Scholarship on Letter: T-S 24.64

In Your name, O Merciful. 

The letter of your excellency the illustrious Sheikh, has arrived—[may God prolong your life/]

and make permanent your honored position, and rank/highness and loftiness/ex[cellence, and ascendancy!/]

May He never deprive your dwelling-place and court of any good!/[May He bestow]

upon you that which is most suitable of all He usually confers {alt. tr.: [May He protect] for your sake… of all He has conferred upon you]}!/May He subdue those that are envious of you and crush your enemies/

and may all your affairs be completed successfully {lit., ‘...be joined by blessings’}! I was glad when I looked at your letter even before

I had taken notice of its content. Then I read it full of happiness and, while studying it, became joyous and cheerful.

For it was reassuring for me to learn from it about your well-being and your satisfactory state. Then I praised

God for this very much and asked Him to give you more of all the best

in His mercy. Whatever longing (for me) you expressed, my lord, I,

your servant, feel twice as strongly (for you) and more than what you have described in writing.

May God decree {read: facilitate} our coming together in the near future in complete happiness

through His mercy, God willing! I took notice,

my master, of your detailed statement concerning sending ‘refurbished’ iron in the boat of the

nākhudā Ibn Abu ʾl-Katāʾib. It (the shipment) has arrived, and I received from him

two bahārs and one third, as you noted, my lord. The nākhudā 

Joseph arrived from Dahbattan on the Malabar Coast in the ship of Ibn al-Muqaddam, and I received from him

two basins, two ewers and two basins for candlesticks. Likewise, I took delivery from my lord,

the most illustrious Sheikh Maḍmūn, of 30 pounds of cardamom from your excellency’s bag

and paid for it the customs duties, as you had written. Please send the remaining lids, 

my lord. However, of the betel nuts

mentioned by you, my lord, I, your servant, have not received anything, for you wrote that you had sent them with

Jawhar, the slave-agent of Ḍāfir, but he has not arrived this year. As to your shipment, 

my master, forwarded from Fandarayna in the ship of Fatan Swamī through Sheikh

Abu ʾl-Ḥasan b. Jaʿfar. The smaller ship arrived and I took delivery

from it {alt. tr.: from him} of 1 ⅜ bahār of pepper, as had been stated in your memorandum

to my master, the most illustrious Sheikh Maḍmūn, as well as of a bahār of amlas (‘smooth’) iron.

The larger ship, however, arrived near Berbera, when its captain ran into trouble with it, until

it was thrust against Bāb al-Mandab, where it foundered {alt. tr.: it crashed at… and broke up there}.

The pepper was a total loss. God salvaged none of it.

As to the iron, mariners were brought from Aden, with whom it was stipulated

that they would dive for it and salvage it. They salvaged

about one half of the iron, and, while I am writing this letter,

they are bringing it out of the Furḍa to {alt. tr: releasing all of it from the… and bringing it to} the storehouse of the most illustrious Sheikh,

my master Maḍmūn b. al-Ḥasan. All the expenses

incurred for the diving and for transport will be deducted from whatever will be {alt. tr.: was deducted from whatever was} realized for it (that iron), and the rest will be divided proportionally,

each taking his proper share. I regret very much your losses. But the

Holy one, blessed be He will compensate you and me presently {alt. tr.: may . . . compen sate… speedily}. As to the (household) goods ordered

by you, my master: You asked me to buy a frying pan of stone in a {lit., ‘and its’} case. Later on

its case broke {alt. tr.:...pan of stone, and I wrapped it and after I wrapped it, it broke}, whereupon I bought you an iron frying pan for a niṣāfī,

which is, after all, better than a stone pan {lit., ‘more recommended than the stone one’}. I bought you (also) for a niṣāfī, 

glassware: tumblers, bowls {alt. tr.: jugs/cups} and cups {alt. tr.: jars}, namely sixty-eight 

tumblers, ten bowls and five cups {alt. tr.: jars}; with the basket, which cost a qīrāṭ, it made exactly

one niṣāfī; furthermore, five green bottles with {lit., ‘in’} their baskets for eleven qīrāṭ, the 

total being a dinar and eleven qīrāṭs. As to the small pots, I

could not get any single items, only in dasts. The wheat has been made ready for dispatch

to {lit., ‘has been packed for’} you by my lord, the most illustrious Sheikh Maḍmūn. I, your servant, sent to [you] on my

account five manns of good silk, for I saw that my master, the most illustrious Sheikh 

Maḍmūn, had sent some to Ibn ʿAdlān and to others and it was reported in his (Ibn ʿAdlān’s) name

that it is selling well in Malabar. Therefore, I thought it was preferable to send, instead of gold,

merchandise, which might bring some profit. Thus, kindly sell it for me, your servant,

for whatever price God, the Exalted, apportions as livelihood, and buy for me, your servant, whatever

God, the Exalted, apportions and send it to me in any ship, without any liability, my lord, 

for any perils on land or sea. If the commodities purchased include

betel nut or cardamom, kindly purchase for whatever price is available; but you, my master,

need no instructions, for you are competent {alt. tr.: the epitome of competence}. Indeed, I, your servant, cause you trouble

every year; but you, my master, do [excuse] your servant,

as it has always been your habit, in the past and recently. Moreover, {add: I inform you} my master,

last year, I sent to the captain Masʿūd, the Abyssinian,

30 Egyptian mithqāls, with which to buy whatever God, the Exalted, would apportion. When, however,

he arrived at your place, the well-known misfortune {lit., ‘that misfortune’} befell him. He {lit., ‘the man’} informed me that he

had bought me two bahārs of pepper, which he carried with him, and that there remained for me 17 ¼ 

mithqāls, which were deposited with my master, the most illustrious Sheikh

Abu ʾl-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Jaʿfar. Therefore, I, the captain

Masʿūd, and Bakhtiyār, the slave-agent of ʿAlī b. Jaʿfar, went to the most illustrious Sheikh

ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Nīlī, and he (Masʿūd) reported to him the matter, whereupon I received

a notification from al-Nīlī {alt. tr.: took a note/letter, which al-Nīlī wrote} to ʿAlī b. Jaʿfar about it.

When you meet him, kindly greet him in my name and ask him

to buy for me with this whatever God, the Exalted, apportions and to send it in

any ship without any liability for any risk on sea

or land, in this world or in the world to come. I do not need giving you instructions, how to approach {lit., ‘to speak to’}

him; “a hint is sufficient for a wise man.” May my lord receive for his esteemed self

the best greetings and convey the best and most profuse greetings in my name to my master, the noble scion, and all

whom your care embraces and Bama! And Peace.

I, your servant, sent

what has no importance or

value, namely a bottle of sugar

and a good Abyssinian hide.

On the hide, is written

‘Yiju’ from outside

and from inside on various places.

Favor me by accepting and excuse

me, as had been your habit,

in the past and recently.

And best greetings to you

and sincerest salutation and personal regards.

And Peace.

I also notify you, my lord, that the basket with the glassware and the five bottles

are with the nākhudā Aḥmad {read: Muḥammad}, the nākhudā of the ship of the Fidyār; on all of them

is written ‘Yiju’ in Hebrew letters. The hide

and the bottle of sugar are with Sheikh Abu ʾl-Ḥasan al-Maḥallī, and

the silk is with the elder Abū ʿAlī b. Ṭayyib. Please, my lord, take delivery

of all this, which is in the Fidyār’s ship—may God ordain its safety!

May God, the Exalted, unite you with us in His mercy and compassion! And Peace.

(To) His excellency, the most illustrious Sheikh, my master Abū Isḥāq

Abraham, son of his honor, great and holy master Peraḥyā, the scribe,

b. Yijū—may God preserve his prosperous state!

(From) His servant, who is longing

for him, Khalaf b. Isaac—may he be remembered for resurrection!