A Medieval Muslim Scholar’s Legacy : Ibn Ṭāwūs and the Afterlife of his Library

Abstract

This article presents an endowment note as the only surviving material trace from the famous library of the Shiʿite scholar ʿAlī b. Mūsā Ibn Ṭāwūs (589/1193–664/1266). This note offers new insights into the books he possessed and adds clarity about the legal framework under which it was passed on to Ibn Ṭāwūs’ descendants. The article also traces the further history of this manuscript through Damascus to Istanbul and discusses strategies for tracking these notes, which were often willfully destroyed.