Scholarship on Letter: T-S 10J10.15

recto

1. {Add: [This] is to inform you} my brother, {add: that} I do not know what to write;
2. so strong is my longing and so ardent my yearning. I ask God to unite us all presently in the best of circumstances.
3. This is to announce to you, my brother, that I have set out from {alt. tr.: left} India and arrived in Aden—may God protect it!—
4. safely with my belongings, life, and children. May God be thanked for this! Let them praise the Lord for His steadfast love, His wondrous deeds
5. for mankind. Now I wish to let you know that I have enough to live on
6. for all of us. May God, the Exalted, let this money be for my livelihood and my children’s and be sufficient for you as well!
7. I have to reproach you, my brother {add: greatly}, that {because} you got as far as Egypt and did not come to Aden. I sent
8. you to Egypt, \\with a shipment of {alt. tr.: through the agency of } my master, Sheikh Maḍmūn,// about fifty ounces of civet perfume worth 40 dinars, carried by the elder Abū Naṣr
9. b. Elisha—may he be remembered with blessings {alt. tr.: favorably}! Afterward, I learned from the elder Abū Zikrī, the Kōhēn \\al-Sijilmāsī//, the brother-in-law of my master, Sheikh Maḍmūn,
10. that the civet arrived duly {lit., ‘safely’} in Miṣr (Fustat); however, as they did not find you there, my brother, they forwarded it to you
11. to Sicily with a trustworthy Jew called Samuel, (himself ) a Sicilian. \\I hope it has reached you.// I (also) met
12. Sheikh Sulaymān Ibn Gabbay [\\...//] and he told me that you have been reduced to a single loaf of bread; therefore, I ask you,
13. my brother, to come to me under any circumstances and without delay; come down to me without delay,
14. there I will provide for you. I have a son and a daughter, take them and take with them
15. all the money and the riches—may the Lord fulfill my wishes for good and yours!
16. Come quickly and take possession of this money; this is better than strangers taking it.
17. Also, find out who is the best of the sons of my brother Joseph or the sons of your sister Berākhā, so that I may marry him off to my daughter.
18. After you come here, we shall live in Aden or Fustat or Alexandria, if it will
19. not be possible for us to go to al-Mahdiyya or to Ifrīqiya, namely, to Tunis or Qayrawān.
20. Everything, of course, is in God’s hand {alt. tr.: But God governs all}. Please convey the best greetings to your brother Joseph and to his children {alt. tr.: sons} in my name, and say
21. to him: “Your brother Abraham says to you: By God, I shall not grudge you a thing; this money, which I have here,
22. is at your disposal.” Likewise, greet my sister Berākhā and her children {alt. tr.: sons} and tell her
23. the same. I heard that Maʿmar, Yumn’s husband, died, but was not sure about {alt. tr.: unable to verify} it. If it is
24. true, may God comfort you all! However, by these lines, it is hard for me to write words of consolation on the death
25. of anyone {lit., ‘it is hard for me to console anyone on his death’}. Convey to my brother-in-law Marwān, son of Zikrī—may he rest in Eden!—Ibn Biḥār the best greetings in my name—may God
26. keep him alive and preserve him for you!—and likewise to Abu ʾl-Barakāt b. Qayyōmā the best greetings.
27. By God, and again by God, do not delay your coming here, take this dirhem,
28. which I have earned, and buy and sell with it, God willing. Saying less about this would have been enough.
29. Would I try {read: set out} to write all that is in my heart, no letter could contain it and no epistle could comprise it.
30. Written on the 7th of Tishre—may God let you partake in the blessings of the month {lit., ‘acquaint you with its blessings’}!—of the year
31. 1461 E.D. To the cantor {R.} Moses, son of the cantor Abraham—may he rest in Eden! —

recto, right margin

my best regards. And Peace. And to my brother, his children {alt. tr.: sons} and [his] wife special greetings. Likewise, to my sister, her husband Marwān, her sons and her daughter, special greetings. And to the daughters of my paternal uncle, their sons and their daughters greetings. To my maternal aunt and her ch[ildren] {alt. tr.: so[ns]} greetings. Greetings to you and to your household!

verso

1. I gave instructions that my letters to you should be in the hands of Sheikh Abraham b. Joseph—may he rest in Eden!—Ibn al-Baqqāl (‘Grocer’)—
2. may God ordain his safe arrival! And, by God, come as quickly as possible to Aden {add: God willing}.
3. And kiss the soil before my lord, \\our teacher// Labraṭ, the dayyān (judge), son of his honor, our master and teacher Moses,
4. the dayyān—may he rest in Eden!—(and convey to him) the best greetings; to all my friends of my age class {alt. tr.: our coreligionists of my generation}, the best greetings. And Peace.
5. I heard what happened to {alt. tr.: of the tragic events in} the coastland of Ifrīqiya, Tripoli, Jerba, Qarqanna,
6. Sfax, al-Mahdiyya, and Sūsa. No letter, however, from which I could learn who died and who remained alive, has arrived.
7. By God, write exact details {confirm in writing} and send your letters with reliable people to soothe my mind. And Peace.

verso, address

1. This letter [should reach] my dear brothers—may God prolong [their] live[s]!
2. Joseph and Mevassēr, the sons of Peraḥyā—may he rest in Eden!—Ben Yijū. God may recompense him that will be concerned
3. to make an effort to transmit it into their hands, and from the Lord he will receive good reward! 
4. Convey and get remuneration. This is a deposit entrusted {alt. tr.: Steadfast faithfulness.}

verso, sender

1. (From) Their brother, who is longing for them—
2. may God unite him with them!
3. Abraham b. Peraḥyā—may he rest in Eden!—Ben Yijū.
4. To al-Mahdiyya, God willing, or anywhere else
5. in Ifrīqiya.