מכתב: T-S 8J16.18

תיאור

Letter draft from Yosef b. Yaʿaqov ha-Bavli to the dignitary ʿOvadya. In Judaeo-Arabic. The addressee is titled Amīn al-Dawla Thiqat al-Mulk, “Trusted by the Dynasty, Relied upon by the Government.” The writer wishes him “to find plenty of favor in the eyes of kings and ministers,” and indicates that ʿOvadya possessed some familiarity with Hebrew literature. (S. D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, 5:271, 582.) EMS. "All that reaches a man with respect to praise [al-madīḥ] and sincere thanks [al-shukr al-ṣarīḥ] falls short with regard to the lofty lord, confidant of the state, security of kingship, our lord and master Ovadiah the minister, the noble, the wise, the intelligent, may God extend his grace, elevate his status, and give him abundant fortune in the eyes of kings and ministers. May he bless his brothers and his sons the ministers and may they be a blessing in the midst of the land. All that they address before him [of praise and thanks] is but a fraction of what is said when he is not present according to what the rabbis [al-awāʾil], may God be satisfied with them, made clear in their saying, “One says little of a man’s praise before him but all of it when not before him.” They said this because we have found that God, lofty and exalted, when Noah was not present, described him with three qualities—righteous, upright, and so on—but when he addressed him, He said, “For I have seen you righteous before me” and so on. He described him as righteous only." Trans. Jonathan Decter, Dominion Built of Praise, pp.18–20.