Letter to Abraham Ben Yijū

Madmūn ibn al-Ḥasan

ca. 1145

Your servant, Maḍmūn b. al-Ḥasan b. Bundār—may he rest in Eden!

In Your name, O Merciful.

Your letter has arrived, my lord, the eminent, most illustrious elder. May God lengthen your life, make permanent your honored position and well-being, protect your soul from the vicissitudes of fate, crush with disdainful humiliation those envious of you and…

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Maḍmūn ibn al-Ḥasan tells the merchant Abraham Ben Yijū that Abraham has been granted safe passage, courtesy of Bilāl ibn Jarīr al-Muḥammadī (died ca. 1152), the governor of Aden, Yemen, referred to here as the “auspicious lord.” Maḍmūn also reports to Ben Yijū about his brother Mevasser, whose irresponsibility and bad reputation are mentioned in several other Geniza documents. Double brackets indicate words that have been crossed out.

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Related Guide

Correspondence in the Early Medieval World

7th to 12th Century

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