מכתב: CUL Or.1081 2.3

תיאור

Letter in Arabic script. The writer is Barakāt b. al-Dayyān (presumably Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, cf. ENA 3927.1 and CUL Or. 1080 J155 for other specimens of his Arabic-script handwriting). The recipient is an older, respected relative: the writer addresses him as both 'father' and 'brother' in the protocol, where he also includes blessings for the [addressee's?] father Abū l-Thanā'. That Abū l-Thanā' is distinct from the recipient is evident four lines from the bottom, where it seems that the recipient had sent a request to Abū l-Thanā' (or to his wife?), and the writer fulfilled the request in his absence. The bulk of the letter is taken up with praises and congratulations, most likely for the birth of a child to the addressee (unless Sayyidnā al-Nāsī is a different person) after the death of a previous child. Line 15f: "By the Law, I rejoiced for his sake when [a newborn boy] took the place of the boy of our master the Nasi on Saturday and consoled his heart" (wa-ḥaqq al-sharīʿa laqad faraḥtu lahu lammā khalafa yawma l-sabt ʿalā ghulāmi Sayyidinā al-Nāsī wa-jabara qalbahu). Following the good wishes, he explains that he carried out what was requested in the letter and purchased two (ithnān) of something (or ushnān? meaning potash), but could not find anybody with whom to send them (last three lines of recto). ASE.