11 – The Merits of al-Shāfiʿī. His disciple al-Maqrīzī mentions the work in Durar al-ʿUqūd al-Farīd (1).
12 – The Merits of Ibn Taymiyyah. Ibn Kathīr refers to this project in al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya (16/215), in the biography of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH), where he writes: “We shall set aside a separate account for him, if Allah Most High wills.” He adds: “Many stand-alone biographies have already been devoted to him; a number of scholars and others have written on the subject. From the totality of these I shall distil a concise life sketch, highlighting his merits and virtues, his courage and generosity, his sincere counsel, his asceticism and worship, his numerous well-crafted branches of knowledge, his major and minor writings that encompass most disciplines, and his distinctive legal positions, which he supported with the Qur’an and the Sunnah and for which he issued fatwas.” We cannot be certain that Ibn Kathīr fulfilled this promise, and the biographical sources do not help us determine the matter.
13 – An Abridgment of al-Bayhaqī’s al-Madkhal ilā Kitāb al-Sunan. Ibn Kathīr cites it in the introduction to his epitome of Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ’s ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth (p. 29), saying: “I have likewise abridged al-Madkhal ilā Kitāb al-Sunan in the same manner, avoiding both undue brevity and undue prolixity.” This shows that the abridgment of al-Madkhal preceded his epitome of ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Razzāq Ḥamzah (p. 27) lists the work among those connected with Ikhtiṣār ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth.
14 – A Commentary on al-Tanbīh by Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī. Ibn Kathīr mentions it in al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya, under the entry for Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī (d. 476 AH) (13/212), calling it Sharḥ al-Tanbīh. Ibn Kathīr had memorised al-Tanbīh and retained it until his last days, as Ibn Ḥajar notes in al-Inbāh (1/46). He extracted the ḥadiths it contains and arranged them according to the chapters of fiqh, as noted earlier.
15 – The Sale of Ummhāt al-Awlād (Slave-Mothers). Ibn Kathīr refers to this in al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya (5/431) in the section on the Prophet’s concubines. When his bondwoman Marya bore him Ibrāhīm, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Her child has emancipated her.” Ibn Kathīr comments: “We have devoted a separate monograph to this issue—the sale of a slave-woman who has borne her master a child—in which we have set out the scholars’ positions, which amount to eight opinions, and have cited the evidence for each. Praise and thanks belong to Allah.”
16 – The Life of Mankalī Bughā al-Shamsī. Al-Sakhāwī records in al-Iʿlām bi-l-Tawbīkh liman Dhamm al-Tārīkh (p. 186): “Al-ʿImād Ibn Kathīr composed a separate biography of Mankalī Bughā entitled: Mā Yuntaqā wa-Yubtaghā fī Sīrat al-Muʿizz al-Sayfī Mankalī Bughā.” Mankalī Bughā was one of Sultan al-Nāṣir Ḥasan’s mamlūks and his deputy in Damascus (714–768 AH). Highly respected and intelligent, he spoke on several sciences and held Ibn Kathīr in esteem, honouring and consulting him. Mankalī Bughā died in Egypt in 774 AH.