رسالة: T-S Ar.37.154

الوصف

Letter addressed to R. Peraḥya ha-Rav ha-Gadol. Mainly in Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Maybe Ayyubid or Mamluk-era based on the hand and formulae, but this should be confirmed. The letter is extremely deferential. The sender thanks Sitt Ḍiyāʾ for inviting the children to come stay with her and uses the rest of the letter to explain why they were unable to do so and to profusely apologize for declining the invitation. The main explanation is given in r14–18 and v4–6, but it is tricky to understand. "What prevented them from coming, God knows, is the fear for the deliverance (khalāṣ; childbirth? recovery from illness?) of the women, as they have not yet met with anybody and have not gone down to the synagogue. The ones who warned them about this were their family and the 'father' and master Waliyy al-Dawla, who warned them not to go down, fearing lest.... When this occurred (=the invitation from Sitt Ḍiyāʾ), the master Waliyy al-Dawla sent and cautioned them against the words (=gossip) of people about them, and they refrained for that reason." It seems that "the women" (al-nisāʾ) are the same as the "children" (al-ṣighār) who were invited by Sitt Ḍiyāʾ. Maybe they are pregnant (or sick?), and the news isn't public yet. ASE