State document: St. Catherine, Atiya no. 962

[The order to issue the present decree was given by Abū l-Maymūn ʿAbd al-Majīd, son of the amir Abū l-Qāsim, Owner of the Homage of the Muslims (walī ʿahd al-Muslimīn), because his vizier,]

1. Protector of the Qāḍīs of the Muslims, Guide of the Dāʿīs of the Believers, Abū ʿAli Aḥmad, son of the Most Honoured 

2. and Most Excellent Lord, Commander of the Armies, may God support religion through him and gladden by his long life the Owner of 

3. the Homage of the Muslims, may He make his power last and enhance his prestige—he who covered the world by his careful administration 

4. with splendour and beauty, and poured out over all and sundry the heavy clouds of his bounty, and put 

5. affairs into the best order, and restored the traces of welfare and set them 

6. aright and regulated them—** had reported that a petition had been submitted to him, signed by ʿAbd al-Masīḥ,

7. agent of the property endowed upon Mount Sinai, and containing the following: ***Some treacherous

8. administrators have laid hands upon the aforementioned property and grasped the rents which

9. he used to collect and spend on the support of the monks who stay there,

10. the travellers who take refuge there, and passers-by, whether members of their religion or not, who frequent them; 

11. he also has in his hands earlier decrees and definitive admonishments which attest 

12. to the protection given to this endowment, and ordered that the established customs and habits should be followed concerning it; 

13. that this caused them heavy damage and deprived them of the support which 

14. had been continuing in a regular fashion. ****He also presented the decrees 

15. that bore witness to the truth of their statement and said that this endowment had been theirs continuously 

16. for many a day and night. ****This made it necessary that an order should be issued concerning it

17. by the Owner of the Homage of the Muslims and by his servant and friend, the Most Honoured and Most Excellent Lord, 

18. Commander of the Armies, to the Chancery, may it flourish, to write this open decree

19. about the release of this endowment in all financial departments of the kingdom from the beginning of Dhū 1-Qaʿda

20. of the year 524 [Stern has 525, a typographical error], and about it being treated in accordance with 

21. the established custom and the system that had been continuously observed, 

22. and about keeping harm away from them and restraining the hands of city-dwellers and Bedouins from 

23. damaging them, and about freeing them of all imposts  and other dues that they are constrained to pay and that are imposed upon them

24. and that used to be taken from them in the past, this being an act of favour on the part of 

25. the Owner of the Homage of the Muslims and his servant and friend, the Most Honoured and Most Excellent Lord, 

26. Commander of the Armies, and one that has as its aim the execution of the norms of 

27. publicly known justice.

28. ***** Let cognizance be taken of this order and let it be acted upon, 

29. and let it be kept by them after registration in the Offices of the Chamber 

30. and the Private Purse, and where such things are registered, if God, may he be exalted, wills.

31. Written in Dhū l-Qaʿda of the aforementioned year.

32. Praise be to God alone and may God bless our lord Muḥammad and his family the pure Imams. and may He give them peace.

33. God is sufficient for us and He is a good guardian.

 

Registration marks (between line 29)

1. Let it be registered in the two blessed Offices, that ofthe Chamber and that of the Private Purse, if God wills.

2. Let it be registered in the Chamber of Tinnīs and Damietta. It has been registered, praise be to God, Master of the universe.

3. Let it be registered in the Chamber of the Inspection of Tinnīs and Damietta, praise be to God, who deserves praise. It has been registered, praise be to God for His bounties.

4. Let it be registered in the Office of the Inspection of the two Ṣaʿīds, the Upper and the Lower, and what appertains to it, if God wills. It has been registered, praise be to God for His bounties.

5. It has been registered at the ... (?)

6. It has been registered at the Office of Inspection of the Eastern Province and al-Ṭūr and what appertains to it.

7. Let it be registered in the Office of the Inspection of the Reclaimed Fiefs and Government Estates and Gardens and what appertains to it, if God wills. It has been registered, thanks be to God, the master of the universe.

8. It has been registered, praise be to God alone