Kamal al-Din al-Damiri

Kamal al-Din al-Damiri (1341–1405) was a Shafi'i Sunni scholar of Cairo, trained in jurisprudence, hadith and theology at al-Azhar. After working in his father's sewing shop in his youth, he taught at al-Azhar and other Cairo schools.

Known as an ascetic Sufi, he made the pilgrimage to Mecca more than six times. Around 1371 he completed the Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā, the first systematic Arabic work on zoology, combining animal lore with law, proverbs and medicine.