Letter to Isaac ben Jacob

My letter, my lord and master—may God lengthen your remaining [days] and make permanent your strength—from Jerusalem, may God rebuild it. [I am] at peace, thank God—gratitude to God for His goodness. God almighty knows how your news has weighed down my heart, and I regret that you lost what you had. However, God almighty rewards and compensates, so do not carry a burden with you; instead, turn your intention to returning to Jerusalem, the blessed. For the Holy One does not cause loss.

You know, my lord, what Barzillai said [to King David, declining to accompany him to Jerusalem, pleading old age]: Let your servant [turn back, that I may die in my own town] (2 Samuel 19:38). Nor is profit a product of endeavor, as you know, in the words of the saint [here, King Solomon], peace be upon him: The race is not [to the] swift (Ecclesiastes 9:11). All in all, there is nothing to say to you except what you—may God protect you—already know.

Today, something happened to me with Thābit—a thing that would take a while to explain, but [suffice it to say that in the end] I collected five dinars [from him], among them two good dinars, and the remainder Sicilian quarter dinars—old, new, and fragmented. If I happened to have someone with me at this time with whom I could send [the dinars], I would send them [to you]. But it is not an [amount appropriate for] writing a suftaja [order of payment]. I intend to pay al-Arajānī, and to deduct it from [the amount collected in dinars], and I will [then] take out a suftaja in that [amount] if I receive your letter directing me to do so. Al-Arajānī says that he has formed a trade partnership with R. Abraham ben Isaac the Scholar (al-talmid). With regard to what you told me about [R. Abraham] and his situation: if he [were to] come to Jerusalem, I would fetch him and make him pay you the dinars [you are owed], and I would collect them from him; however, he is away [ . . . ]. Therefore, I asked someone to write to my lord the ḥaver [fellow; an honorific], R. Eli, that he might help in retrieving your money. I also asked our lord Ab[ū] Iṣḥaq Ibrāhīm, “the joy of the academy,” may God preserve him, [to do the same].

So now we wait [to see] what happens and what he will tell me. I also wrote to our lord Abū Iṣḥāq Barḥūn ibn R. Moses the ḥaver of blessed memory [margin:] and he worries for you—may God almighty help you. I attached to this [verso:] letter another letter to my lord Abū ’l-Faraj Hibah al-Kohen, may God protect him. Please deliver it to him. [Even] if he is in the countryside, please send it to him. Do not delay [sending] your letter to me, and [let me know therein] everything you desire. Perhaps my lord Abū ’l-Faraj Hibah [al-Kohen] will be able to help you collect the dinars [you are owed]. Go, hurry your reply.

The community wishes you perfect well-being, and they miss you. May God return you to a state of well-being. Peace to you and to your house and to all your [people].

I am letting you know that ‘Imrān is defaming the memory of our lord, the gaon Solomon—may the memory of the righteous be a blessing, and [may it] live forever. It would be best for him to turn from his foul ways; however, his hair is sprinkled with gray, but he [still] does not know (Hosea 7:9). I will say no more on that [matter].

Covenant of peace.

Address, in Arabic Script

To my lord, Abū Ya‘qūb Iṣḥāq ibn Ya‘qūb the ḥaver.

From Ḥayim ben Solomon the Jerusalemite.

[Send to] Fustāt, God willing.

May God lengthen the remaining [days of your life] and make permanent your strength and your favor.

Send to the Dār al-ṣarf [House of Money Changing].

Source: Budapest MTA (David Kaufmann) 333 (Alt.18).