Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti () ( 1445–1505 CE), or Al-Suyuti, was an Egyptian Sunni ascetic polymath. Considered the Mujtahid and Mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century. Foremost leading muhaddith, (hadith master) mufassir (Qu'ran exegete), faqīh (jurist), usuli (legal theorist), grammarian, linguist, rhetorician, historian and philologist, who authored works in virtually every Islamic science. He was described as one of the most prolific writers of the Middle Ages. Al-Suyuti wrote approximately one thousand works. His biographical dictionary Bughyat al-Wuʻāh fī Ṭabaqāt al-Lughawīyīn wa-al-Nuḥāh contains valuable accounts of prominent figures in the early development of Arabic philology. He was also an important authority of the Shafi'i school of thought (madhhab). Biography Early Life Al-Suyuti was born on 3 October 1445 AD (1 Rajab 849 AH) in Cairo, Egypt. He hailed from a Persian family on his paternal side. His mother was Circassian. According to al-Suyuti his ancestors came from al-Khudayriyya in Baghdad. His family moved to Asyut in Mamluk Egypt, hence the nisba "Al-Suyuti". His father taught Shafi'i law at the Mosque and Khanqah of Shaykhu in Cairo, but died when al-Suyuti was 5 or 6 years old. Education Al-Suyuti grew up in an orphanage in Cairo. He became a Ḥāfiẓ of the Qu'ran at the age of eight years, followed by studying the Shafi'i and Hanafi jurisprudence (fiqh), traditions (hadith), exegesis (tafsir), theology, history, rhetoric, philosophy, philology, arithmetic, timekeeping (miqat) and medicine. He then dedicated his entire life to master the Sacred Sciences under approximately 150 sheikhs. Among them were renowned scholars who were the leading scholars of each sacred Islamic science of their time. Shaykh al-Islam Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam, a leading Hanafi faqih and polymath of his era. Shaykh al-Islam Siraj al-Din Omar al-Balqini, a leading Shafi'i faqih of his era and the son of the highly celebrated scholar, Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini. Shaykh al-Islam Sharaf al-Din Al-Munawi, a renowned muhaddith (whose great-grandson 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munawi would write a famous commentary on Al-Suyuti's Al-Jami' as-Saghir). Taqi al-Din al-Shamani, a hadith expert and a leading professor of the Arabic sciences. Jalal al-Din Al-Mahalli, a leading mufassir and a leading specialist in the principles of the law of his time who authored along with Al-Suyuti, one of the most famous tafsirs entitled Tafsir al-Jalalayn. Shams al-Din Al-Sakhawi, a leading muhaddith of his era and foremost student of Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani Shihab al-Din As-Sharmisahi, a famous Hanafi scholar of his time. Sayf al-Din Qasim ibn