Ibn al-Sam'ani

Ibn al-Sam'ani (1113 to 1166), full name Abu Sad Abd al-Karim ibn Abi Bakr Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Muzaffar Mansur al-Tamimi al-Marwazi al-Shafii al-Samani and nicknamed Taj al-Islam and Qiwam al-Din, was an Arab Muslim scholar of biography, history, hadith, Shafii jurisprudence and scriptural exegesis. A native of Merv in Central Asia, his education began at age two under his father and uncles, and he travelled widely in search of learning. He composed more than fifty works, many now lost; his magnum opus, Kitab al-Ansab, is a vast biographical dictionary of scholars with more than ten thousand entries. According to Ibn al-Subki, he was considered the second greatest hadith scholar of his time, after his companion and teacher Ibn Asakir.