In his biographical notices he sometimes gives only a brief summary, following the particular source on which he is relying. In the final section of his chronicle, however, he altered the arrangement, so that from the year 738 AH onward he records the deaths together with the events.

Although Ibn Khallikān (1) was criticized for prolix entries on poets and overly concise ones on scholars, Ibn Kathīr was not entirely free of the same shortcoming: he devotes lengthy notices to al-Farazdaq (2), Abū Nuwās (3), and other poets.

7 – Strength and visibility of his own scholarly personality:
At the end of almost every report, Ibn Kathīr weighs the evidence and states a preferred view, or else refers the reader to his other writings—especially his works on Qur’anic exegesis, legal rulings, and biographical layers. He makes full use of his solid memorization and prodigious memory, and he ridicules fanciful, fabricated accounts. Thus he demonstrates that a ḥadīth (4) found only in al-Bukhārī places the Isrāʾ and Miʿrāj after the death of the Prophet’s uncle Abū Ṭālib and his wife Khadījah (may Allah be pleased with her), and that another ḥadīth (5)—claiming the moon once entered the sleeve of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—is an outright fabrication.