מכתב: MIAC 23973.21

מכתב MIAC 23973.21

מטא-דאטא

מספר מדף
MIAC 23973.21
שפה עיקרית
Arabic

What's in the PGP

  • 1 Transcription
  • 1 Translation

תיאור

Letter from Ḥiṣn al-Dawla ibn al-ʿAsqalānī to the Nubian eparch Uruwī in Ibrīm. Ibn al-ʿAsqalānī begins by acknowledging having received the eparch's letter and responds to what appears to be the eparch's concerns about a journey he is planning to the Nubian king. ibn al-ʿAsqalānī clarifies his status: "I am not a soldier of the king's army that I should be feared. I am a man who is a merchant, the slave of one who has done good for me" (or: shown me favor). Ibn al-ʿAsqalānī further refutes the claim that he is "the slave boy of the Master of the Spear," asserting instead, "I am only a merchant," a guest of the king, and that he lodged with the Master of the Spear "like the (other) merchants." He explains he has delayed his journey to the king because of Ramaḍān, "a difficult month" for travel; he plans to go "after the festival." He then asks the eparch write to "the slave of the king" asking him to deliver a promised consignment. He also mentions sending gifts with a slave: "five pieces (of fabric), a large drinking vessel, a small basket of sweets and a mattress." He urgently requests the return of his slave boy, emphasizing he "cannot travel until my slave boy arrives." In the margin, he asks the eparch to send a letter allowing "a group of merchants" to enter Nubia with him to see the king, which would "help them in their livelihood." Ibn al-ʿAsqalānī appears as an antagonist in a letter of Lāmiʿ ibn Ḥasan in which the latter complains bitterly that Ibn al-ʿAsqalānī has impeded his activities in the court of the Nubian king (doc. 9 from the Qaṣr Ibrīm corpus, PGPID 40158): "My slave boy arrived humiliated and wronged by Ibn al-ʿAsqalānī.… For is Ibn al-ʿAsqalānī the king and we his slaves and his grovellers?" (v9–17) This letter, however, provides valuable context about Ibn al-ʿAsqalānī's complex relationship with both the Nubian king and the eparch. See also doc. 28 from the Qaṣr Ibrīm corpus. MR Khan, Qaṣr Ibrīm doc. 13.

Related People

Sender
Ḥiṣn al-Dawla ibn al-ʿAsqalānī
Recipient
Abū l-Khayr Uruwī ibn Khiyākh

תגים

Additional metadata

Collection
Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, Qaṣr Ibrīm
תאריך קלט
In PGP since 2024
תמונה
תיעתוק
תרגום

MIAC 23973.21 recto

°
recto
Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Documents from Medieval Nubia (University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2024).

Recto

 

  1. بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

  2. وَصل كتاب مولاي الاكشيل صاحب الخيل اطال الله بقاه 

  3. وادام نعماه وكبت اعداه     ووقفت عليه وقوف مسرور بوروده

  4. مبتهج بوفوده واما ما ذكر من حال التوجه الى

  5. الملك وقوله انما عليه خوف فانا بحمد الله تعالى ما انا جندى

  6. من جند الملك فاخاف انا رجل تاجر عبد من احسن اليّ

  7. وما انا ابا من الدخول الى الملك حفضه الله تعالى كنت قد سرت

  8. اولا اليه وانعم علي وسرحني واحسن اليّ واوعدني بالرسالة

  9. وانا فمملوكه وخادمه والسمعة عنه جميلة واما قولهم انني غلام

  10. صاحب الحربة ما انا الا تاجر وكنت ضيف الملك ونازلت صاحب

  11. الحربة متل التجار ما كل من نازل احد كان غلامه ويحسن ضيوف

  12. احسان من احسن الى التجار سارعوا اليه وانت ياكشيل

Recto, right margin

  1. باحسانك الى الناس والتجار هم يسارعوا اليك وانت مشكور في بلاد المسلمين

  2. فما تركت المسير الى الملك الا تحكم ان شهر رمضان شهر ضيق خوفا من المسير

Geoffrey Khan, Arabic Documents from Medieval Nubia (University of Cambridge and Open Book Publishers, 2024).

Recto

  1. In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate.

  2. The letter of my master the Ikshīl, Master of the Horses— may God prolong his life

  3. and cause his wellbeing to endure, and suppress his enemies—has arrived and I have read it, happy at its arrival

  4. and delighted at its delivery. As for what he has (i.e., you have) mentioned about the situation of the journey to

  5. the king and his (i.e., your) saying that he is (i.e you are) afraid, well, praise be to God the Exalted, I am not a soldier

  6. of the king’s army that I should be feared. I am a man who is a merchant, the slave of one who had done good to me. 

  7. Moreover, I am not one who refuses to have an audience with the king, may God preserve him. I travelled

  8. previously to him and he showed me favour, facilitated my affairs, did good to me and promised me a consignment.

  9. I am his slave and his servant. He has an excellent reputation. As for their saying that I am the slave boy

  10. of the Master of the Spear—I am only a merchant. I was the guest of the king and I lodged with the Master of

  11. the Spear like the (other) merchants. Not everybody who lodges with a person is his slave boy. He treats guests

  12. well. When somebody treats the merchants well, they rush (to stay) with him. You, Ikshīl,

Recto, right margin

  1. when you treat people and merchants well, they rush to (stay with) you, and you are (greatly) thanked in the land of the Muslims.

  2. I have desisted from journeying to the king only in consideration of the fact that Ramaḍān is a difficult month and I am anxious about travelling

MIAC 23973.21 verso

°
verso

Verso

  1. في الطريق فافطر وانا ان شا الله بعد العيد اسير طالبا الى الملك

  2. واسل تفضلها بان تكتب كتاب الى عبد الملك بان يوفي لي بالرسالة 

  3. الذي اوعدني بها ويكون هذا الامر على يديك وانا ما كان يمكني ان 

  4. اسير اليك جواب كتابك بلا حق عين وما كان عندي الا وصيف واحد

  5. يسقيني الما وقد سيرته اليك وصحبته خمسة مقاطع وحلة شرب وسلة

  6. حلاوة وطراحة برسمك وهذ اشيا لك وبرسمك وانت فلم تعرفنى

  7. قط وما كان يمكني ان تسير الي كتاب وانفذ لك جوابه بلا حق عين 

  8. واريد ان تسير الى غلامي سرعة فوحق الله لولا سفري الى عند

  9.  الملك ما كنت اسير اليك هذا القليل فلا تخلي الغلام يقيم يوم واحد

  10. وتسيره لي صحبة غلامك حتى اسير انا واياه ان شا الله حضرته مخصوصة بالسلام

  11. والخير بكم ان شا الله وتخص الملك بالسلام وتعلمه انني ان شا الله واصل اليه

  12. وما اقدر اسير حتى يصلني  والحمد لله وحده 

  13. غلامي فسيره سرعة سرعة

Verso, right margin

  1. وتسير الى كتابك ان جماعة من التجار يدخلوا معي فانك من قبل العيش تحسن

  2. اليهم فيه فيصلني كتابك سواهم

Verso, address, right column

  1. يصل هذا الكتاب الى مولاي الاكشيل 

  2. صاحب الخيل اروي اطال الله بقاه

Verso, address, left column

  1. مملوكه

  2. حصن الدولة بن العسقلاني

Verso

  1. on the road before breaking the fast. If God wills, I shall travel to the king after the festival.

  2. I ask for her (i.e., your) kindness to write a letter to the slave of the king requesting him to deliver to me the consignment

  3. that he promised me. Please could this be done through your agency. I could not

  4. send you a reply to your letter without cash payment. I only had a single slave (waṣīf)

  5. who supplied water for me. I sent him to you together with five pieces (of fabric), a large basket drinking vessel, a small basket of

  6. sweets and a mattress for you. These were things for you and for you alone. But you never let me know (whether you received them).

  7. I could not send you a reply to a letter you sent without cash payment.

  8. I want you to send me my slave boy quickly. By God’s truth, if it were not for my journey to

  9. the king, I would not have sent you this little (gift). Do not make the slave boy delay a single day,

  10. but send him to me with your slave boy, so that I can go (to the king) together with him, if God wills. Greetings to you

  11. and good wishes, if God wills. Give the king my greetings and inform him that, if God wills, I shall be coming to him.

  12. Praise be to God alone. But I cannot travel until

  13. my slave boy arrives, so send him quickly, quickly!

Verso, right margin

  1. Send your letter to me, so that a group of merchants can enter (to see the king) with me, for you would thereby help

  2. them in their livelihood. So, I would like your letter for them to reach me.

Verso, address, right column

  1. May this letter reach my lord, the Ikshīl,

  2. Master of the Horses, Uruwī, may God prolong his life. 

Verso, address, left column

  1. His slave,

  2. Stronghold  of  the  Dynasty  (Ḥiṣn  al-Dawla)  ibn al-ʿAsqalānī.

Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, Qaṣr Ibrīm, MIAC 23973.21. Available online through the Princeton Geniza Project at https://geniza.princeton.edu/documents/40162/ (accessed February 25, 2026).