Geniza Lab

Letter from Suhayl, in an unknown location, to his wife Umm Wuhayb and to his son, in Fustat. He asks in the most urgent terms that they return to him. He is seriously ill (marīḍ ʿalā khuṭṭa) and may die at any moment. If they do not return, they will regret it when regret will not do them any good. He alternates between addressing his son, who is probably meant to read the letter to his mother, and his wife. Information in part from Mediterranean Society, III, p. 339. ASE.

Abū l-Majd, in Alexandria writes to his cousin Judge Elijah, in Damascus (?) on a business trip. See Goitein Nachlass material. Judge Elijah may in fact be in Fustat. Abū l-Majd writes, that a certain mawlā (his father?) wrote to him from Damascus telling him to come join him. "I was shocked; I don't know what to do. He said that he is blind in his eyes. I am making up my mind to go. I want to consult you about the trip. . . the news of the country, whether caravans are going. . . ." Abū l-Majd also writes, "I have sent you many letters on this matter and not received a response." AIU VII.E.38 seems to be one of those letters. ASE.

Recto: Note from a sick man to a physician, it seems beseeching him to assist an older family member who is also sick. "By the Law, if I revealed the state of my master (father?), you would mourn him on account of his distress and the cares that are upon him. For you are the skilled physician and I am the sick man in your care. Act with me for the sake of your Creator. Protect my master in any case, for I am sick, and I don't know if I will die or if he will die while we are separated, going to the grave with terrible grief (? reading חצרה as חסרה). By God, act with me for the sake of Heaven and have mercy on me." Verso: Two orders of payment, written at right angles, one to Abū Isḥāq and one to Abū l-Ḥasan. ASE.

Letter on behalf of Yaḥyā b. ʿAmmār of Alexandria addressed to ʿŪlla ha-Levi b. Yosef, a.k.a. Abū l-ʿAlā' Ṣāʿid b. Munajjā, a parnas (social welfare official) and trustee of the court in Fustat, dated documents 1084–1117. In Judaeo-Arabic. In the hand of Ḥalfon b. Menashshe. Yaḥyā requests financial help, especially with paying off his debts. His dependents include his children and his old, blind mother. When he could not bear to see them suffering from hunger, he ran away. For some time he has been in hiding from his debtors, some of whom are Muslim. He has recently heard that his mother is dying. He fears that she will die "on his account" before he is able to return and obtain her forgiveness. Information from Mediterranean Society, I, p. 257, Goitein's index cards, CUDL, and Cohen. ASE.

Note to R. David to summon a Maghribi named Abu Dawud Khayyat, whose grown-up son had died and whose wife is critically ill with dysentery and fears that she will not see her husband again. On verso are accounts and several versions of the signature of Shelomo b. Eliyyahu, placing the date in the early 13th century. ASE.

Letter from Abū l-Ḥayy b. Avraham, in Ifrīqiyya, to his uncle, Moshe b. Abī l-Ḥayy, in Alexandria. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: Mid-11th century. A moving letter, describing two sieges (on Qayrawān?) by the Hijazis (the Hilal Bedouins) and further threats of persecution of the Jews. The addressee's brother is very sick. He started to improve, but is now deteriorating from 'the constriction of his akhlāq' (meaning uncertain, but see tag) and from the pain. The writer does not seem to expect him to live long ("may God unite the two of you before he leaves this world"). (Information in part from Med Soc II, 283, 588, and from Goitein's index cards.) ASE

Letter from a husband, probably a merchant belonging to the elite, to his wife of a second marriage. In Judaeo-Arabic. He expresses his yearning and describes his depressed state in great detail, seeking to refute her assumption that he is remaining away because life is good for him. He alludes to his "many illnesses and sundry pains" but doesn't go into them to spare her. He received her letter about her "sickness of heart which brings the sickness of the body," but chides her for writing about such things, because he is not the kind of man who needs to be aroused to "tenderness and compassion." ASE

Letter (bottom part) from Alexandria to Fustat, dictated by Abu l-Najm Hilal, written down by Abu l-Muna, and addressed to Abu Ishaq b. Yaʿaqov at funduq al-Mahalli, who is to give it to Abu l-Majd the cantor—the brother of Hilal. The writer sends greeting to the addressee’s wife and the teacher Yiṣḥaq. The silk that Abu l-Majd sent to Mahasin has arrived. The old woman (presumably the mother of Hilal and Abu l-Majd) is frail and no longer able to work, and everyone is distressed, and they wish Abu l-Majd to come before she dies. The Ḥaver and Ibn Daud reached an arrangement to alternate Shabbats (in receiving income?) starting after Passover. Information in part from Goitein's note card. EMS. ASE.