Letter: ENA 3925.5

Description

Verso: Letter in Arabic script, in a book hand. Opens with two verses of poetry, then probably a taqbīl ([... al-a]rḍ), then greetings for the noble addressee (...al-sāmī al-ajall al-mawlā ??? abqāhu Allāh taʿālā...), then a report (wa-yunhī) that God sent health to the sender after an illness and ophthalmia (ramad) which lasted 20 days (...Allāh taʿālā manna bi-l-ʿāfiya fa-taṣṣarafa bi-hā baʿd ʿashrīn yawman...). The sender seems to be thanking the addressee for his generosity in helping him in this period of illness, "for he (the addressee) has never been stingy toward a sick person" (...maʿa kawnih lam yabkhal qaṭṭ ʿalā marīḍ...). Further down, mentions "the distress is severe, and from country to country, the excuse is plain...." Then a judge called al-qāḍī al-ajall ʿAlam al-Dīn.