Suhaylī Abū'l-Qāsim Abū Zayd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Khāṭib Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Khāṭib Abū ʿUmar b. Abī'l-Ḥasan Aṣbaġ b. Ḥusayn b. Saʿdūn b. Riḍwān b. Futūḥ al-Ḥasʿamī al-Suhaylī.
According to what Qāḍī Ibn Khallikān has related, Suhaylī had his genealogy written in this manner. Suhaylī’s attribution is to a village named Suhayl near Málaga. This is because the Suhayl star could only be seen on the summit of a high mountain in the Suhayl village near Málaga in those regions. The village of Suhayl is located within the land of the Maghrib.
Suhaylī was born in the year 508 of the Hijra. He studied the sciences of recitation (qirāʾāt). He engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. Ultimately, due to the strength of his intellect, the soundness of his mind, and the excellence of his compilations, he surpassed the people of his time. This was a grace and mercy bestowed upon him by Allah. Despite this, Suhaylī was a blind person. The work al-Rawḍ al-Unuf belongs to him. In this work, he has narrated beautiful subtleties regarding the sīra, such that the entirety or most of these subtleties had not previously been known by others. He also authored works such as al-Aʿlām fīmā Ubhima fī'l-Qurʾān mina'l-Asmāʾ al-Aʿlām, Kitāb Maṭāʿij al-Fikr, Masʾalatun fī'l-Farāʾiḍ Badīʿa, Masʾalatun fī Sirri Kawn al-Dajjāl al-Aʿwar. In addition, he has many other beneficial works and beautiful poems, written with artistry. He was a poor but chaste person. In the latter part of his life, he acquired a great deal of wealth through gifts bestowed upon him by the governor of Marrakesh. He passed away on Thursday, the twenty-sixth of Shaʿbān of this year. He has a qaṣīda in which he supplicated and implored Allah, hoping that his prayer would be answered. With this qaṣīda, he would show humility and supplication to his Lord:
"O You who see and hear all that is in the heart,
O You who prepares all that is to be,
O You to whom hope is attached in times of calamity,
O You to whom complaints and supplications are presented,
O You whose treasuries of provision are hidden in the word 'kun' (Be),
Bestow Your grace, for all good is with You.
I have no means to reach You except my poverty.
With supplication, I convey my poverty to You.
I have no recourse but to knock at Your door.
If I am to be turned away, to which door shall I turn?
O You whose name I mention in hope and from whom I seek aid,
If Your grace is withheld from Your poor servant,
Far be it from Your majesty,
You do not deprive even the disobedient of Your mercy.
Your grace is abundant, Your gifts are vast."