Literary text: T-S Ar.37.74

Literary text T-S Ar.37.74

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In PGP since 2021

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Popular literature. In Judaeo-Arabic. The portion of the story on this fragment opens with the appearance of a healer before a king: "...and princes and viziers and generals. As for your question about my trade: I am a wise man (ḥakīm), an exorcist (muʿazzim), a physician the son of a physician (ṭabīb bin ṭabīb), I release madmen and madwomen (al-majnūn wa-l-majnūna), the delusional (al-mutahawwis)... and epileptics (al-maṣrūʿ wa-l-maṣrūʿa). I command the jinn, both the tribes that fly in the heavens and those submerged in the earth. This is my trade and my craft, this why I roam the climes and the lands." The king is glad to hear this, because a female slave of his recently lost her wits. The healer begins to investigate with his magical methods, and the king reveals that her madness began after he tried to sexually assault her, and she began striking and tearing at the clothes of anybody who came near her.