Letter: T-S AS 154.376

Description

Letter probably from Yosef b. Yehuda b. Yosef b. Yaʿaqov, probably in Constantine, to a community or group of people, likely in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic with some Hebrew. The hand is Maghribī. (The first few lines of the letter are missing, and the first few lines preserved on recto are in a different hand than the main letter.) Dating: late 12th or early 13th century, based in part on the reference to the ruler of Bijāya Abū ʿAbdallāh Ibn Yūmūr (mentioned in literary works by Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Marrākushī (https://shamela.ws/book/17056/2241#p1) and al-Maqqarī al-Tilimsānī (https://shamela.ws/book/1002/808)). It is possible that the sender is the famous scholar Ibn ʿAqnīn himself, who was also a Yosef b. Yehuda b. Yosef b. Yaʿaqov and who was active in this period, but there is probably no way to prove this one way or another. The sender opens by reporting that he arrived safely in Constantine (or less likely Constantinople) with his family and son after much difficulty getting out of Bijāya, “It was like the exodus from Egypt, God did miracles for us, and we went out with a high hand." They got out thanks only to the intervention of the notables Abū Zakariyā and Abū ʿImrān the sons of Abū l-Ṭayyib Saʿdūn b. Farrāj, who brought the sender's case to Abū l-Faḍl b. ʿAliyy al-Nās(?), who in turn brought it to (the ruler) Abū ʿAbdallāh Ibn Yūmūr, who evidently allowed him to leave together with his family. He reports that on the day of his arrival in Constantine, he encountered [...] Yaʿaqov b. Yehuda b. Yaʿaqov Aghmātī [...], who is described as one of the greatest pupils of Yosef ha-Levi b. Meʾir Ibn Migash (d. 1141). (This Yaʿaqov b. Yehuda may be a relation (brother? grandfather?) of Zekharya b. Yehuda al-Aghmātī, who is known for his commentary on the Halakhot Rabbati of al-Fāsī which he composed in 1189/90 CE and in which he cites Ibn Migash as an authority; see Michael Wechsler, "Zechariah ben Judah al-Aghmāṭī," EIJW.) A few words are missing both before and after the name Yaʿaqov b. Yehuda b. Yaʿaqov Aghmātī, so it is possible that the sender did not meet him but rather a person associated with him (Zekharya himself?). The sender then describes the piety and worthiness of the person he encountered and states that “this ḥafīẓ of his arrived complaining of his straitened circumstances, as you will read about in the letter that is with him. He [is trying?] to bring his mother out of Fez.” The word ḥafīẓ is probably a variant of ḥafīd, meaning grandson or in some cases son (see Friedman, Dictionary, p. 292). A likely reconstruction is that Yaʿaqov b. Yehuda b. Yaʿaqov Aghmātī was the disciple of Ibn Migash, and the sender encountered his grandson, who is also a learned scholar. The remainder of the letter recommends this man for charity, “he can read (Torah) verses beautifully, and he shares the teachings of our rabbis, of blessed memory." The sender (or less likely merely the scribe) gives his name here ("your friend in God, Yosef b. Yehuda b. Yosef b. Yaʿaqov") and conveys greetings from his sons Yehuda and Yiṣḥaq. He adds that the bearer was given 30 dinars in Constantine and that the community would have given him even more were it not for the large numbers of needy people arriving there. The sum of 30 dinars is very large; he may be raising funds for the redemption of captives including his own mother. ASE