Wikipedia's first sentence called it “muhammad ibn ahmad ibn `uthman ibn qaymaz”. Today it says “syrian sunni muslim historian”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
(Imam) Dhahabi (Introduction) is Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn `Uthman ibn Qaymaz, Abu `Abdullah Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi, the great Shafi`i hadith master (hafiz) and historian of Islam, born in Damascus in 673/1274. Of Turkoman origin, he first studied in Damascus and then travelled to Cairo and other cities in pursuit of Sacred Knowledge. He authored nearly a hundred works, some of them of considerable size, like his twenty-three volume Siyar a`lam al-nubala' [The lives of noble figures], or his thirty-six volume Tarikh al-Islam al-kabir [Major history of Islam]. In addition to his mastery of hadith, he was also an Imam in canonical Koranic readings (qira'at) and textual criticism. He went blind about seven years before his death, and died in Damascus in 748/1348 (al-A`lam (y136), 5.326; Kitab al-kaba'ir (y36), 23-25; and Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-kubra (y128), 9.100). v t e1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17516849.
The opening as it stood in 2010 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn `Uthman ibn Qaymaz ibn `Abd Allah, Shams al-Din Abu `Abd Allah al-Turkmani al-Diyarbakri al-Fariqi al-Dimashqi al-Dhahabi al-Shafi`i ( ), known as Al-Dhahabi (1274–1348 ), a Shafi'i Muhaddith and historian of Islam .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 367112119.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn `Uthman ibn Qayyum `Abu `Abd Allah Shams ad-Din al-Dhahabi ( ), known as Al-Dhahabi (1274–1348 ), a Shafi'i Muhaddith and historian of Islam .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664426372.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī ( شمس الدين الذهبي ), also known as Shams ad-Dīn abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (October 1274 – 3 February 1348 ) was a Syrian Islamic historian and Hadith expert.The Archetypal Sunni Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of Al-Bajuri .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965094844.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Syrian Islamic historian and Hadith scholar (1274–1348) Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī ( شمس الدين الذهبي ), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348 ) was an Islamic historian and Hadith expert. The Archetypal Sunni Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of Al-Bajuri .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177889495.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Muslim historian and traditionist (1274–1348) Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī ( شمس الدين الذهبي ), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348 ) was an Athari theologian, Islamic historian and Hadith scholar. In fact, the prominent Shafi'ite Athari scholar Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi... : CS1 maint: location ( link ) B.Such as al-Dhahabī and Ibn Kathīr, both Shāfiʿīs.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1295138738. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “muhammad ibn ahmad ibn `uthman ibn qaymaz”. Today it says “syrian sunni muslim historian”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
muhammad ibn ahmad ibn `uthman ibn qaymaz
Now
syrian sunni muslim historian
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
