Letter: BL OR 5566C.13
Letter BL OR 5566C.13Description
Letter in Arabic script from a father to his son Abū l-Majd. "The fire was in our hearts because of you, how you spent shabbat over bread and cheese (i.e., without meat). If it weren't for Yaʿīsh and how he asked the Rayyis to 'send them something to eat,' we wouldn't have found anyone to bring you anything.... If every shabbat you get up and come on Friday, spend shabbat with us, and travel back on Sunday, the way is long...." On verso he mentions that he has managed to send a sweet (ḥalāwa, v2) and possibly peaches (khawkh, v3). "I want to come to you, but I don't know the way." He has also sent something which he wants the son to work on very carefully (wa-ʿaqlak bi-l-ghalaṭ) for Abū l-Faraj Ibn al-Dujājī, evidently for Abū l-Faraj's son, since he then writes that "his son's name is—"; he then switches into Hebrew for the blessing for a son (ha-malʾakh ha-goʾel) and reveals the name to be Shelomo b. Yeshuʿa ha-Levi. Cf. T-S AS 181.158 for a similar bialphabetic letter which also switches into Hebrew for "יברך את הנערים."