Letter: Bodl. MS heb. a 3/19

recto

1. [...] will come with him [...]
2. My lord inquired about Zikrī b. Abu ʾl-Faraj of Tripoli.
3. He arrived in complete safety, sold, bought, finished his affairs,
4. and returned home in the same year. Sheikh Nahray b. ʿAllān arrived with him, carrying 
5. a power of attorney from the son of Nissīm b. Benāyā. Zikrī of Tripoli,
6. too, had a power of attorney from the families of the two Maghrebis, who perished
7. in the boat of Jaʿfar. I took notice of the two writs.
8. The two dead men had deposited with me 140 Malikī dinars.
9. With this sum they bought two bales of lac, containing 1,000 pounds,
10. for 113 dinars, the expenses {alt. tr.: toll} for these two bales being 13 dinars. They bought Qaṣṣī fabrics for 14 dinars
11. to cover the expenses of the customs in ʿAydhāb and the freight for the way through the desert. This makes a total of
12. 140 dinars. The two attorneys agreed to put
13. this shipment into the hand of Abraham, son of the Reliable Claimant, in order,
14. God willing, to carry it to Fustat together with my merchandise.
15. When all of them are in Fustat, the two attorneys will go to court,
16. and each one’s right on this shipment will be established and he then will take it. {Alt. tr.: the two attorneys will litigate the case, and whoever’s claim is established will take it.} 
17. Here in Aden there is no one who could decide this matter or (even) who knows the situation.
18. I took a writ of release from each of them and no longer have any responsibility with regard to this.
19. I also gave two bahārs (sacks) of lac
20. to Zikrī of Tripoli, as a gift to the family of al-Nafūsī in Tripoli,
21. for I have heard that they are very poor. I believe this
22. was the right thing to do. After asking God,
23. the Exalted, for guidance, I, your servant, constructed a boat in Aden and sent goods in {alt. tr.: and outfitted} it
24. to Ceylon in partnership with the most illustrious Sheikh Bilāl. Of our coreligionists these traveled in it:
25. Sālim, the son of the cantor, Ibn Ḥidāda (‘of the art of smithing’), and al-Baṭīṭī (‘maker of slippers’), and the goldsmith,
26. who had arrived here in his company, and the two goldsmiths, who came this
27. year, Abū ʿAlī and the Maghrebi. All these traveled
28. in the boat. May God ordain their safe arrival! Again I, your servant,
29. asked God, the Exalted, for guidance and sent with the most illustrious Sheikh
30. Nahray b. ʿAllān and with Sheikh Abraham b.
31. Abu ʾl-Ḥasan, known as son of the Reliable Claimant, and through
32. both, in partnership with the most illustrious Sheikh Bilāl b. Jarīr
33. al-Awḥadī sixty bales of lac, weighing 100 bahārs, and {add: for
34. the tolls in ʿAydhāb, customs and freight}, eight bales of pepper, to be sold
35. in ʿAydhāb for customs expenses {alt. tr.: tolls} and freight, and also 100 Qaṣṣī
36. thawbs (robes) for customs in Sawākin and other places. All this
37. belongs to the partnership. I, your servant, am asking you now, relying on
38. your acts of kindness, when this shipment arrives safely, God willing,
39. to kindly take delivery of one-half of the aforementioned bales and sell them
40. for me for whatever price God apportions as livelihood. After
41. the price is agreed upon {lit., ‘it becomes a specific amount of money’}, turn everything into gold
42. and silver—nothing else—and distribute it among {alt. tr.: divide it between}
43. various merchants, coreligionists, or others, if they are known
44. as reliable, and send it on. Leave some money in the hand of Abraham, son of the Reliable Claimant,
45. and if he {add: the aforementioned Abraham} has need for it, give him a loan of
46. 100 mithqāls, from which he might derive profit.
47. Buy for him what he wishes, and let me know
48. in your letter what you have bought for him.
49. I also ordered him to buy for me a wickerwork basket with china: bowls, dishes,
50. and cups {alt. tr.: copper vessels for wine}, also for four mithqāls good rose marmalade, such as one prepares
51. for the household. I gave him {alt. tr.: I wrote and sent with him} a memorandum. Please have him act
52. accordingly. Also sent with them, exclusively for me, your servant,
53. sixty bags of Sēlī (Ceylon) cinnamon, each bag weighing 100 pounds, which makes a total of
54. twenty bahārs. Kindly take delivery of one-half of this, too,
55. and sell it for your servant for whatever price God, the Exalted, apportions.
56. Please keep the account for this apart, since it is exclusively for me, your servant.