Letter: T-S 12.817

Description

Recto, with the address on verso: Letter from Abū ʿAlī, apparently in Fustat, to Abū l-ʿIzz al-Sharābī, also in Fustat, specifically Sūq al-Kabīr. In Judaeo-Arabic, with the address in Arabic script. This Abū l-ʿIzz may be the person known to us from various documents from Avraham Maimonides' circle. The sender reports that 'the mother' and Yūsuf arrived safely in Fustat some time ago. He has sent a maqṭaʿ cloth with Qāsim the blind (al-ḍarīr). The sender has sent previous letters asking for the news of al-shaykh al-mukarram Abū l-ʿ[. . .] and his wife and the rest of the family and friends. The jars (jirār) have not arrived; the addressee must send 100 jars quickly with any acquaintance of al-shaykh al-mukarram. Goitein's index card adds that the mother's journey was strenuous. He also says there is an "almost identical letter in..."—but he did not fill in the shelfmark. Verso: Response from Abū l-ʿIzz to Abū ʿAlī. In Judaeo-Arabic, headed by a basmala and tarjama in Arabic script. The Hebrew-script handwriting and orthography are quite rudimentary. He says that he has purchased the jars and makes excuses about why he has not been able to send them yet. He, too, says that he has sent several letters without receiving any response, including two letters tied together with a string, one from himself and one from Abū l-Ḥasan b. Qanṭūr (or Ḥanẓūl?) in which he mentioned something about three people. Greetings to the mother. AA. ASE.