Scholarship on State document: T-S AS 150.3

Recto

(1)Your slaves, the Jewish community, the su[bjects] of your noble highness and of [gracious] Islam 

(3-5) kiss the earth and report that they are [in] terrible dis[tress]. Ever since ʿAbd Laṭīf the physician took office as head over them, he has undermined the principles 

(6) of their religion and matters having to do with their faith. He has declared permissible that 

(7) which is forbidden in their religion and [declared forbidden] that which is 

(8) permitted, and (done) other things that cannot be mentioned except 

(9) at the appropriate time. He sold a large portion 

(10) of their pious foundation properties and leased (others) below their value,

(11) in order to obtain a sum as advanced payment for several years. He introduced a chan[ge] 

(12) in their customs by farming out the income from synagogues 

(13) and houses, with the result that they have been left in a forlorn state. 

(14-15) In addition, there occurred what occurred on account of what was found inscribed on the minbar—for which, at the very least, he should have been reproved and removed from office. Your sl(aves) have been subjected to fiscal penalties 

(16) of thousands of dinars during his regime 

(17) through his wrongdoing, lack of knowledge and judgement, 

(18) and his great ignorance and inel[oque]nce regard[ing] 

(19-21) everything. The lords, the chief qāḍīs, may God the exalted honour them, and the (other) qāḍīs are well aware of his lack of ability and of the fact that he is un[fit] 

(22) to speak on behalf of a community of the protected people. 

(23) He has surrounded himself with young Jewish auxiliaries, 

(24) whose counsel he follows and who give him 

(25) destructive and improper advice. That is why

(26) he has got the name of extortionist and [highway] robber. 

(27) He is [n]o[t] able to restrain them, because he fears them 

(28) on account of what they know about his bad deeds and transgress[ions]. 

(29) And he is not competent. His gang has evill[y] 

(30) confiscated property of Jews, plundered them, 

(31) and illegally squandered their belongings. 

(32) Because of him, ruination has befallen us. 

(33) Moreover, a discussion took place among the lords, the qadis, because of him, namely, because of his defiance in 

Margin

proceeding with the matter of the synagogues without having legal authority to justify himself with. In addition, for every litigation he takes from us an arbitrary lump sum of money. 

Verso

(1)Harm has befallen all the communities because of 

(2) his wrongdoing. Even the Christians have had wrongdoing perpetrated against them 

(3) because of him, and [considerable] harm has come to them. 

(4-5)Since the day when the minbars were destroyed, the three communities have been forced to pay in fiscal penalties more than f[our] 

(6) thou[s]and dinars, and they do not kno[w] 

(7) to whom it is given nor how much. And there is no 

(8-9) gain from the penalties collected by him, other than that we are exposed to public view. We are unable to count up 

(10) all his harmful acts but rather to give only a brief summary of 

(11-13) the matter. We have already perished and died, and our souls and money have [van]ish[ed]. Our concern and aim, for the sake of God, is the [improvement of the] 

(14) situation of your sl(aves) and his dismissal from [the headship] 

(15) and the restoration of their venerable head to them. 

(16) We subjects are m[iserab]le, broke[n] 

(17-18) hearted, and poor. Your slaves have informed you about this, intending that [the] qāḍī, 

(19) may God honour him, would indicate to them wha[t] 

(20) he will do, out of his bounty and for the sake of God the exalted, 

(21) so that this wrongdoing may be re[m]oved from them, 

Margin

Furthermore, a group is prepared to testify against him that he was one of those who ascended the minbar.