Scholarship on Letter: T-S 28.20

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27. Your two servants took note of

28. what you had described in your distinguished letter about sending a power of attorney against that Jew.

29. By Great God and the covenant of the living God, your two servants were overwhelmed 

30. with boundless joy by your having kindly honored 

31. them with filling your need. We were prepared to perform this act of respect for you 

32. and apply ourselves to realize your right and collect your due, in the most complete 

33. and proper fashion possible. The two of us inquired about that Jew with our coreligionists, the Jews who have arrived (from Egypt).

34. They said that he had returned to Egypt (or Fustat: Misr) from ʿAydhāb. Certainly our bad luck caused 

35. this [. . .] 

36. We hope that your excellency will find a substitute, God willing, and God return to you your belongings.}

37. Your eminent excellency mentioned sending three wraps4 and a scarf. May God reward you well [for]

38. this and undertake to give you recompense! [...] 

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40. Your two servants thanked you for [your k]ind[ness]

41. and your effort over this. May we never want for you, God willing! Your excellency—

42. may God make <your honored position> permanent!— mentioned that we had had a credit for the proceeds from all the small items we had sent—

43. after the expenditures for customs, tolls and the like—of 11⅞ Egyptian dinars. There is nothing to say

44. concerning this, except that the wraps were not commensurate with what your two servants had suggested (ordered), 

45. nor were they appropriate for them. Your two servants had rather ordered something more delicate (or: exquisite)

46. and beautiful than that. There are plenty like that brought by the travelers who arrive (from Egypt). We hope that your excellency will kindly find 

47. a substitute. As to the balance of the account, of which your eminent excellency wrote that 

48. you had sent them in payment, there is nothing to say. If there is still some (balance) left, kindly send 

49. for it to your two servants fine yellow and red strings (wires), Egyptian handicraft, fine, 

50. good work, if you will be so kind. Some time ago your late father—

51. God’s mercy be on him!—had sent to us what was most exquisite, fine and superb. Be so kind as to do this. May we never want for you!

52. But as for us, your two servants had sent with the most eminent

53. Sheikh Abū ʿAlī b. Wahab the Fellow (of the Yeshiva) something for your father, namely a piece 

54. of delicate Indian red silk (lānas) and a head cover (ardī ) of delicate Indian red silk and, I think, one or two pairs of ʿAththarī

55. shoes made of unscraped skins. The details are in our letter there; please look for it.

Margin

1. [. . .] If he delivered it, God is praised! That was the intention. If he did not deliver it, since at the time of his arrival your father had already died, and he (Abū ʿAlī) is still there, ask him for it . . .

2. Your servant my father sends profuse greetings for your well-being and best personal regards. Do not ask how upset he was by the grief, sorrow, regret and distress over the death of your father—may God sanctify his soul! However, there is no avoiding what God, the Exalted, has decreed. Do not ask how he (my father) is suffering from 

Recto

1. [for] him a faithful companion, helper, guardian and assi[stant in all his affairs. The most joyful arrival]
2. arrived (i.e., his letter), whose visitation was most splendid. His two servants rejoiced upon its arrival and were gladdened by its visitation. They kissed it
3. before breaking its seal. They thanked God (the) ex(alted) for what He has bestowed upon him by way of His abundant benefaction
4. and overflowing beneficence and favor. Any longing his excellency has described is
5. doubled for his two servants and more. His two servants have several witnesses to this.
6. His exalted excellency knows how true this is. We ask God, may He be blessed, exalted, and magnified and His praise and His names sanctified,
7. to facilitate the noble meeting of those natures in witnessing
8. his sighting and looking upon his arrival in a state of ease of affection, and to repel hatred and envy
9. through His benificence and sufficient action, in His generosity and mercy, if God wills. Your two servants finished
10. reading his precious letter and what it contained about the death of his living parent,
11. may God sanctify his soul, cool his dust, and gather him with the righteous of Israel. Upon this, we say:
12. "Blessed is the Judge of Truth" (mBerakhot 9:2) "and the arbiter with righteousness" (Isaiah 11:4). "[I] heard [and] my bowels [quaked]; my ears
13. rang at the sound" (cf. Habbakuk 3:16). "For that, the earth is withered; everything that dwells on it languishes" (cf. Hosea 4:3, Jeremiah 4:28). What an awesome
14. judgment is all this! What a shocking calamity! Upon this one must say: "The Rock
15. whose work is perfect, for all His ways are justice, a God of faithfulness without iniquity: righteous and upright is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).
16. We ask God (the) ex(alted) to shore up his heart with patience, strengthen his arm, and make him
17. a successor remaining to his ancestors, for this is the path of the first and the last: "As the first ones drank,
18. so shall the last ones drink" (cf. bKetubbot 8b). One must not question the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, for it is a cup
19. of wine for all, small and great alike; there, too, the slave is free from his master. This is a sealed judgment
20. and settled decree, a cup from which none who drinks it can escape. Your exalted presence must
21. cast that from his heart and be consoled by those who have passed, and not occupy his mind with
22. loss but be consoled by the first and the last, and accept the judgment of God (the) ex(alted) with the acceptance incumbent upon him
23. and as an obligation obliging him. This is something that has passed. "Happy is the person who passes in a good name."
24. We ask God, may he be bl(essed) and e(xalted), to gather him with the righteous of Israel, with the sleepers of Hebron,
25. with Moses and Aaron, and to place his portion, lot, and destiny in the garden of Eden, amen. May He help him
26. with patience, guard him from evil, show him no more misfortune or anything hateful forevermore,
27. and may He make this the final decree through His mercy, if God wills. Your two servants took note of
28. what you explained in your dear letter about sending a power of attorney (wikāla) against (ʿalā) the aforementioned
29. Jew. By almighty God and the covenant of the living Lord, your two servants were overwhelmed
30. with great, boundless joy by your having granted them favor, benefaction, and honor
31. in asking them to fulfill your need. Your two servants were prepared to carry it out with liberality
32. and strive to obtain your debt and collect your due in the most complete
33. and proper manner possible. So they inquired about the aforementioned Jew among our associates, the Jews who have arrived (from Egypt),
34. and they mentioned that he had returned from ʿAydhāb to Fusṭāṭ. The dearth of good fortune of your two servants caused
35. this. So that no need remain unfulfilled for his excellency by his two servants, not .... 
36. that your excellency (will find) a substitute, if God wills, and we hope that God will reunite you with your belongings.
37. Your lofty excellency mentioned sending 3 wraps and a scarf. [For]
38. this, may God give you good recompense, undertake to reward you, not deprive us of your (long) life or
39. (our) gratitude for his deeds, help us to recompense him and make him worthy of this
40. and of similar favor, and worthy of every noble deed. The gratitude of his two servants for his [fa]v[or]

41. and his concern in this—may we never, ever be deprived of him, if God wills. His excellency,

42. may God make (his honor) permanent, mentioned that his two servants had obtained a credit for the proceeds of all the items we sent,
43. after (subtracting) the expenditures for customs, tolls, and so on: 12 Egyptian dinars minus one-eighth. There is nothing to say
44. concerning this except that the wraps are not commensurate with what your two servants had suggested, 
45. nor were they appropriate for them. For your two servants had in fact ordered something more refined
46. and better than that. There are plenty like that here brought by those arriving (from Egypt). We hope that his excellency
47. will kindly find a substitute. As to the balance of the account that his exalted excellency mentioned, 
48. if you had sent them, there would be nothing to say. But if there is a balance remaining, benefit us by sending 
49. your two servants the products of Fusṭāṭ, fine yellow and red strings (wires), fine, 
50. good work, if you will be so kind. Some time ago your late father—
51. God’s mercy be on him!—had sent to us what was most exquisite, fine and superb. Be so kind as to do this. May we never want for you!
52. But as for us, your two servants had sent with the most eminent
53. Sheikh Abū ʿAlī b. Wahab the Fellow (of the Yeshiva) something for your father, namely a piece 
54. of delicate Indian red silk (lānas) and a head cover (ardī ) of delicate Indian red silk and, I think, one or two pairs of ʿAththarī
55. shoes made of unscraped skins. The details are in our letter there; please look for it.

Recto, right margin

1. [...] that it be delivered to him. If it has been delivered to him, then praise be to God, that is the purpose. And if it was not delivered and arrived after her parent had died, then it was customary there to request it from him so that this would be a way of remembrance, by continuing her noble letters to your servant containing her needs and services and important matters, so that they may be honored by that when fulfilling them, God willing.
2. [...] if any need arises for her, for they will be honored by that, God willing. And your servant and those who are devoted to her with abundant greetings and best salutations and regards. And one cannot ask what has entered into his heart of grief and sorrow and tightness of chest and regret over the death of her parent—may God sanctify his soul. But there is no power against what God Almighty has decreed. And one cannot ask what he suffers from

Verso, upside down

1. the strain of illnesses and constant pain. We pray that God in His mercy grant him health, God willing.

2. The wife of the late shipowner (nākhudā) Mahrūz and his children are all well. They all send your eminence profuse

3. excellent greetings for your well-being. And they greet the entire family, young and old, with the most excellent

4. wishes for their well-being. His (Mahrūz’s) young daughter passed away two years ago. May your eminence have 

5. good health and long life! Your two servants have informed you of this . . .

Verso

1. the severity of illnesses and succession of pains. We ask God to grant recovery through His mercy, God willing.
2. And the residence of the living al-Nakhuda is protected, and all his children are in good health. They send their regards to her presence
3. with the best abundant greetings. And all the family, young and old among them, are singled out for the best
4. greetings from them. And his young daughter had died two years ago. And for her presence,
5. health and survival. Your servant informs her of that. Your most glorious presence is singled out by us
6. for the best abundant greetings. And all the family—may God protect them—and all whom her care encompasses
7. are singled out for the best abundant greetings. And peace, peace, abundant salvation is near.