Letter: T-S NS 313.6

Description

Letter in the hand of Halfon b. Menashshe ha-Levi (ca. 1100–38 CE). Almost complete. Unclear if Ḥalfon himself is the sender; could be written on behalf of somebody else. The sender reports that he spoke on the addressee's behalf to Mubārak Ibn Diqlāṣ prior to the latter's travel to Yemen and there ensued a fight between them. It seems that the sender was unable to collect a debt due to lacking a power of attorney (ומא כאן בידי [וכאלה או?] חגה אסתעין בהא עליה). More recently he also spoke to Mubārak's brother Abū Naṣr and shamed him into offering 3 dinars, probably toward the same debt, but he chose not to accept this. Now that he has received the power of attorney from the addressee (ולמא כאן פי הדה אלאיאם וצלני כתאבך אלכרים ואלוכאלה ותסלמתהם) on Monday the 14th of Iyyar, he still can't act, as Mubārak is still away from Egypt. When Mubārak returns, he will take care of the matter. He reiterates for several lines that he is not being neglectful. Greetings from the sender's son Yosef Greetings to Asad and his brothers Ḥasan and Hiba. He asks the addressee to collect one dinar from the sum owed by Asad and purchase with it olive oil. He also tells him to tell Hiba b. Abū l-Khayr to send a letter to Baqāʾ, who recently returned from Yemen with great wealth (וצל מן אלימן בנעמה כבירה). AA/ASE