Islamic historiography

Al-Tabari (839-923) was the most important historian and Quranic exegete of the early Islamic period. His annalistic History and his vast commentary on the Quran preserved earlier scholarship that would otherwise be lost, and both remain foundational sources.

Ibn Kathir (c. 1300-1373) was a Shafi'i scholar of Mamluk Damascus whose commentary on the Quran and universal history became two of the most widely read works in Sunni Islam. He studied under al-Mizzi, al-Dhahabi and Ibn Taymiyya.