Al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: المقريزي, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, تقي الدين أحمد بن علي بن عبد القادر بن محمد المقريزي; 1364–1442)[7] was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer[8] during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fatimid era, and the earlier periods of Egyptian history.
[10] A direct student of Ibn Khaldun, al-Maqrīzī was born in Cairo to a family of Syrian origin that had recently relocated from Damascus.
[7][11] When he presents himself in his books he usually stops at the 10th forefather although he confessed to some of his close friends that he can trace his ancestry to al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh – first Fatimid caliph in Egypt and the founder of al-Qahirah – and even to Ali ibn Abi Talib.
However, his father also instructed al-Maqrizi not to reveal this information to anyone he could not trust; Walker concludes: In 1385, he went on the Islamic pilgrimage, the Hajj.
His learning was great, his observation accurate and his judgement good, but his books are largely compilations, and he does not always acknowledge the sources upon which he relied.