Letter: CUL Or.1080 J88
Letter CUL Or.1080 J88Tags
Description
Letter at one point thought to have been sent from Cairo to Bilbays containing a request to contribute to the capitation tax of a poor teacher and his son. (Information in part from Goitein's index card.) The handwriting of the letter is that of Yehuda b. Ṭuviyyahu the muqaddam of Bilbays. The addressee may be called Elishaʿ. The sender reports that he heard that Rabbenu Moshe (Maimonides) asked him to come up (presumably from Bilbays to Fustat), but he cannot do this due to difficulties related to a riding animal (due to his illness?). He then recommends the bearer Ismāʿīl ibn al-Melammed Ibn al-Sadlū(?) for help with the capitation tax.
Edition: Goitein, S. D.
Translation: Kraemer, J. (in English)
CUL Or.1080 J88 1r
Transcription
S. D. Goitein, unpublished editions.- . . .] כגק מר ור אלישע [. . . . . . . .
- הלויים הירא שמים הנדיב יברכו צורו
- ויעזרו ויגן בעדו ויזכהו לראות
- שמחת חמודו ותורתו ואריכות ימיו
- אמן סלה מא לו שרחת דלך למא
- וסעה אלסגלאת אללה עאלם צחה [דלך] וגמע
- אלשמל בחצרתהא עלי אסר ח[אל. . . . . . וגיר
- דלך אן אתצל באלכאדם יום אלארבעה אלואחד
- ועשרין מן חדש תמוז כבר מזעג מקלק אן
- סידנא רבנו משה יחי לעד יטלב אלכאדם
- יטלע מא קדר עלי דאבה בסבב אלעלה(?)
- אללה תעאלי יכפי אלמלה פיה אלאסוא ויגן בעדו
- ומוצל הדה אלכדמה אסמעיל בן אלמלמד
- בן אלסדלו צעלוך מעול חצר אלי בלביס חצל לה
- בעץ גאליה וקאל אן אלמולא אועדה יחצל
Recto - right margin
- לה שי פי גאליתה
- וגאליה ולדה וקד
- קאל ללכאדם
- . . . . אלמולא
- פי כמאל
- ועדהא
- לאנה
- מחור
- יכמלהא
Translation
J. Kraemer, "Six Unpublished Maimonides Letters from the Cairo Geniza," in Maimonidean Studies (New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1992), 2:61-94.- [To the honorable Abū] Naṣr, son of his honor,] greatness and holiness. our master and teacher Elisha, Pride
- of the Levites, the pious and noble, may God bless him and [may his Lord] aid him,
- and may He protect him, and permit him to witness the
- joy of his son, his learning, and length of days.
- Amen. Selah. [My desire to see you is such] that were I to express
- it entirely, scrolls would not suffice. [God] knows that [this] is true. May he rejoin
- us in your presence on the most joyous of occasions. [. . . . . ]
- Aside from this, your servant received on [Wednesday] 21
- Tammuz disturbing and alarming news about
- our lord, our teacher Moses, may he live forever, who requested that your servant
- come as quickly as possible on his mount on account of his illness.
- May God, the exalted prevent harm from befalling the community because of him, and may He protect him.
- The bearer of this letter, Ismāʿīl b. al-Melammed
- b. al-Sadalū, an indigent man, burdened with family obligations, came to Bilbays, where he
- got some money to defray the poll tax. He says that (our) lord promised
Margin
to obtain some funds for him to defray the poll tax for him and his son. Your servant received (our) Iord’s promise. But (our lord) has not yet made his payment.
CUL Or.1080 J88 1v
