Letter to a Student’s Father (I)

Unknown

11th or 12th Century

About This Entry

This short Judeo-Arabic note, written on a small scrap of parchment, appears to have been sent from a teacher to the father of one of his students, whose name was Abū ’l-Ḥasan. The teacher provides a flattering report of Abū ’l-Ḥasan’s studiousness and informs the father that another boy had shattered Abū ’l-Ḥasan’s writing instruments. Children learned to write on wooden boards, which the students would balance on their knees to serve as a desk or writing surface.

I would like to inform my lord the sheikh—God [Allah] preserve his strength!—that Abu ’l-Ḥasan, no sooner had he been given over [to my care] than his eye was on his schoolwork. But I have to inform [my lord] what happened to him: [another child called] Abu ’l-Ḥasan ibn Wuhayb rose up and broke his writing-board with the full knowledge of the other boys. Greetings.

Source: T-S Ar.53.65.

Translated by Benjamin M. Outhwaite.

Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation.

Credits

Unknown, “Letter to a Student’s Father” (I), trans. Benjamin M. Outhwaite, in Benjamin M. Outhwaite, Melonie Schmierer-Lee, and Cayley M. Burgess, “Letter about Schoolyard Bullies,” from Discarded History: The Genizah of Medieval Cairo (Cambridge: Cambridge University Library, 2017), 21. Used with permission of the publisher.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.