Account of a Raid on Aden

In this excerpt from a business letter written to the Tunisian merchant and bronze-ware manufacturer Abraham Ben Yijū (b. ca. 1100), then living in India, Maḍmūn ibn al-Ḥasan tells of a harrowing expedition in Aden, Yemen. Parts of three separate copies of the letter have been found in the Cairo Geniza: the original, written by Maḍmūn himself, and two clean copies done by his clerk. Rāmisht (d. 1140), mentioned here, was an important merchant and ship’s captain (nākhudā). His epitaph is preserved in Mecca.