Martin Lings (1909–2005), also known as Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din, was an English writer, a student of Frithjof Schuon, and a renowned British Shakespearean scholar, with degrees in English and Arabic from London University and Oxford University. At Oxford, he studied English under C. S. Lewis, who later became a close friend. Lings taught at several European universities and the University of Cairo and served as the keeper of Oriental manuscripts for the British Museum and the British Library.

His friendship and similar beliefs with philosophers René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon inspired Lings to convert to Islam. He went on to become an influential member of Western Muslim society, participating in several international Islamic councils and conferences, including acting as a consultant to the World of Islam Festival Trust. He is the author of twelve books on religion and spirituality.

Martin Lings, formerly Keeper of Oriental Manuscript in the British Museum and the British Library, is the author of two works on Islamic mysticism, The Book of Certainty and A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century, both published by the Islamic Texts Society. His Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, also published by the Islamic Texts Society, has been internationally acclaimed as a masterpiece.