Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work

Raḍī al-Dī Ibn ṭāwūs (d. 664/1266 in Bagdad) was a major figure in the history of Shī‘ī thought. He published works on subjects ranging from tradition (ḥadīth) and polemics to history and astrology. Ibn ṭāwūs was an avid bibliophile, and his various writings contain remarkably detailed information about the books that he owned or read.Kohlberg's book is divided into two main parts. The first surveys the life, working methods and literary output of Ibn ṭāwūs and offers an extended analysis of his library. The second part is an annotated list of all the works (some 660 in number) cited by Ibn ṭāwūs in his available writings. About a third of these works (both Sunnī and Shī‘ī) are not extant, and even the existence of some of them has hitherto not been known. The works cover a wide range of subjects, including Qur’ānic exegesis, tradition, history, theology, astronomy and genealogy, and provides a detailed picture of the intellectual world of a medieval Muslim scholar.Prof. Kohlberg is a leading authority on Shī‘ism, and his monograph is an unusual and important contribution both to the history of Islam and to the history of Arabic literature and science.

'...einem wichtigen Schritt hin zu einer Kulturgeschichte des Buches in der islamischen Welt und ganz allgemein zu einer Geistesgeschichte der späten Abbasidenzeit...' P. Heine, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 1993. '...provides a detailed picture of the intellectual world of a medieval Muslim scholar...meticulously executed and carefully published...' Christian W. Troll, Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 1993. '...contribution remarquable et exemplaire...' Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques, 1992. 'Je tiens cette monographie pour très originale...mine de renseignements. On ne remerciera pas assez l'auteur d'avoir procuré aux chercheurs un tel instrument de travail.' Mohammed Arkoun, Arabica, 1993. '...one of the more important studies in the cultural and intellectual history of the medieval Islamic world to appear in recent years.' Lawrence I. Conrad, Der Islam, 1993. 'This book...is [a] magnificent piece of work. The author is the world's leading scholar in the field of early Shī'te thought and literature, and when he, after many years of research, publishes what looks like his complete datbase of Shī'te literature collected over the years, the only appropriate thing one can do is express gratitude.' G.H.A. Juynboll, Bibliotheca Orientalis, 1993. '...un travail [...] savant (et [...] impeccablement présenté).' Daniel Gimaret, Bulletin Critique des Annales Islamologiques, 1993.

Etan Kohlberg, Ph.D. (1971) Oxford University, is Professor of Arabic language and literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His publications deal mainly with Shī‘ī literature, doctrine and history. Studies include Immam and Community in the Pre-Ghayba Period, Aspects of Akhbārī Thought in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, and Western Studies of Shī‘a Islam.