Account of a Visit with Maimonides

Unknown

Late 1190s

Recto: Al-Faḫr, may God protect him, went with us when we set out for Rabbi Moses’s [house] but he [preferred] for his part to remain at the entrance to the house while I and al-Ğalāl proceeded to enter. I kissed his noble hand and he received us with a most cordial welcome. He said to me, “Come and be seated, young man,” beckoning me to sit on the…

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This Judeo-Arabic letter reports on a meeting with Moses Maimonides. The unnamed writer, perhaps a messenger of the nasi of Mosul, Iraq, who had settled in Fustāt (Old Cairo), had been asked to bring some communal matters to Maimonides’ attention and was apparently thrilled with the encounter. Maimonides’ only son, Abraham, also participated in this meeting.

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