Book: Siyar A'lam An-Nubala by Ad-Dhahabi - سير أعلام النبلاء ـ الإمام الذهبي

Mas'ud ibn Abdullah al-Aghzazi, the Virtuous Qur'anic Reader

"He taught me the entire Qur'an, after which I completed approximately forty recitations under his tutelage. He informed me that he studied with Abu Amr under Sheikh Zain al-Din al-Zawawi. He was a pious and humble man, who guided many students. He served as the Imam of the mosque in al-Shaghour. He passed away in the year 620 AH (1223 AD) at the age of eighty-six."

This was the scholarly environment in which Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi was nurtured, grew, and from which he drew his strength.

Al-Dhahabi's Pursuit of Knowledge

Al-Dhahabi began his pursuit of knowledge at the age of twelve, focusing on the study of recitations.

He stated in "Mu'jam Shuyukhihi al-Kabir" (1/135) about his teacher of recitations: Ibrahim ibn Dawud ibn Zafir ibn Rabee'ah, our Sheikh Jamal al-Din Abu Ishaaq al-Asqalani, who later became known as al-Dimashqi al-Fadili al-Shafi'i, was the Sheikh of Qur'anic reciters.

He was born in Safar in the year 622 AH (1125 AD) and studied under Ibn al-Zubaydi, Ibn al-Latti, and al-Arbili, among others. He accompanied Sheikh 'Ilm al-Din al-Sakhawi for a period and completed the seven recitations under him, benefiting greatly from his guidance. He took on the teaching of recitations at the Salihiyya tomb after Ibn Abi Zahran, then suffered a stroke and continued teaching at his home. I, along with Ibn Budhan, Ibn Ghudeir, and Shams al-Din al-Zanjabili, visited him in the year 691 AH (1291 AD). Each of us began the grand gathering — which includes the seven recitations — and I completed with him up to the end of the tales. He authorized my narrations and recited several poems, including the Nuniyya of al-Sakhawi. I heard portions of the explanation of al-Shatibiyyah from him, based on his listening to al-Sakhawi.

He also studied the grand gathering under his teacher, Ibrahim ibn Ghali ibn Shawar al-Badawi al-Himyari al-Shafi'i, who passed away in the year 708 AH, as mentioned in "Mu'jam Shuyukhihi al-Kabir" (1/148-149).

Additionally, he studied the seven recitations under his teacher Abu Abdullah ibn Jibril al-Misri. Al-Hafiz al-Husseini stated in "Dhail Tadhkirat al-Huffaz" (p. 36): "He compiled the seven recitations under Sheikh Abu Abdullah ibn Jibril al-Misri, residing in Damascus, and read a comprehensive recitation method based on the methods of the seven reciters, as included in 'al-Taysir' by Abu Amr al-Dani and 'Hirz al-Amani' by Abu al-Qasim al-Shatibi."

By the time Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi was not yet twenty, he had become a scholar in the recitations, and he was authorized...