Legal document: T-S 18J1.4

Translated by Amir Ashur and Benjamin M. Outhwaite.

It happened that we, the witnesses who have signed below, on Sunday, 18th of Marḥeshvan, of the year 1318 of the Era of Documents [1006 CE], entered the home of Matsliaḥ the elder, son of al-Ḥasan, who is known as Ibn al-Ṣabāb, and we found him ill, lying on the bed, with his mind settled and his tongue and speech ordered like that of other people who might go about their business in the marketplace. And he instructed us with respect to his [impending] death, saying:

“Know, my brothers, it is apparent to me that I am about to go the way of all the earth, and I have authorized this, my will, for R. Shemariah, my son, and made him a trustee, equivalent to two reliable witnesses, and I hereby release him from any oath or covenant, general ban or explicit pronouncement, and none of my heirs or any others should dispute with him, nor contest or argue against him concerning all that is written in this will, and no one should interfere in anything he shall do. And this is what my son, this R. Shemariah, should do: he should take care of his two sisters, Jamīl and Qurrat al-‘Ayn, and their marriages and dowries, in accordance with the instructions I have given him. And I have also instructed him to give my wife Rachel—the mother of these aforementioned daughters of mine, who is the mother of my son Japheth, known as Abū ’l-Surrī—200 gold mu‘iziyya [Fātimid dinar] coins, large, [in] good [shape], and weighed, if she does not marry another man, without an oath, general ban, or explicit pronouncement. And if she wants to get married, then she will be given the amount stated in her ketubah, that is 50 golden mu‘iziyya coins, good and weighed, without an oath, general ban, or explicit pronouncement, and she is made exempt by me and by my heirs after my death, from any oath or ban. And my son, this Japheth, shall be under the jurisdiction of his brother, this R. Shemariah, and under his instruction and orders; he should not deviate from him, either to the right nor to the left, until my son, this Shemariah, sees in Japheth his brother that he is able to conduct negotiations, and that it is fitting to give him his share of the inheritance. Then R. Shemariah, his brother, should give him his share as he deserves. And my son, this R. Shemariah, is a trustee in the share that is given to him, and neither he, nor any other person, is permitted to dispute with him, deceive him, or pursue a claim against him, nor an oath nor a ban, nor subject him to any mistreatment in the world. I’ve also instructed this R. Shemariah, my son, to . . . Abū Maymūn . . . Wahab ibn Sukayr, known as [ibn H]ilāl.”