Biography of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī—may Allah have mercy on him—(1)

His Name and Lineage
Abū al-Faḍl Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Maḥmūd, popularly known as Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, an Egyptian Shāfiʿī.

Birth
He was born in Shaʿbān of the year 773 AH in Egypt. Orphaned at an early age, he nevertheless memorized the Quran, al-ʿUmda, al-ʿIrāqī’s Alfiyya, al-Ḥāwī al-Ṣaghīr, the Mukhtaṣar of Ibn al-Ḥājib, and other works—all before reaching nine years of age.

His Travels and Most Prominent Teachers
He devoted both his time and his wealth to the pursuit of knowledge, travelling frequently for that purpose. Within Egypt he studied with its leading scholars; he also journeyed to the Ḥijāz, Yemen, Syria, Aleppo, and other regions.