State document: T-S Ar.42.134 + T-S Ar.49.151 + T-S Ar.42.156

Description

State document, Fatimid period. Letter of a Fatimid dāʿī addressed to a chief qāḍī to congratulate him on a new honor the caliph had bestowed on him — presumably his appointment to the office of chief qāḍī. Were he not prevented by some impediment, he writes, he would have congratulated him in person, since he owes much to the addressee's noble family for the benefactions he has received from the addressee's grandfather and father, both of whom were chief qāḍīs. The name of the caliph is too faded to read, but Stern guesses it was al-Ẓāhir li-iʿzāz dīn allāh based on the length of the space in which case the chief qāḍī was Qāsim b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Muḥammad b. al-Nuʿmān, appointed in 418H. The writer also refers to an innovation he had made in the routine of his office: there used to be two assemblies, and in one, someone did something (the context is difficult to grasp) in the presence of the believers (Ismāʿīlīs). Appears also to mention the Dʿāʾim of al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān. Another meeting took place on Fridays in the jāmiʿ. The innovation the writer introduced was to have a third session on Friday after the service in each of the main mosques (probably ʿAmr in Fustat, Azhar, and Anwar/al-Ḥākim). If he received any majālis, he would read them out, according to custom. (Information from S. M. Stern, "Cairo as a Centre of the Ismaili Movement" at n. 16.) Reused on recto for Hebrew biblical verses.