Abu al-Fiḍā 'Imād Ad-Din Ismā'īl ibn' Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī Al-Damishqī (إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير القرشي الدمشقي أبو الفداء عماد الدين; c. 1300- 1373), da aka sani da Ibn Kathir, ya kasance fitaccen masanin tarihin larabawa, masani kuma masani a zamanin Mamluk a Siriya. Masanin Tafsiri (Tafsirin Alkur'ani) da Fiqhu (fikihu), ya rubuta litattafai da dama, ciki har da tarihin duniya mai girma goma sha huɗu mai taken Al-Bidaya wa ' l-Nihaya. Cikakken sunansa shine Abul Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn marmar ibn Kaṯīr (أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير) kuma yana da laqabin (epithet) na Imad ad-Dīn (عماد الدين "ginshiƙin imani"). Iyalinsa sun samo asali daga asalin kabilar Quraishawa. An haife shi a Mijdal, wani ƙauye da ke wajen birnin Busra, a gabashin Damascus, Siriya, wajen kimanin AH 701 (AD 1300/1). Ibn Taymiyyah da Al-Dhahabi ne suka karantar da shi. Bayan kammala karatunsa ya sami nadinsa na farko a hukumance a cikin 1341, lokacin da ya shiga kwamitin bincike da aka kafa don tantance wasu tambayoyi na bidi'a.