The Tale of a Scholar’s Sacrifice — Ayatollah Marʿashī Najafī’s Gift to Knowledge

Among the most moving stories from the life of Āyatollāh Shāhāb al-Dīn al-Marʿashī al-Najafī (d. 1990) is a moment of quiet sacrifice that has inspired generations of students and scholars.

In his youth, Ayatollah Marʿashī was deeply committed to preserving the rare manuscripts of Islamic heritage. He believed that if the treasures of Shi‘i scholarship were not collected and protected, they would vanish with time. Yet, he lived in such poverty that he could barely afford daily necessities. On one occasion, he found a precious handwritten manuscript, an old Shi‘i text that he had been searching for. The seller demanded a high price. Ayatollah Marʿashī had no money to pay. So, he made a decision: For an entire year, he refrained from eating breakfast.

Instead, he saved those meagre funds bit by bit, until he was able to purchase the manuscript and preserve it for future generations. He added it to what would become one of the greatest private Islamic libraries in the world, the Marʿashī Library in Qum, which today houses hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, many of which would have been lost without his dedication.

But what made this sacrifice even more powerful was that he never boasted of it. It only came to light when someone asked why he used to collapse from weakness in his younger days.

This story reminds us that true service to Islam is not always grand or public—sometimes it is the quiet, daily sacrifices made in devotion to knowledge, legacy, and the love of Ahlulbayt (as) that carry the greatest weight with Allah.

Ayatollah Marʿashī Najafī left behind not just books—but a legacy of sincerity, struggle, and the value of seeking knowledge at any cost.