His name is Shamsaddin Abu Abbas Ahmad son of Ibrahim son of the people of Erbil Shafi'i.
He was born in 1187 AD in Erbil.
He completed his religious studies there and left Erbil in 1205 AD for Aleppo. Then he went to Syria and stayed there for four years.
He then went to Egypt and became a teacher at the school (Al-Fakhriyya), then returned to Syria and became the chief judge, but as a result of a revolution initiated by the governor, he was arrested and released two weeks later.
In Syria, he published his famous book entitled (Death of the Visible and the Prophecies of Time) which has been translated into several languages and has done a great service to the history of the region.
He wrote several other books on jurisprudence and meaning, and some poems that express the beauty of nature.
Ibn Khalakan died in 1260 at the age of 73 and was buried on Mount Qasyun in Damascus.
The scholar and historian Ibn Khalakan had a very good knowledge of jurisprudence, principles and Arabic language. He was well versed in the Shafi'i school of thought and his fatwas showed that he constantly looked at it.
Ibn Khalakan was a friend of books and gave all his money and property to books. Early in his life he wanted to become a poet, so he wrote a lot of poetry.
In addition, Ibn Khalakan was a historian and the owner of the book “Wafiyat al-A'yan and the prophecies of the sons of time” which he wrote in 672 AH, but until 680 AH he continued to add information.
Ibn Khalakan translated a great historical book called “Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh” by his teacher Ibn 'Asir.[1]