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Ismail ibn Kathir (1301–1373) was a Muslim Muhaddith (narrator), Faq h, Mufassir, and Historian who lived from 1301 to 1373. Signs Before the Day of Judgment was his book. His Tafsir, which is universally regarded as authoritative, is likewise highly recognised. In the year 701 A.H., he was born in Mijdal, a town on the outskirts of the city of Busra, east of Damascus, and was instructed by Ibn Taymiyya.Al-Mizzi, Ibn Qayyim, Al-Dhahabi, Ibn Al Firkah, Isa bin Al-Mutim, Ahmed bin Abi-Talib, Ibn Al-Hajjar, Baha Ad-Din Al-Qasim bin Muzaffar bin Asakir, Ibn Ash-Shirazi, Ishaq bin Yahya Al-Ammuddi, Zahriyyah Shaykh, and Muhammad bin Zarrad. Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of heresy. Thereafter he received various semi-official appointments, culminating in June/July 1366 with a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus. Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the Qur'an named Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Adhim which linked certain Hadith, or sayings of Muhammad, and sayings of the sahaba to verses of the Qur'an, in explanation. Tafsir ibn Kathir is famous all over the Muslirm world, and among Muslims in the Western world is one of the most widely used explanations of the Qur'an today.