רשומה קשורה ל-מכתב: T-S 16.277

(My) help comes) f(rom the) L(ord, who) m(ade) h(eaven) and earth) Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord (is to be praised).” 

To my beloved, prosperous, and blessed mother, may God, the ex(alted), make her prosper, prolong her life, and make her honored position permanent. May he never let me be absent from her service, and soon, note late, unite me with her and with my prosperous and beloved brothers Faraj Allah and Rashid, may God make them prosper and encompass them with his mercy and solicitude. 

I bring herewith respectfully to your knowledge that I am well and in good health thanks to the solicitude of the God of the spirits and healer of all flesh. I am yearning, dear mother, very very much to see you. I heard that you were ill and was very much upset and sad about this. 

I intended to come and serve you, but was unable to do so because of the high price of the rent of a mount and the other expenses and difficulties of the travel. Moreover, I had sore eyes. Today, however, thanks to his name, I am well and happy and have a good life, thanks to the allmighty God who bears all, supports the falling, and helps the poor. God the creator… and sustainer, is my witness that I was deeply distressed when I learned about your illness, being unable to help. But the Judge of the widows and Father of the orphans will restore your health, for he wounds and binds up, etc. God, the ex(alted), for the sake of the sanctification of his name in his world, will preserve you and protect us by your presence, you, the unifier of our dispersed family, you, the crown of my head. 

Four months ago I entered my house. But be quiet, dear mother, all you have asked for me in your prayers has come true, for she is a virtuous and pious woman, "very fair to look upon, a virgin w(hom no) m(an) h(ad) k(nown).”  She does not lack any of your noble, fine, beautiful, and excellent character-traits. She yearns for your respected pres- ence and is distressed about your illness. May God, the ex(alted), unite us soon while you are in good spirits and health. And I request from you the favor and charity that you bestow upon me your prayers day and night, as you have been accustomed to do for me.

I heard that you (plural) have returned the money for which the prayer book was given as a collateral, but that he refused to give it to you. 

Please say (plural) to Sulaymān the druggist: "So-and-so' says to you: 'Remember what happened to you in Bilbays, in the caravanserai outside the town, which is situated on the route to Palestine; you were then on your way to the Land of Israel, may it be rebuilt and restored soon, you, and the cantor Muwaffaq (“Prosper"), and Saʿid, the son of the government clerk, (may his) R(ock) p(reserve him), and Ṇāsir b. Tayyib 

("Victor, son of Good"), and Joshuʿa, the Son of the Drowned," and Mūsā b. Mardūk (“Moses, son of Mordechai"), and the son of Abū Saʿd, the beadle (may his) e(nd be) g(ood). He gave you 6 1⁄2 silver pieces and you gave them to him.

And remember how the caravan moved on and left you in the caravanserai, where the whole company passed the Sabbath. So let Fakhr give me the prayer book." 

If he will not give it to you (plural), let my brother Faraj Allah [and ...] and Abu Saʿid, the beadle, go to our lord, the Nagid, (our) m(aster and) t(eacher) Joshua may God heighten his rank and increase his dignity and say to him, I mean, the Nagid: "Remember what you have said to your servant Surūr in Bilbays with regard to the copy belonging to the elder Yaʿqūb (Jacob), the brother of the school teacher. Or remember, how a divorce was arranged for your maidservant. Or remember how I went to the chief of the police in Bilbays and how he referred me to the qadi of Bilbays, whom I did not find. So, please, get that prayer book out of the hands of so-and-so. Or let my brother go to the elder Yaʿqūb, the brother of the school teacher and say to him: "So-and-so says to you: 'Remember when your servant had supper with [ . . . . . . . . . . . .]and said to you giving an oath on the Bible [ . . . . . . . . . . ]. Induce Fakhr to give me the prayer book."