Letter: T-S 18J3.3

Description

Letter probably from Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, probably in Fustat, to his paternal aunt (Umm Dāʾūd) and paternal uncle (Abū Manṣūr), probably in Alexandria. He says he (and possibly other family members) are pained on behalf of Abū Zikrī, and they weep and fast on his behalf. He asks to be sent some sea squill (ʿunṣul) because he is perishing from a boil or some other skin lesion (ḥabba). As for Sitt al-Yumn, she continues to send (? tawaṣṣalat fī tasyīr) the bath clogs (qabqāb), and he wishes he could repay her adequately but is unable to travel to Alexandria because of the capitation tax, though he does wish to (leave Fustat and?) be closer to al-Shām. He urges his paternal aunt and her daughter—probably the same Sitt al-Yumn mentioned previously and the same Sitt al-Yumn whom Shelomo is known to have wooed unsuccessfully from T-S 13J18.22, CUL Add.3343 and T-S 13J34.9—to come stay with him. He cannot bear separation from her. "My uncle Bū Manṣūr, she is your daughter, and I am your son! Whatever you see fit that should be done, do it." He adds a postscript saying that he has been approached by four different distinguished families this very week alone (presumably with wedding offers), "and if you do not come, you will hear about one of them, and you will regret it, and you will make me regret it, for I yearn for you (pl.) and seek you (pl.)." (Information in part from CUDL.) ASE