qur’an under him in 711 AH. He said of him:
“ He heard ḥadīth and transmitted them; he used to teach Qur’an at the two ends of the day, and it was with him that I finished the Qur’an. He was one of the great righteous men, a devout and chosen worshipper.” ¹

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf, Shams al-Dīn, Abū Muḥammad al-Maqdisī, known as Ibn al-ʿAfīf, d. 737 AH:
Ibn Kathīr read to him many ḥadīth fascicles and said:
“I read with him in the year 733 AH, on our return from Jerusalem, numerous parts and selected traditions. He was the father of our companion Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf, one of the muftis of the Ḥanbalīs and others, and a man renowned for goodness and piety.” ²
He died on Thursday, 22 Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, in Nablus, where he was buried. The people greatly lamented his passing. May Allah Most High have mercy on him.

al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, ʿIlm al-Dīn, Abū Muḥammad al-Barzalī, originally from Seville and later of Damascus, d. 739 AH:
From him Ibn Kathīr studied history, and he said:
“This is the last event recorded by our shaykh, the ḥadīth master ʿIlm al-Dīn al-Barzalī, in the continuation he composed to the Chronicle of Shihāb al-Dīn Abū Shāmah al-Maqdisī. I have appended to his chronicle events up to our own time, finishing my selection from his work on Wednesday, 20 Jumādā al-Ākhirah 751 AH.”
He died in 739 AH while in a state of iḥrām; he was washed, shrouded, and his head left uncovered. The people carried his bier while weeping around it—it was a memorable day. He passed away at the age of seventy-four. ³

Yūsuf ibn al-Zakī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Abū al-Ḥajjāj al-Mizzī, d. 742 AH:
Ibn Kathīr kept close company with this eminent shaykh, audited most of his writings, graduated under him, read with him Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, and studied his work Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmāʾ al-Rijāl—his name is listed in the certificates of audition. He even became his son-in-law, marrying his daughter Zaynab, and thus sat near him in his study circles and was close to him in