, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. al-Ḥusayn, one of the most celebrated theologians and exegetists of Islam, born in 543/1149 (or perhaps 544) at Rayy. His father, Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn Abu ’l-Ḳāsim, was a preacher ( k̲h̲aṭīb ) in his native town, from whose name comes his son’s appellation, Ibn al-K̲h̲aṭīb. He was also conversant with kalām and, among other works, wrote the G̲h̲āyat al-marām , in which he showed himself a warm partisan of al-As̲h̲ʿarī. Al-Subkī who gives him a brief review ( Ṭabaḳāt al-S̲h̲āfiʿiyya , iv, 285-6) names among the list of his masters…