Letter: T-S 8J37.1 + T-S Ar.5.2

IB II,33 1 recto

1. Blessed memorandum
2. by {alt. tr.: for} Maḍmūn b. Ḥasan.

IB II,33 1 verso

1. A blessed memorandum by {alt. tr.: for} Maḍmūn b. al-Ḥasan, borne by the most illustrious Sheikh,
2. my lord Abū Saʿīd al-Dimyāṭī—may God decree that he arrive safely!
3. What was sent separately:
4. Eight manns of rhubarb and half a mann of māmīrān.
5. Upon safe arrival, everything is to be sold, and when
6. cash is received for it all, there should be delivered from it to the most illustrious Sheikh, my lord
7. Nathan, Fellow (of the Yeshiva), Diadem of the Fellows (of the Yeshiva), three Egyptian mithqāls,
8. and to the most illustrious Sheikh, my Lord Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Manasseh
9. the cantor, Ibn al-Qaṭāʾif, two Egyptian mithqāls, for a total of five.
10. The balance shall be used to buy pure white bar silver.
11. Also sent with him {lit., ‘Also appended’} are five and a half manns of ṣūlī threads. The proceeds
12. for everything are to be collected in a single place.
13. And the shipment that is for our lord, the most illustrious Rayyīs, my master
14. and lord Maṣlīaḥ ha-Kohen, Head of the Pride of Jacob Yeshiva,
15. is as follows:
16. A satchel containing one mann of {alt. tr.: of one mann of processed} heavy aromatic wood made of:
17. ashbāh, kalatūn and [qā]qullī. And a satchel containing

IB II,34 recto - left side

1. one mann cloves. And a satchel containing one mann
2. mace. And a satchel containing five manns nutmeg.
3. And a satchel containing one hundred Chinese kʾb shʾt 
4. and a satchel containing two kerchiefs of lālas silk made in Kūlam, one
5. with red edges and another with green edges.
6. And a small basket containing a dast of Chinese porcelain tumblers, numbering six
7. tumblers. 
8. And what is set aside for the most illustrious Sheikh, my lord Nathan, Fellow (of the Yeshiva),
9. Diadem of the Fellows (of the Yeshiva): a piece of fine lālas silk, wrapped
10. in a piece of cloth; and a satchel containing one mann nutmeg;
11. and that is besides the three gold mithqāls. Deliver to him
12. of all this.

IB II,34 recto - right side

1. a promissory note in exchange for that one (that he had delivered), with witnesses and the account of the facts, that is, (attesting) that he had delivered
2. the promissory note and the release (=receipt) to the person who had paid the gold, as is written
3. in the promissory notes, let him draw up a promissory note and have (witnesses) testify 
4. to that effect. And it is not such a large sum that one might be concerned
5. here for such a serious matter. Furthermore, if
6. Sheikh Abu ʾl-Surūr should be present (in Old Cairo) and (you) my lord (are willing to) be surety in my stead to Sheikh Ḍāfir
7. in the matter of payment of the sum that he still owes, please be surety in my stead
8. and at my expense for responsibility for any- thing that might happen to him (to Ḍāfir)
9. in any conceivable manner. And this writ of mine attests for me in every respect that (you) my lord
10. will be surety in my stead to Sheikh Ḍāfir b. Burayk and that (you) my lord will take from him
11. the aforementioned sum that he owes and deliver it to
12. me, your servant, Maḍmūn [b. al-Ḥasa]n. Please be so kind as to try
13. to recover thi[s money] in any possible way
14. and to be surety in my stead in this matter. And request his excellency, our lord,
15. our Gaon, the illustrious Rayyis, my lord and master Maṣlīaḥ ha-Kohen,
16. Head of Pride of Jacob Yeshiva, to help in this matter
17. and in recovering the money in any possible way. And the [explanatio]n of the matter 
18. may be found with you together with the account of the rāwand {alt. tr: And it should be with you together with the proceeds of the rāwand}, and it is of you, my lord,

IB II,34 verso - left side

1. Please be so kind as to act as my (your servant’s) representative against Ḍāfir b. Burayk of Alexandria
2. and collect from him fifty-five and a half Egyptian mithqāls,
3. for the principal that Ḍāfir owed was one hundred and fifty
4. mithqāls, which he had received from Barakāt b. Mukhtār, servant of
5. the Rayyis. Now Ḍāfir claimed that the deceased, my brother Bundār—may he find mercy!—
6. told him to pay from that sum to a certain merchant 92
7. mithqāls. So says Ḍāfir. And Ḍāfir further claimed
8. that he is owed for Muḥammad the weigher two and a half mithqāls. The total to his credit is 94 ½.
9. Ḍāfir’s remaining debt is 55 ½ mithqāls. Please be so kind, my lord, as
10. to act as my (your servant’s) representative to receive this (sum) and to be surety to him (to Ḍāfir)
11. for the responsibility of {alt. tr.: after} delivering this (sum) to you. This Ḍāfir’s only excuse
12. concerning delivery of this gold is that he says
13. that there is against him a wr[itten] promissory note [with] witnesses who attested
14. that he had received it. And the promissory note is in the hands of Sheikh Abu ʾl-Surūr 
15. Faraḥ b. Yeshūʿā ha-Kohen. So if Sheikh Abu ʾl-Surūr should happen to be
16. in Fustat, please, my lord, be so kind as to take the promissory note from him
17. and deliver it to Ḍāfir, so that he pay the gold, and thereby
18. the claim against him {alt. tr.: his claim} will be annulled. And if Sheikh Abu ʾl-Surūr should demand that there be drawn up for him

IB II,34 verso - right side

1. And what is set aside for the most illustrious Sheikh, Ḥalfon ha-Levi b. Manasseh
2. the cantor: A satchel containing one mann nutmeg; and that is besides
3. the two gold mithqāls. Deliver all this, when God brings you there safely.
4. And a shipment to Maḥrūz b. Yaʿqūb, of Aden, from his mother:
5. A satchel containing aromatic wood and a satchel containing a kerchief made of
6. lālas silk and two letters, one to him and the other to his sister,
7. the wife of Abū Zikrī ha-Kohen. And on the aromatic wood and the kerchief is
8. written the name ‘Maḥrūz b. Yaʿqūb.’
9. These two things should be delivered to him, when God the Exalted, Sublime and Glorified brings you there in safety.

IB II,33 2 recto

1. a favor. And I [...have sent] another writ
2. and in the hand of [...] to Ḍāfir t[wo] le[tters], one in
3. condemnatory terms, and another in mild terms, [that he] deliver what he owes
4. to you. And [peace].
5. Please be so kind, my lord and master, to a[sk our l]ord—may God protect him and keep him alive!—
6. concerning the Chinese vessels, the transparent porcelain China, and all
7. the transparent Chinese tableware (‘bowls’), whether it is permissible
8. for a menstruating woman to use them and wash them, [or] whether they will then be ritually unclean.
9. Furthermore, a Chinese bowl which is [glazed] without and within,
10. if some (unclean) thing should fall into it, whether that will render it unfit or if it is permissible to wash it
11. and it will (then) be fit for use. Please be so kind as to obtain for me
12. fro[m our lord an answer] in this matter, so that we may act accordingly. And peace.