Geniza Lab

Letter from Benaya b. Mūsā to Abū l-Afrāḥ ʿArūs b. Yūsuf. In Judaeo-Arabic. The purpose of the letter is to explain why the writer never managed to make it to Abū l-Afrāḥ's location for the last two years. The first year, he fell ill in al-Maḥalla, and never even believed he would make it back to Alexandria. This year, he intended to travel, but was unable to "for reasons that cannot be mentioned." Benaya's children--or at least one of them--are hoping to travel this year, and he prays for their success. Benaya is very preoccupied because he heard that his cousin (bint ʿammī) is sick, and he asked the Kohen Abū l-Surūr for news about her but has not heard back, so he now asks Abū l-Afrāḥ for news about his cousin's health.