Letter: Moss. Ia,26.2

recto

1. …
2. May He show them (?) [. . .!]
3. [M]ay our masters, most distinguished of our community, be granted much [blessing and well-being from Him Who makes] 
4. peace in His high places and from those who go up and down on [the stairway… Beth-]El 
5. and from the holy Torah, which is the Torah of Jekuthiel and from the Torah (!) and afte[r] 
6. that from your brothers and friends and servants! And you are the pride of the whole community 
7. who are from the city of Ṣanʿa who live in the city of Dhū Jibla, and of the whole community 
8. who are from the town of Shabʿān \\and al-Thāri// who live in Dhū Jibla, large and small, 
9. old and young, distinguished and lowly. 
10. Know, our masters—may our God protect you!—that your servants and friends are well in al[l] 
11. our limbs/and from all our sides/thanks to the benevolent care/of our God for us/and His mercy, which 
12. has helped us/and has not left us./We will therefore give thanks and magnify His name, as it is written, “I will thank You, Lord, in the congregation,” 
13. etc., and it is written, “May His name be exalted above every blessing and praise!” We have received the excellent letter 
14. of our masters, and we rejoiced in it as one rejoices at reaping time and as one exults when dividing 
15. spoils, and as one who obtains great spoils. That letter was the most gladdening letter 
16. that arrived, and the most pleasing epistle that came. We, your servants, understood what you, our masters, mentioned
17. concerning the letters that had been received by his great and holy excellency, our lord and master, our lord Maḍmūn, Prince of
18. Princ[es, H]ead of the Congregations, son of his honor, great and holy master and lord Japheth—may his soul be bound up in the bond of life!—from R.
19. ʿIwāḍ and R. Ab[u ʾl-]Faraj and R. Ḥasan ha-Kohanim, children of [his honor, great and holy] master and lord, the late
20. Jacob ha-Kohen, may he r[est in] P[aradise]! It was said in their letters (approximately) that their late father had [entrusted] with the deceased,
21. our lord and master Bundār, may he be resurrected, a deposit, such as for a business deal, and it was recorded in [his books].
22. And you, our lords, mentioned that their father had come down after the passing of our lord, the late Bundār—may the Lord have mercy on
23. him!—to his excellency, our lord his brother Maḍmūn, and that the late Sheikh Jacob ha-Kohen, had searched
24. the account books that had belonged to our lord, the late Bundār, as stated by the sons of the late Jacob, \\our master//, and he found
25. what he had mentioned, and that our lord Maḍmūn had written him a writ (in his own hand) concerning that, and that witnesses had testified to him,
26. and that the writ and the testimony had been left with them by their late father. And we also understood
27. that our lord Maḍmūn had read their letters to him concerning this, and sent them an answer,
28. saying: If they have \\a writ// and testimony against him, let one of them bring that writ 
29. and that testimony and sue him (Maḍmūn) according to the laws of Israel, and he will give them what is owed them. And you, our lords, mentioned that they
30. had sent him an answer, in which there were many things that had distressed our lord Maḍmūn
31. and annoyed and angered him. Afterwards, we your servants, were over- whelmed by 
32. intense [regret] concerning that correspondence and the [affront…]
33. on the lord Maḍ[mūn [. . .]