Scholarship on Letter: CUL Or.1081 J1

To my beloved brother R. Mos[es, son of R.] Maimōn, (may the) m(emory of the) r(ighteous be) b(lessed).

David, your brother who is longing for you -- may God unite me with you under the most happy circumstances in his grace.

I am writing this letter from ʿAydhāb. I am well, but my mind is very much troubled, so that I walk around in the bazaar and do not know -- by our religion -- where I [am...], nor how come that I did not imagine how much you must worry [about m]e.

This is my story: I reached Qūṣ and after Passover I booked for ʿAydhāb in a caravan. [...Luxor...the desert...] So we traveled alone out of fear of him. No one has ever dared to embark on such a adisastrous undertaking. I did it only because of my complete ignorance. But God [saved] us after many frightful encounters, to describe which would lead me too far afield. When we were in the desert, we regretted what we had done, but the matter had gone out of our hands. Yet God had willed that we should be saved. We arrived in ʿAydhāb safely with our entire baggage. We were unloading our things at the city gate, when the caravans arrived. Their passengers had been robbed and wounded and some had died of thirst. Among them was Ibn al-Rashīdī, but he was unharmed [... ... ...] We preceded him only slightly and there was only a small distance between us and those who were robbed. We were saved only because we had taken upon ourselves those frightful experiences. All day long I imagine how you must feel when you hear about ʿAṭāʾ Allāh ("God's gift") Ibn al-Rashīdī, how he was robbed (lit. "eaten"), and you believe that I was in his company. Then God comes between me and my reason.

To make a long story short: I arrived in ʿAydhāb and found that no imports had come here [...] at all. I found nothing to buy except indigo. So I thought about what I had endured in the [des]ert [and how I was saved;] then it appeared to me an easy matter to embark on a sea voyage. I took Manṣūr as my travel companion, but not Maʿānī, for all my troubles came [only from him; you know] the man and how he behaves. Once, if God will, I shal tell you [all that happened between us] on our way from Fustat to ʿAydhāb.

My company in the Mala[bar] sea will be [..., ...], Sālim, the son of the (female) broker and his brother's son, Makārim ("Noble Character") al-Ḥarīrī ("Silk merchant") and his b[rother], and the brother of Sitt Ghazāl. But Maʿānī embarked, together with Ibn al-Kuwayyis ("Nice") on another ship, and Bu ʾl-ʿAlā remains in Dahlak, since the ship in which he traveled foundered, but he was saved and absolutely nothing of his baggage was lost. Ibn ʿAṭiyya ("Gift"), however, was in another boat, together with Ibn al-Maqdisī ("The Man from Jerusalem"). Their boat foundered and only their din[ars] remained with them.

Now despite all this, do not [worry]. He who saved me from the desert with its [...], will save me while on sea. [...desert...sea...] And, please, calm the heart of the little one and her sister; do not frighten them and let them not despair, for crying to God for what has passed is a vain prayer. [...] I am doing all this out of my continuous efforts for your (pl.) material well-being, although you (sing.) have never imposed on me anything of the kind. So be steadfast; God will replace your losses and bring me back to you. Anyhow, what has passed, is past, and I am sure, this letter will reach you at a time when I, God willing, shall have already made most of the way. "But the counsel of God alone will stand." Our departure will probably be around the middle of Ramaḍān.

I shall trav[el with... Tell this] to his uncle, and also that he is fine. Abraham is fine. [Best regards to you, to] Bū ʿAli and his brother, to the elder Bū Manṣūr and his brothers, to my sisters and the boys, to all our friends, to the freedman, and Maḥāsin ("Favors").

Written on the 22nd of Iyyar, while the express caravan is on the point of leaving.