Letter: T-S Ar.39.57

Letter T-S Ar.39.57

Tags

Description

Petition from a certain Manṣūr to an unidentified addressee (though Goitein assumed that "Sayyidnā" meant "the Nagid"). In Arabic script. The sender is a poor man ("ṣaʿlūk") who complains about his dependents and debts. "The knife has reached the bone, and I have come to nobody's gate but God's and Sayyidnā's, and Sayyidnā knows what our/my state was. By God, death is better than this." The lower part of the fragment is torn away. In the margin, he threatens to run away (...wa-anā hārib... wa-illā usāfir...).

T-S Ar.39.57 1r

1r

Transcription

Alan Elbaum, unpublished editions (n.p., 2023).
  1. بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
  2. المملوك
  3. منصور
  4. يقبل الارض وينهي انه رجل صعلوك
  5. وهو في شدة من العايل والقلة والدين
  6. وانا في ستر في هذه الوقت ووصل السكين
  7. للعظم وما ارتجيت الى باب الله وباب سيدنا
  8. وسيدنا يعرف ايش كنا فيه فوالله الموت
  9. ولا ذالحال وكل شي يدبر(؟) الى ذالعيد صغير

Right margin:

  1. وانا هارب [
  2. فبالله يا سيدنا اما ان [
  3. والا اسافر يموتو بجوع
  4. وال[

Translation

T-S Ar.39.57 1v

1v
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