10 *Yatafashkarūn* has no meaning, but is reminiscent of *yatafashkalūn* 'they are confused or disordered'.

#### **4.22**

And a scholar entered one of the villages on the banks of the river close to the desert and saw what looked like a mosque, with cattle and sheep and goats in it. He was extremely hungry, so sat down and recited from Sūrat al-Kahf, 11 and a group of people from the village gathered around to listen. However, when he came to the words of the Almighty "Some will say, 'They were three, their dog the fourth'," 12 they said to him, "Shaykh, you have defiled the Qurʾān! God's Word has no dogs in it, and you have put dogs in it!  One of them, however, stood up and said, "Don't beat him or kill him till we've sent for the pastor of our village, al-Ḥājj Mukhālif Allāh13 and asked him. If he tells us that the Qurʾān has dogs in it, we'll leave him be. If not, we'll kill him!" So they sent for this man and an individual appeared, tall as a flagpole on a mountain and bulky and heavy in physique as the Pillar of the Columns, so that just looking at him was enough to make the skin crawl. He was enveloped in a filthy white blanket and nothing else. When he came and had sat down, they informed him of the situation. He looked to the right and to the left and then said to them, "Be patient till I reveal you the truth and discover you the essence of the matter!" Then he lay down on his back and told them, "Throw the blanket over me!" which they did. He remained thus for a while without speaking or moving, then suddenly leapt up, naked, head

11 Q 18, Sūrat al-Kahf.

12 Q Kahf 18.22.

13 *Mukhālif Allāh* literally 'He who disagrees with God'.

and privates exposed, and stood thus for a while gazing into the sky in a state of ecstatic agony. Eventually, he called for his blanket and wrapped it about him and sat down. "I have visited the Ten Heavens that the Almighty created," he said, "and I saw that in the First Heaven are cows and in the Second Heaven buffalos and in the Third Heaven calves and in the Fourth Heaven oxen and in the Fifth Heaven such-and-such and in the Sixth Heaven such-and-such" and he went on enumerating the various types of animals until he said, "and I saw that the Tenth Heaven was full of flocks of sheep and goats, and as you know flocks need dogs, which they are never without, and the shepherd has to have a dog to guard his flocks.  So the scholar took the two loaves and went away, praising the Almighty for saving him from those ignoramuses.

## **6. A WEAVER'S NOTEBOOK FROM ALEPPO (10TH/16TH CENTURY)**

## *Boris Liebrenz and Kristina Richardson*

At the end of the 10th/16th century and the beginning of the 11th/17th century, the Aleppine Kamāl al-Dīn, a weaver by profession, kept a notebook.1 Only a small fragment of it seems to have survived, held since the early 19th century in the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha in Germany. The remaining folios, from the years 997 and 998, contain descriptions of political and economic events, of meetings with friends and events in the market, or the weather; obituaries; riddles and sayings; stories and excerpts from books on history, religion, and law; a multitude of poems, many of his own making; in short, anything that this weaver deemed interesting to record at any point.

Kamāl al-Dīn had a keen interest in reading, literature, and scholarship, but was not a career scholar himself. While he had studied several sciences to some degree in his youth (fol. 55v: *almaʿqūlāt wa-l-fiqh wa-ʿiddat ʿulūm*), his only teacher held a minor post and remains unknown outside of Kamāl al-Dīn's notebook.

1 The notebook, its place in Arabic literature, as well as the biography of its author are the object of an extended study that will accompany our edition of the text, to appear within the series Bibliotheca Islamica at the Orient-Institut Beirut.

Colloquial language is a feature of the poetic genre called *zajal*, in which the author works several times. He does not willingly employ it in his prose. Kamāl al-Dīn certainly makes several smaller mistakes in these passages. Yet his idiosyncrasies rarely exceed contemporary manuscript practices. These practices include the replacement of an *ʾalif maqṣūra* with a *yāʾ*, of a *hamza* with a *yāʾ* , or the omission of the points on the *tāʾ marbūṭa*. Thus, the sole instance of the word اعطيطك in our sample probably serves as an attempt to introduce an element of spoken language into the story and to mark the speaker as an uneducated worker.

For the edition, we have adopted a set of orthographic standardisations to make the text more accessible: *tāʾ marbūṭa* with points; *ʾalif maqṣūra* without dots; *ḥamza* where necessary. We have also added some modern punctuation.

#### **Transcription**

Story of a hashish addict MS Gotha orient. A 114, fol. 7r

يحكى ان بليعا زيهاويني اشترى حمصا من الحمصاني في زبدية منه برهن كي ال يتهاون في ردها. الدار: "ا ذا انا قمت صباحا قولوا لي: خذ الزبدية!" فلما اصبح فلما وصل ا لى بيته قال هل ال َوه م بالطلوع وا ذا بقائلة: " خذ الزبدية!" وكان الوقت وقت لم تتعارف فيه الوجوه فمد لبس ثيابه يده ليا خذ الزبدية )سعي( ان )لصعاره( مستعملة جاء ليا خذ الزبدية اخذ المستعملة تحت ابطه. وكان الحمصاني بقدرة ه الل غفل عن عادته فلم يزل ينتظره حتى جاء. فناوله ما تحت را مستعملة جرى وراءه لحقه فقال له: "عافاك! ه وطل يها ابطه فاخذها الحمصاني والل اين 2 زبديتي؟" فقال: "اعطيطكها !" فلم يزاال يتشاجرا حتى ان بن الزهاوي استيقظ راى ان اباه بيه و ا ذا بهم في نزاعها ف علم انها سهو ة الزيهاوية. غلط حمل الزبدية وهو ال حق ال

2 كذا، والصواب: اعطيتك ا ياها.

## **Translation**

#### It is told

that a *ḥashīsh* swallower bought hummus from the hummus vendor in a *zabdiyya* bowl that he borrowed from him against collateral, so that he wouldn't neglect to return it. When he came home, he said to the people of the house: "When I get up in the morning, say to me: Take the *zabdiyya*!" And when he awoke, he dressed and wanted to get out, there was a woman saying: "Take the *zabdiyya*!" This was at a time when one could not tell faces apart. So, he stretched out his hand to take the *zabdiyya*, (…) there was a chamber pot. He wanted to take the *zabdiyya*, but took the chamber pot under his armpit. And the hummus vendor, through God's power, against his usual habit, waited until he came. He handed over what he had under his armpit and the hummus vendor took it. When he saw that it was a chamber pot he came after him, reached him, and said: "Please! By God, where is my *zabdiyya*?" He said: "I gave it to you!" They wouldn't stop arguing until the son of the *ḥashīsh* addict woke up and saw that his father had erred in picking up (what he thought was) the *zabdiyya*. When he reached his father, there they were, fighting over it. Then he realised that the cause was the absent-mindedness of *ḥashīsh* addicts.

#### **Commentary**

زيهاويني. Cf. the form الزهاوي later in the same story. It is clear already from Kamāl al-Dīn's own use of the term in several locations (see the stories on fol. 22v and the judge on *ḥašīš* on 58r) that it must have something to do with drug abuse. Furthermore, a connection is apparent with زيهِ , which Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī (d. 749/1350) used to mean 'hashish'. In his commentary on al-Ḥillī's verse, Bosworth (1976, II: 309) noted the following: "*Zīh* 'hashish' is a common term in the literature of hashish consumption from Ayyūbid and Mamlūk times onwards, with *zayyāh* occurring for 'hashish addict' (…)."

زبدية. A large bowl or deep dish.

الوجوه فيه تتعارف لم. Meaning it was too dark to discern shapes.

.ا عطيتك ا ياها of Instead .اعطيطكها

## **7. SELECTIONS FROM ARABIC GARSHŪNĪ MANUSCRIPTS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY**

## *Michael Erdman*

In the history of writing and literacy in the Middle East, Arabic written in Syriac characters, known as Arabic Garshūnī, presents us with an interesting, yet often forgotten, example of cultural adoption and adaptation. Arabic Garshūnī, similar to other allographic traditions, did not have a standardised orthography on which authors and scribes might base their writings. Nonetheless, the general need for language to function as a means of communication and wide dissemination of information implied that certain patterns were adhered to across the Christian Arab world. Previously, the corpus of Arabic Garshūnī manuscripts was limited to Levantine and southern Turkish sources, but an increase in our access to digitised manuscripts from Iraq and other regions has helped to broaden our understanding of this particular means of recording and reproducing cultural heritage (McCollum 2014, 16–19).

Within the patterns referred to above, the use of Syriac graphemes to represent Arabic sounds can be broken down into three separate categories: those for which there is a one-to-one correspondence between Arabic and Syriac graphemes; those cases in which Syriac lacks a unique means of representing an Arabic phoneme or grapheme; and a third subset in which the Syriac script represents Arabic phonemes through the use of diacritics. It should be noted that the distinction between phoneme (a unique sound in a phonetic system) and grapheme (a unique letter in a writing system) is important here. The decision to match a grapheme to a grapheme, a phoneme to a phoneme, or a phoneme to a grapheme (and vice versa) tells us as much about the copyist's grasp of Classical Syriac and Classic Arabic as it does about their particular dialect of spoken Arabic (McCollum 2014, 227).

The first category of mappings presents the least difficulties. Here, a one-to-one correspondence is established and is easily recognizable. Thus, the Arabic letter *bāʾ*, for example, is represented by the Syriac letter *bēt*. Within this category, however, we also find that the core Arabic graphemes function as representatives of the Arabic graphemes based on them, regardless of pronunciation. In this respect, the Syriac *yōd* is used for both the Arabic *yāʾ* and the Arabic *ʾalif maqṣūra*, despite the latter's pronunciation as an *ʾalif*.

The second group of graphemes are slightly more problematic, but they do reveal the pre-modern scribe or writer's understanding of phonetics. Take, for example, the velarised consonants, for which there are two graphemes in Syriac and four in Arabic. In general, those who wrote in Garshūnī sought to replicate sounds by both the *ṣādē* with a dot over it and the *ṭēt* with a dot under it. This raises the question of vernacular pronunciations of these letters among the Arabic-speaking Christian communities of the Middle East. In particular, it focuses our attention on the merging of the velarised phonemes in some dialects, such as Lebanese, which are still present in others, such as Najdī and Khalījī Arabic.

Finally, the third collection of graphemes is the most unstable: those that can be represented fully in Syriac with the help of diacritics, the most common of which is the *rukākā*, a dot below the letter. Here, the Arabic *ghayn* is rendered with the Syriac *gāmal* and a dot below, the traditional Syriac means of rendering the voiced pharyngeal fricative. Occasionally, a conscientious scribe would also use a *qūshāyā*, or a dot above the letter, to indicate that it was to be read as the corresponding non-spirantized letter in Arabic. The problem with this group of graphemes is that the usage of the dot is far from routine. The reader is thus left asking herself if this phenomenon—which rarely impedes comprehension—is a reflection of vernacular phonology or simple laziness on the part of the scribe.

A final remark must be made on additional markers used in Arabic texts. The *hamza*, although a separate letter according linguists, never features in Garshūnī texts. When it would sit on an *ʾalif*, *waw* or *yāʾ* in Arabic, the basic grapheme is used. *Ḥarakāt* may or may not be included in a text and almost always follow the Arabic system, rather than either of the two Syriac systems in use. Similarly, two dots over the letter assist us in determining whether a final *hē* is intended to be a *tāʾ marbūṭa* or a final *h*. Lastly, the *shadda* occasionally appears in its Arabic form. On other occasions, it shows up as a tilde over the doubled consonant or a neighbouring one. Gemination was rare enough in Classical Syriac that it did not merit its own special diacritic.

The full listing of the most common orthography is found in the table below:

In traditional Syriac texts, similar to those in Hebrew and Arabic, the letters are also assigned numerical values. These numbers are often denoted by a line over the individual graphemes. This tradition was carried over into many of the Garshūnī texts used in this section.

The traditional Syriac system of numeration is as follows (Healey 2005, 93):

#### **British Library Or MS 4435; 12r**

#### **Transcription**

	- .2 ܦܢܩܘܠ ܐܢܗ ܟܡ ܐ ܩܕ ܓܐ ܠܥܢܕ ܕܐܢܝܐܠ ܗܘ ܓܒܪܐܝܠ ܐܠܝ ܙܟܪܝܐ.
		- .3 ܩܕ ܒܫܪ ܥܢ ܐܠܚܒܠ ܒܝܘܚܢܐ ܗܟܕܐ ܘ ܐܠܒܬܘܠ ܗܘ ܒܫܪܗܐ
	- .6 ܦܗܕܐ ܬܚܩܩ ܟܠ ܐܡ ܐܠܡܠ ܐܟ ܠ ܐܢܗ ܩܕ ܣܒܩ ܒܫܪ ܕܐܢܝܐܠ ܘ ܙܟܪܝܐ ܘ
	- .7 ܩܐܠ ܩܘܡ ܐܢ ܓܒܪܐ ܸܚܠ ܗܘ ܪܝܣ ܪܬܒܗ ܐܠܣܓܡܗ ܐܠܬܚܬܐܢܝܗ ܡܢ ܐܠܡܠ ܐܝܟܗ
		- .8 ܘ ܩܕ ܐܪܣܠ ܗܕܐ ܠ ܐܢ ܐܣܡܗ ܟܐܢ ܥܢܕ ܕܐܢܝܐܠ ܦܝ ܐܠܥܬܝܩܗ.
			- .9 ܠܝܣܕ ܦܡ ܐܠܝܗܘܕ ܐܠܩܐܝܠܝܢ ܠܥܠ ܥܒܬܐ ܗܘ ܐܣܡܗ ܘ ܟܕܡܬܗ
				- ܓ .10 ܘ ܬܐܢܝܐ ܠܟܝ ܝ ܟܪ ܐܠܥܬܝܩܗ ܘ ܝܕܟܠ ܐܠܓܕܝܕܗ
					- .11 ܘ ܠ ܐܓܠ ܕܠܟ ܩܕ ܐܪܣܠ ܐܠܝ ܙܟܪܝܐ ܘ ܡܪܝܡ

#### **Arabic Transcription**

.1 الفصل التامن عشر في انه لمادا ارسل جبرايل و لم يرسل مالك اخر. .2 فنقول انه كما قد جا لعند دانيال هو جبرايل الي زكريا. .3 قد بشّ ر عن الحبل بيوحنا هكدا و البتول هو بشرها .4 فلو كان غيره قد بشر زكريا فغيره قد بشر البتو كل و غير مص ّدق عند السامعين من كل بد .5 لكن اول قد ارسل الي دانيال و تانيا الي زكريا و تالتا الي مريم

.6 فهدا تحّقق كالم المالك لنه قد سبق بشر دانيال وزكريا و

.7 قال قوم ان جبرايل هو ريس رتبة السجمة التحتانيه من الماليكه .8 و قد ارسل هدا لن اسمه كان عند دانيال في العتيقه. ّسد فم اليهود القايلين لعل عبتا هو اسمه و خدمته .9 لي .10 و تانيا لكي يخرج العتيقة و يدخل الجديدة .11 و لجل دلك قد ارسل الي زكريا و مريم

#### **Translation**

(1) Section 18, regarding why Gabriel was sent and not another angel. (2) We say that it was the same as in the case of Daniel, (and) when Gabriel came to Zachariah. (3) He similarly presaged the pregnancy (of Elizabeth) with John and he also brought good tidings to the Virgin. (4) So, if it had been someone else who brought good tidings to Zachariah, it would also have been someone else who brought good tidings to the Virgin. And someone else would have been believable to the listeners in any case. (5) But first He sent [him] to Daniel, and second to Zachariah, and third to Mary. (6) This proves the words of the angel, because previously he brought good tidings to Daniel and Zachariah. (7) Some people said that Gabriel is the head of the lower stream of His angels. (8) And He sent this one because his name was already associated with Daniel in the Old [Testament] (9) in order to shut the mouths of Jews who were saying that perhaps his name and task were not to be taken seriously; (10) and secondly so that he [Gabriel] would leave the Old [Testament] and enter the New [Testament]. (11) And for that reason, He sent him to Zachariah and Mary.

#### **British Library Or MS 7205, 1v**

A book of Christian theology in questions and answers

#### **Transcription**

	- .4 ܦܐܢ ܟܐܢ ܥܢܕܟ ܥܠܡ ܐ ܒܗ ܦܥܠܡܢܝ ܫܝܐ ܡܢ ܗܕܐ ܐܠܥܠܡ ܐܠܫܪܝܦ ܐܠܡܒܐܪܟ
	- .5 ܓܘܐܒ ܢܥܡ ܥܠܝ ܐܠܪܐܣ ܘܐܠܥܝܢ ܐܢܐ ܐܥܠܡܟ ܡܡ ܐ ܥܛܐܢܝ ܐܠܠܗ
		- .6 ܘܐܢܥܡ ܥܠܝ ܡܢ ܛܗ. ܟܪܡ ܦܝ
	- .7 ܦܐܥܠܡ ܐܢ ܐܠܥܠܡ ܐܠܡܣܝܚܝ ܗܘ ܬܥܠܝܡ ܡܪܟܒ ܡܢ ܟܠ ܐܡ ܐܠ ܐܢܓܝܠ ܐܠܡܩܕܣ
		- .8 ܘ ܡܢ ܪܣܐܝܠ ܐܠ ܷܚܘܐܪܝܘܢ.
		- .9 ܘ ܒܘܣܐܛܗ ܗ ܕܐ ܐܠܟܠ ܐܡ ܐܠܡܣܝܚܝ ܬܥܠܡ ܡ ܐ ܝܢܒ ܓܝ ܠܗ
			- .10 ܘ ܡ ܐ ܗܘ ܛܪܘܪܝ ܠ ܐܡܪ ܟܠ ܐܨܗ ܐܠ ܐܒܕܝ
	- .11 ܣܘܐܠ ܐܬܕܪܝ ܡܢ ܗܡ ܐܠܡܠܙܘܡܝܢ ܐܢ ܬܥܠܡܘܐ ܗܕܐ ܐܠܬܥܠܝܡ ܐܠܡܦܝܕ
		- .12 ܓܘܐܒ ܓܡܝܥ ܐܠܡܣܝܚܝܸܝܢ ܗܡ ܐܠܡܠܙܘܡܝܢ ܒܬܥܠܝܡܗ.
		- .13 ܐܠܟܒܐܪ ܡܢܗܡ ܘ ܐܠܨ ܓܐܪ ܐܠܪܓܐܠ ܘܐܠܢܣܐ ܡܢ ܟܠ ܒܕ ܘ ܣܒ.

#### **Translation**

(1) In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the Sole God, amen. (2) The Book of Teaching for a Christian, by means of Questions and Answers between the teacher and the student. (3) Question: Oh, my brother, for some time now, I have been doubtful about the Teachings for Christians. (4) If you are in possession of any knowledge about it, impart upon me something from this honourable, blessed knowledge.  (7) I shall teach [you] that Christian knowledge is teaching composed of the Word of the Holy Gospels (8) and from the epistles of the Apostles. (9) And as a medium of this, the Word of the Lord [Messiah] taught what was necessary for this, (10) and what was essential, for the issue of eternal salvation. (11) Question: Tell [me], who are they who should learn this useful teaching? (12) Answer: All Christians are required to learn it. (13) Adults among them and children; men and women; for all desires and reasons.

#### **Commentary**

The above extracts come from two Garshūnī Arabic manuscripts housed at the British Library. I have sought to mirror the texts as closely as possible, and have therefore left in as many idiosyncrasies as can be reflected in a word-processed document.

Information about the provenance of these manuscripts is scant at best. For the most part, British Library records provide only the title of the work, its pagination, and the date of its acquisition. Garshūnī manuscripts were sourced from across the northern Middle East, including modern day Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. As such, they represent the copying traditions of these communities.

The first extract, Or. 4435 is a collection of stories to be told at Christian festivals. I have chosen a short extract explaining angelic visitation. The manuscript itself was likely copied in the 19th century in the vicinity of Malatya, Turkey (Margoliouth 1899, 42). More information can be gleaned from the catalogue of Forshall and Rosen (1838) for the second extract, Or. 7205. This Catechism in the form of questions and answers, we learn from the catalogue, is likely to have been penned in the 15th or 16th century. An addition at the back of the manuscript tells us that it was purchased by Father Elyas from Father Suleiman of Mosul in 1799. From this we know that the work was likely still in use until the end of the 18th century (Forshall and Rosen 1838, 101).

Most of the unique attributes of Garshūnī mapping can be seen in both manuscripts. Consider, to start with, the repurposing of the *ṭēt*, equivalent of the Arabic *ṭāʾ*, as a *ḍād*, which is seen only in the extract from Or. 7205:

Or. 7205 Line 6 ݂ܛܗ ܦܝ *fayṭihi* [fayḍihi] 'his abundance' Line 10

ܛܪܘܪܝ *ṭarūrī* [ḍarūrī] 'necessary'

Next, we find in the two texts the use of the *gāmal* to reflect both the Arabic *jīm* and *ghayn*:

Or. 4435

Line 2

ܓܒܪܐܝܠ *Gibrāʾil* [Jibrāʾil] 'Gabriel'

Line 4

ܓܝܪܗ ܟܐܢ ܦܠܘ *fa-law kān gayroh* [fa-law kāna ghayrihi] 'if it were not him'

Or. 7205

Line 5

ܓܘܐܒ *gawāb* [jawāb] 'answer'

Line 13

ܓܐܪ ܐܠܨ *al-ṣigār* [al-ṣighār] 'the small ones'

Finally, the following examples demonstrate the lack of transference of complete Arabic orthography into Arabic Garshūnī, with an example of a lack of *hamza*:

Or. 4435

Line 11

ܐܓܠ ܠ *li-agal* [li-ajli] 'because'

Or. 7205

Line 8

ܪܣܐܝܠ *rasāil* [rasāʾil] 'letters'

As a final remark, the texts under examination, along with many of the other Arabic Garshūnī texts in the British Library collections, do not demonstrate usage of Syriac lexical items in any notable proportion. Nonetheless, it is interesting to point out the

carry-over of some of the biblical names in their Syriac orthography, such as

Or. 4435

Line 2

 ܕܐܢܝܐܠ *Dāniyāl*, which we can compare to the Arabic دانييل ) ܕܐܢܝܝܓ in Arabic Garshūnī orthography) and the Syriac ܕܐܢܝܐܝܠ*.*

## **8. EXCERPT FROM YŪSUF AL-MAĠRIBĪ'S DAFʿ AL-IṢR ʿAN KALĀM AHL MIṢR (1606)**

## *Liesbeth Zack*

The following is an excerpt from *Dafʿ al-iṣr ʿan kalām ahl Miṣr*, 'Removing the burden from the speech of the Egyptians' (henceforth *Dafʿ al-iṣr*), written in the year 1014–1015/1606 by the Egyptian Yūsuf ʾAbū al-Maḥāsin Jamāl al-Dīn b. Zakariyyā b. Ḥarb al-Maġribī al-Miṣrī al-ʾAzharī (ca. 1562–1611).

Al-Maġribī was born and raised in Cairo as the descendent of North African immigrants. He grew up in the Ibn Ṭūlūn quarter, which was the meeting point for North African pilgrims, and the living quarter of a large number of North African immigrants. After first being set up in the fabric trade by his uncles following the death of his father, al-Maġribī went to study at al-Azhar University and subsequently worked in a government position. Al-Maġribī knew Persian and Turkish and translated some literary works from these languages into Arabic, but these translations have not survived.1 He does, however, comment on Turkish and

1 For more information on al-Maġribī's life and works, see Zack (2009, 9–19).

Persian words and phrases and cites some poetry in these languages in *Dafʿ al-iṣr*.

*Dafʿ al-iṣr* is a dictionary of Egyptian Arabic words that al-Maġribī checked for consistency with Classical Arabic, mainly using al-Fīrūzābādī's (1329–1415) *al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ* as his reference, but also citing from the Qurʾān and ḥadīth and from Classical Arabic poetry. Al-Maġribī introduces the Egyptian words and phrases by the word *yaqūlūna* 'they say', which was usual in the so-called *laḥn al-ʿāmma* literature. Al-Maġribī was acquainted with this genre, having written an arrangement of, and appendix to, al-Ḥarīrī's *Durrat al-ġawwāṣ fī awhām al-xawāṣṣ*. However, al-Maġribī's objective was the opposite of that of the *laḥn al-ʿāmma*literature, because whereas the authors of *laḥn al-ʿāmma* works set out to correct 'mistakes' that people made in the Arabic language, al-Maġribī's purpose for writing *Dafʿ al-iṣr* was to prove that many words and expressions that were generally thought to be 'incorrect' actually had equivalents in the Classical Arabic language (Zack 2009, 31–32; see Pellat (2012b) on *laḥn al-ʿāmma* literature). If a word used in the Egyptian dialect was found with the same meaning either in one of the Classical Arabic dictionaries, in the Qurʾān or ḥadīth, or in Classical Arabic poetry, al-Maġribī would classify it as *ṣaḥīḥ* 'correct'; if not, he would comment in terms of *lam yuʿlam* 'it is unknown', *wa-laysa ka-ḏālik* 'it is not like this', *ġayr ṣaḥīḥ* 'incorrect', and similar phrases (Zack 2009, 50–51).

Besides being an important source for Egyptian Arabic in the 17th century,2 *Dafʿ al-iṣr* also contains numerous interesting observations on Egyptian culture, such as games, food and drink, clothing, and household utensils. Al-Maġribī also makes comments about his own friends and acquaintances as well as about noteworthy events, as the selected text fragment will show. Al-Maġribī often digresses from the original word under discussion. Most of his comments were triggered by reading something in *al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ* that interested him or that reminded him of something that he had experienced. This is demonstrated in his entry for *ṭabṭab* 'to pat', where a note in *al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ* about the nickname *ṭabāṭabā* for someone who pronounced the *qāf* as *ṭāʾ* reminded him of one of his own acquaintances with the same speech impediment.

Only one manuscript of *Dafʿ al-iṣr* has survived—the autograph, which is kept in the St. Petersburg University library (catalogued under no. MS OA 778). In its present form, it consists of 134 folios, but originally it contained 25 *kurrāsa*s 'quires', of which quires 3–13 have been lost. The manuscript appears to be a first draft of *Dafʿ al-iṣr*, as there are a large number of corrections, additions, and comments (such as *unẓur* 'look up') added in the margins in the author's handwriting.3 An abbreviated version, based on the complete manuscript, was written by Ibn Abī

2 Another important source is Yūsuf al-Širbīnī's *Hazz al-quḥūf fī šarḥ qaṣīd Abī Šādūf*, description by Davies (1981), text edition and translation by Davies (2016).

3 For more information on the manuscript and the contents of *Dafʿ aliṣr*, see Zack (2009, 21–35).

al-Surūr (1589–1590). This book, titled *al-Qawl al-muqtaḍab fīmā wāfaqa luġat ahl Miṣr min luġat al-ʿarab* 'The abbreviated speech concerning what corresponds in the language of the people of Egypt to the language of the Arabs', contains only one-third of the original lemmata of *Dafʿ al-iṣr*, namely those that had the same meaning in Egyptian Arabic and Classical Arabic. Furthermore, it is stripped of all cultural information, poetry, and anecdotes, which is precisely what makes *Dafʿ al-iṣr* an important source of information on Egyptian language and culture in the 17th century.4

The excerpt from *Dafʿ al-iṣr* presented here is from the chapter *bāʾ*, section *ṭāʾ* and the first part of section *ʿayn*. Note that words are arranged according to the last letter of the root, like in other dictionaries, such as *Lisān al-ʿarab* and *al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ*, so that, for instance, the word *ʿazab* is found in chapter *bāʾ*, section *ʿayn*. The excerpt starts on fol. 16r line 10 of the manuscript, and ends at fol. 17r line 13. The orthography is kept exactly as it was written in the manuscript. The text fragment is followed by a translation and commentary.

 They12 say: *ṭabṭab ʿalā al-šay*, (11) and this has an equivalent.13 [Al-Fīrūzabādī] said in *al-Qāmūs*: "*al-ṭabṭaba* is the sound of water and the sound of the dashing of the torrent (12) and *al-ṭabṭabiyya* is a whip and *ṭabṭab* is a sound." Interesting fact: "*ṭabāṭabā* is the nickname (13) of Ismāʿīl b. al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī—may God be pleased with them—which was given to him because he used to (14) replace *qāf* with *ṭāʾ*, or because he was given a *qabāʾ*, 14 so he said: *ṭabāṭabā*, but he meant *qabāqabā*", end [of the quotation]. (15) The *faqīr*15 said: I heard the late son of sheikh al-Ġayṭī, who replaced letters (16) with *ṭāʾ*, say *nāṭis baʿḍ wurayṭāṭ*, that is, *nāqiṣ baʿḍ wurayqāt*, 16—(17) may God rest his soul, and we have profited much from his noble ancestors—"*Al-ṭabṭāb* is a bird with big ears". (18) They say: so-andso experienced *al-ṭarab*, which they apply to the agitation17 of joy,

12 I.e., the Egyptians.

16 "some little papers are missing"

13 I.e., it can be found in *al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ*.

14 An outer garment with sleeves.

15 Al-Maġribī always refers to himself in the third person with the epithet *al-faqīr* 'the poor', or 'living for the Lord alone' (see Nizami 2012 for the use of this term in the context of Sufism). Al-Maġribī had connections with some of the Sufi orders in Cairo (see Zack 2009, 15–16).

َ ب" :(1893–1863) Lane 17 طرَ Emotion, or a lively emotion, or excitement, or agitation, or unsteadiness […] by reason of joy or grief […]" (1888a); " َ ر كة حَ motion; commotion; agitation" (556b).

and it is used [in Classical Arabic] (19) for the agitation of both joy and grief, [so this is] one of the words with two opposite meanings, and "a man who is *muṭrāb* and *ṭarūb*." 18 (20) It seems now that the saying "if two donkeys happen to meet, [their voices] agitate," means that they evoke the agitation of grief, not (21) joy, because the voice of a single donkey evokes grief, from which one should seek protection, (22) so what would it be like if it were doubled? Interesting fact: *ṭarib* "like *katif*19 is the name of the horse of the Prophet—God bless him and grant him salvation."

#### **fol. 16v**

(1) They say *ṭāb* to [the game] they play, and also *ṭāba* to the counter.20 (2) I do not know a corresponding [word in Classical Arabic] for these two words.21 *Al-ṭāba* in the [Classical Arabic] language is "wine, and *Ṭayba* is al-Madīna, (3) and *ʿaḏq ibn ṭāb* is a type of date palm in [al-Madīna], or *ibn ṭāb* is a type of date." It is written thus in *al-Qāmūs*, (4) so it could just be that *ṭāb* is [derived] from one of these two, because it is [made] from the palm tree, so it is (5) *ṭāb* from the first one, or it is from the palm trees in [al-Madīna] [called] *ibn ṭāb*, from the second one. And

18 This means that these are the two adjectives derived from the word *ṭarab*, i.e., 'a man who is filled with joy or grief'.

19 That is, with the same vocalisation as *katif*.

20 Literally: 'ball'. See the Commentary below for a discussion of the Egyptian Arabic terms in the text.

21 Margin: Look up *ṭāb* and *ṭāba*.

*ṭiyāb* (6) like *kitāb* is a type of palm tree in Baṣra.22, 23 They call baked bricks *ṭūb*, and this is correct, (7) and [they call] joking *muṭāyaba*, which is also correct. One of the events (8) events [*sic*] that happened this year, which is the year 1014,24 (9) in the land of Egypt, is the herb that has become known under the name of *ṭābġa* 'tobacco'. They inhale25 its smoke, (10) and its use has now increased to the point that it is being sold every day in a world (11) full of vice and it has become a general necessity, all types in designated shops, (12) and now the idea has come up to open special houses for it like cafés.26 (13) I don't have reliable information about it. They say that it came from the West, and it is praised (14) in a long poem that I have heard. I have sucked up a little bit of its smoke and got (15) a kind of *dawxa*, dizziness, and no wonder, because *duxxān* 'smoke', which is also called *duxx*, is close to it.27 (16) Section *ʿayn*. They say *al-ʿbb* to that which is next to the chest, but (17) the correct [meaning] is that it is the sleeve. [Al-Fīrūzābādī] said in *al-Qāmūs*: "*al-ʿubb* with the vowel *u* is *al-rudn*, the sleeve," and [al-Fīrūzabādī] said about

22 Margin: As to *ṭāba*, it is not known; correct.

23 Margin: They say: he *ṭāwb* to someone, which means that he bowed his head in greeting to him, look this up.

24 1605–1606 CE.

25 Literally: 'drink'.

26 Margin: A *raṭl* of it is sold for three gold pieces. [Note: the *raṭl* is a unit of weight.]

27 Here, al-Maġribī makes a connection between *dawxa* 'dizziness' and *duxx* 'smoke', because they sound similar.

(18) *rudn*: "the base of the sleeve, its plural is *ardān*."28 They say: *ʿatabat al-bāb*, with which they mean (19) that which is at the bottom of the door, and what is written in the *Qāmūs* is that it is "*uskuffat al-bāb*, the threshold of the door, and the upper part (20) of it," end of quotation.29 It appears that *uskuffa* (21) is the lower part; then [al-Fīrūzābādī] said "*mā ʿatabtu bābahu* means: I did not step upon his threshold," and this is a sign that it is the lower part. (22) Interesting fact: the words of the Sublime *and if they ask amends yet no amends shall be made to them*30 mean that if (23) they ask their Lord to forgive their fault, he will definitely not do so, which means that he will not return them to the world. They say

#### **fol. 17r**

(1) he *ʿarqab* the riding animal, if he hamstrung it, which is correct, and as for the famous expression (2) "the promises of ʿUrqūb, this is "Maʿbad b. Asad, one of the Giants, who was the most untruthful person of his time. (3) Once a beggar came to him, so he told him: when my palm trees put forth the spadix [I will give you alms],31 so when that happened, he said: when it brings forth

28 Margin: *al-ʿbb* is the sleeve.

29 Margin: Look up what the difference is between the two conjuncts. [Note: *Al-maʿṭūf* and *al-maʿṭūf ʿalayhi*: a word to which another word is conjoined, for instance by the particle of conjunction *wa-*, in this case: *uskuffat al-bāb wa-l-ʿulyā minhā*.]

30 Qurʾān 41:24, translation by Arberry (1963, II:187).

31 See Lane (1863–1893, 1919c) for the meaning of النخل اطلع . The لع طَ , translated by Lane as the spadix (1921b) is a fleshy stem with small flowers that turn into dates if the palm tree is female.

dates, so when that happened, he said: (4) when the redness appears in the dates, and when that happened, he said: when the dates become ripe, so when that happened, he said: when the dates become dry, and when that happened, (5) he cut them off at night, and did not give [the beggar] anything." Al-Ašjaʿī32 said: "You made a promise, but not fulfilling it was in your character (6) Like the promises of ʿUrqūb to his brother in Yaṯrib." And from the poem *Suʿād is gone*: 33 (7) "The promises of ʿUrqūb were for her a model tall-tale promises, empty talk." They call (8) someone of the night guards *ʿazab* 'bachelor', which has an equivalent, because in the [Classical Arabic] language *ʿazab* is "someone who does not (9) have a family", and someone who has a family as a rule does not do this [night] watch, and someone who does not have a wife (10) is also a *ʿazab*, "and do not say *aʿzab*, or it is rare; the plural is *aʿzāb* and the feminine *ʿazaba* and *ʿazab*, (11) and the verb is like *naṣara*; 34 and *taʿazzaba* means he abstained from marriage." A curiosity: just like *taʿazzaba* with a *zāy* means 'to abstain', (12) so also with a *rāʾ*, 35 because it means that he left his land, and likewise *yaʿzibu* with the meaning 'to be absent', so the proximity is in both (13) the pronunciation and the

32 Abū ʿĀmir Ibn Šuhayd al-Ašǧaʿī (992–1035) was an Andalusian poet, man of letters, and vizier. See Pellat (2012a).

33 This is from the *lāmiyya* known as the *Burda*, by Kaʿb b. Zuhayr, a contemporary of the Prophet. See Basset (2012). Translation of this verse by Sells (1990, 149).

34 I.e., it has the vowels *a-a*, so *ʿazaba*.

35 I.e., *taʿazzaba* and *taʿarraba* have the same meaning.

meaning. It is known that the man is *ʿazab* and the woman *ʿazaba*, not *ʿāziba* as they say.

### **Commentary**

This section is divided into two parts: the first will discuss the orthography of the Classical Arabic component of the text, and the second part will focus on the Egyptian Arabic entries.

### **Classical Arabic: Orthography**

The main body of the text, which consists of al-Maġribī's comments on the Egyptian Arabic words under discussion, and contains quotations from *al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ* and other dictionaries, the Qurʾān, ḥadīth, and poetry, are all in Classical Arabic in terms of morphology, syntax, and vocabulary. However, the orthography is not according to the standards of Classical Arabic, but follows patterns that are well-known from Middle Arabic texts. Al-Maġribī's biography shows that he was an educated man, who studied at the Azhar University, was interested in the Arabic language, and had good knowledge of dictionaries and other works on linguistics. He also composed poetry in Classical Arabic. This is indicative of his excellent knowledge of the Arabic language. The fact that the orthography he used does not adhere to the standards of Classical Arabic can therefore not be attributed to insufficient knowledge of the language. As Lentin (2011) points out, "many writers have left us works written both in faultless or even sophisticated Classical Arabic and works written in Middle Arabic. For those writers at least, one has to abandon the idea of their inadequacies in Classical Arabic." We have to bear in mind that in many text editions, the orthography has been standardised by the editors, and that many Classical Arabic texts originally contained Middle Arabic features (Lentin 2011). In fact, the history of Arabic orthography has not been sufficiently studied yet; in order to do so, more text editions that are faithful to the original orthography need to be published (Den Heijer 2012). As for *Dafʿ al-iṣr*, the most important orthographic features are highlighted in the sections that follow (see also Zack 2009, 77–83).

#### The *hamza*

The *hamza* has been omitted in many cases. As the text is in Classical Arabic, this omission of the *hamza* is unlikely to be indicative of its loss in the pronunciation. Rather, as Blau (2002, 32) suggests, it could reflect "an ancient orthographic habit preserved also through N[eo-]A[rabic] influence."

Some examples of omission of the *hamza* (see also Blau 2002, 32–33):

.(اال ضداد) 19 .ln ,r16 االضداد ;(ا ي) 16 .ln ,r16 ا ي :*hamza* initial medial *hamza*: جات 16v, ln. 13 (ت جا ;(طاطا 16v, margin .(شيئا) 5 .ln ,r17 شيا ;(طا طا ) final *hamza*: الشي 16r, ln. 10 (الشيء ;(الما 16r, ln. 11 (الماء ;( .(بالطاء) 16 .ln ,r16 بالطا

When the *yāʾ* is the seat of the *hamza*, it is written below the *yāʾ*, e.g., رٕى طا 16r, ln. 17 ( طائر ;(لٕى سا 17r, ln. 3 (سائل(. It can also be omitted, as in فاىده 16r, ln. 1236 (فائدة ;(ىر سا 16v, ln. 11 (سائر(.

36 And other instances; in such cases, only one line number is given here.

## The *madda*

The *madda* is sometimes omitted, e.g., in االن 16r, ln. 20 (ن اال(. However, more interesting is that the *madda* is added on the *ʾalif* to write the combination *āʾ*: ىر سا 16v, ln. 11 (سائر ;(طا 16r, ln. 14 (طاء(. Often for good measure an extra *hamza* is added as well: .(بالراء ) 12 .ln ,r17 بالرا ء ;(طائر) 17 .ln ,r16 طا ىٕر

## The *yāʾ* and *ʾalif maqṣūra*

The *yāʾ* and *alif maqṣūra* are often used interchangeably.

*alif maqṣūra* instead of *yāʾ*: فى 16r, ln. 11; رضى 16r, ln. 13; التى 16v, ln. 8. *yāʾ* instead of *alif maqṣūra*: صلي 16r, ln. 22; البلوي 16v, ln. 11; ازهي 17r, ln. 4; بمعني 17r, ln. 12.

The *tāʾ marbūṭa*

The *tāʾ marbūṭa* is often written without dots, even if it is the first part of a genitive construction. Examples: الطابه 16v, margin; الدوخه 16v, ln. 15; نادره 17r, ln. 11; عزبه 17r, ln. 13.

## **Egyptian Arabic Lemmata**

*ṭabṭab* 'to pat': this entry provides a good example for how al-Maġribī comments on Egyptian Arabic vocabulary. In most cases he does not give a definition of the word under discussion, assuming that his readers know what it means. In Egyptian Arabic, *ṭabṭab* is used nowadays with the meaning of 'to pat' (Badawi and Hinds 1986, 530b; see also Dozy 1881, 2:21b); the combination with *ʿalā* given by al-Maġribī makes it likely that it meant just that in the 17th century, but the quotation from *al-Qāmūs almuḥīṭ* does not give the exact same meaning. The entry also shows how al-Maġribī integrates anecdotes about his own acquaintances and events from his own life into the dictionary.

*al-ṭarab* 'agitation': as in al-Maġribī's time, in modern Egyptian Arabic it is used to mean only pleasure, not sadness, but more specifically the pleasure derived from listening to singing (Badawi and Hinds 1986, 534a).

*ṭāb* 'the *ṭāb-*game': the game of *ṭāb* is still played today in Egypt. It is a "game for two players with stone counters and four strips of palm branch, each strip having one green side and one white side; the strips are thrown against a vertical surface and the various combinations of green and white govern the movement of the stones on a grid drawn in the dust" (Badawi and Hinds 1986, 528a). Lane (1863–1893, 55–58) gives a detailed description of the game and how it is played (Zack 2009, 74, 243; see also Dozy 1881, 2:65a–b).

*ṭāwb* 'to bow one's head in greeting': no references found in Classical Arabic or Egyptian Arabic dictionaries.

*ṭūb* 'bricks': from Coptic τωωβε 'brick' (Crum 1939, 398a; Badawi and Hinds 1986, 548b). The reason that al-Maġribī does not refer to its non-Arabic origin is that al-Fīrūzābādī (1999, 103a), al-Maġribī's main source, does not mention that it is a loanword.

*muṭāyaba* 'joking': as in Classical Arabic (Lane 1863–1893, 1952c).

*ṭābġa* 'tobacco'. Tobacco was introduced in Egypt in 1603–1604 (Matthee 2012), two years before al-Maġribī wrote *Dafʿ al-iṣr* (Zack 2009, 70–71). His comments show how tobacco very rapidly became popular, with special shops and coffee houses where customers could smoke being established within the two years of its introduction. Al-Maġribī did not view the smoking of tobacco favourably, as he comments on how he tried it and became dizzy and considered it a vice. He returns to the subject of tobacco on fol. 75v, where he mentions that there were discussions about whether it was permissible to smoke tobacco while fasting during Ramadan, with one sheikh ruling that it was indeed allowed. Al-Maġribī found this reprehensible (he mentions this anecdote in the lemma *raḏil* 'depraved'). Badawi and Hinds (1986) do not mention the word *ṭābġa* for tobacco, and neither does Spiro (1895).37 It is mentioned by Steingass (1884, 162b) as *tabġ* and by Dozy (1881, 2:141a) as *tibġ*.

*ʿbb* 'bosom of a garment'. It still has the same meaning in modern Egyptian Arabic, vocalisation *ʿibb* (Badawi and Hinds 1986, 558b; *ʿubb* in Classical Arabic, where it means 'base of the sleeve', as demonstrated in the quotation from al-Fīrūzābādī mentioned by al-Maġribī).

*ʿataba* 'threshold'. According to al-Maġribī, this applied only to the lower part of the door frame, but in modern Egyptian Arabic it is both the lower and upper part (Badawi and Hinds 1986, 558b).

*ʿarqab* 'to hamstring', i.e., incapacitate by cutting the hamstring tendon. The word is still in use in modern Egyptian Arabic (Badawi and Hinds 1986, 574a).

37 Badawi and Hinds (1986) mention *tumbāk / ṭumbāk* (136a, 546b) and *duxxān* (282a). Spiro (1895) mentions the Turkish *tutun* (68a) as well as *duxxān* (194b).

*ʿazab* 'member of the night guard': this meaning was derived from the original meaning 'bachelor', because only men who did not have a family would work in the night guard.38 Dozy (1881, 2:124a) mentions 'milice bourgeoise'. The 17th-century meaning of 'member of the night guard' disappeared in the 19th century, as it is not mentioned by Spiro (1895, 396b). Badawi and Hinds (1986, 574b–575a) mention only the forms *ʾaʿzab* and *ʿāzib* 'bachelor', not *ʿazab*, although they do mention the feminine form *ʿazaba* (alongside *ʿazba < ʿāziba*).

38 See Cezzâr (1962, 32) for more information on the night guard in Ottoman Egypt.

## **9. LEBANON: CHRONICLE OF AL-ṢAFADĪ (EARLY 17TH CENTURY [?])**

## *Jérôme Lentin*

In the first annex to their edition of al-Ṣafadī's chronicle (about the period 1612–1624) Bustānī and Rustum (1969, 208–41) published a section dealing specifically with the years (1613–1618) Faḫr al-Dīn spent in Italy. For them, al-Ṣafadī (a scholar born in Ṣafad, who studied in Al-ʾAzhar in Cairo, and the author of learned works as well as of travelogues) is not the author of this text, an opinion which seems reasonable, but is not shared by all scholars.

A recent edition is the 2007 volume *Riḥlat al-ʾAmīr Faḫr al-Dīn ʾilā 'Īṭāliyā, 1613–1618.* Faḫr al-Dīn al-Maʿnī al-ṯānī, ḥaqqaqahā wa-qaddama lahā Qāsim Wahb. Beirut: Al-Muʾassasa al-ʿarabiyya li-l-dirāsāt wa-l-našr and Abu Dhabi: Dār al-Suwaydī li-l-našr wa-l-tawzīʿ (*Irtiyād al-ʾāfāq*).

## **Transcription**

1 وفي مدينة فرنسيا وغيرها بيمارستانات الجل الضعفاء واي من ضعف 2 وكان له خاطر يروح 3 4 ما يحتاج الضعيف 5 الى البيمارستانات يالقي الحكما موجوده وجميع 6 ولو كان اقل الناس 7 واراد له ادويه بالف غرش يداووه بها من غير منية 8 واكله وشربه وفرش ولحف وناس معدة 9 لخدمة المرضى بجميع ما يحتاجوا اليه ولما يعرف الحكيم انه طاب يطالعوه من غير كلفه الضعيف درهم الفرد 10 وما يحط وجميع المصروف من اوقاف البيمارستانات وكذلك لهم 11

 فيها خدامين 12 ديوره ومراضع كلما خلق ولد للنسوان 13 من الذي 14 15 تحت القسط او من 16 النسوان الذي يخلق لهم ولد وما مرادهم يشهروه حتى اذا احد من الفقراء ولد له ولد وكان له 17 اوالد كثيره يرميه في هذا الموضع كرامة ترباته وهذا الدير له طاقة من رخام على قدر ما يسع الحرمه 18 الولد حين يخلق تجيبه 19 ملفوفا وترميه في الليل من هذه الطاقة ولها ناس ينتظروها من واذا نزل الولد يستلقوه ويعطوه الى 20 جوا المراضع يدبروه واذا كبروا 21 22 االوالد يحطوهم في القراءة والصناعة ويحطوا الذكور وحدهم واذا بلغوا االوالد االناث يدوروهم في المدينه وكل من قبل على جواز يجوزوه بنت منهم ان كان من اوالد المتربيين 23 24 في الدير او من الناس 25 الذي برا يجوزوه البنت الذي علمها وكلفة تربيتهم وجوازهم من اوقاف الدير ومن كيس 26 السلطان الن السيره عندهم المراة تعطي الرجال النقد كل من هو على قدر حاله على قدر مراتبهم وكذلك لهم ديوره للبنات االكابر وديوره الى بنات العامة الذي يرهبوا فيهم البنات وعلى هذا المنوال ديوره الى االوالد والرجال وجميع من يدخل الى هذه الديورة كلفته من اوقاف الدير واوالد االكابر ياتيهم من اهلهم

#### **Translation**

In the town of Florence, as in others, there are hospitals for ill people. Whoever falls ill and wants to go to the hospital will find there doctors and everything needed by an ill person. Even those with the most limited means, if medicines costing one thousand piasters are necessary, they treat them without any return obligation. They also get food, drink, bed, and blankets. People are there ready to provide all the care patients need. When the doctor sees that the ill person has recovered, they let him out without paying anything: he doesn't pay a single dirham. All these expenses are funded from the endowment income [*waqf*-s] of the hospitals. They also have monasteries with attendants and wet nurses. Every time a woman of disrepute gives birth to a child, or a woman wants to keep the birth of her child a secret, or even when a poor man with many children has a [new] child, [in all these cases] they can leave the child at this place, to have it brought up. This monastery has a marble window *the size of a new-born child. The woman brings the baby in swaddling clothes and drops it at night through this window. People are there inside waiting for her and when the baby comes down, they catch it and give it to the wet nurses who take charge of it. When the children grow up, they pay for them to learn to read [and write] and to learn a handicraft but only the boys. As for the girls, when they reach puberty, they go around the city with them and marry any one of these girls to whoever agrees to do so. Whether it is to one of the children raised in the monastery or to one of the people outside, they give to him as a wife the girl he has singled out. The costs of their upbringing and marriage are covered by the endowment* income of the monastery and at the expense of the sultan, because this is their way of doing things: the woman gives to the man the dowry—each according to his situation and to their [respective] rank. They also have monasteries for the daughters of the notables and monasteries for the daughters of the common people, where they turn them into nuns. And the same goes for the monasteries for boys and men. All those who enter the monasteries [in the case of the children of the common people] have their costs paid from the endowment income [*waqf*-s] of the monastery. As for the children of the notables, they are funded by their families.

## **Commentary**

3 خاطر له +) subjunctive) imperfect 'to want, wish, desire to, to feel like doing sth' (colloquial).

4 يروح *rāḥ* (and less frequently *rawwaḥ*) is the usual verb in MA for 'to go' and 'to go to'. For this last meaning, the more stylistically elevated جهّ تو is also widely.

5 جميع + noun / pron. is the most common quantifier in (Levantine) MA for 'all'; 'whole, entire', even before a singular (pro)noun.

6 الضعيف' ill, sick' (compare no. 2).

7 يداووه. The (colloquial) -*ū* form (and not -*ūn*) is used most of the time in MA for the second and third person plural of the imperfect; the -*ūn* form is used either in classicising passages or as a marked form, for instance after final conjunctions (contrary to Classical usage). Compare the many other examples of -*ū* forms ,يحطوهم ,يدبروه ,يستلقوه ويعطوه ,ينتظروها ,يطالعوه ,يحتاجوا :text this in .يرهبوا ,(x2 (يجوزوه ,يدوروهم ,يحطوا

8 منية. Colloquial, see Barthélemy (1935–1969, 804); see also Dozy (1881, vol. II, p. 616).

9 طالع is used with its colloquial meaning 'to throw out, pull out, remove, dismiss, expel', etc.

10 حط' to put, place', here figuratively 'to pay (an amount of money)' (colloquial).

11 الفرد درهم *fard* = 'one and only, one and the same'; this construction, Ø + N sing. + art. + فرد, is mainly used after a negation, as is the case here; it can be as a whole modified by the article .(312 1997,) Lentin See .)الـ]ـدرهم الفرد] .,e.i ,الدرهم الفرد)

12 ديوره) also ديورا (is the most frequently used (colloquial) plural of دير' convent, monastery' in Ottoman MA texts (see Lentin 1997 184–186, §<IP_ADDRESS>).

13 خدامين. The formerly mpl oblique case sound form -*īn* is predominantly used in MA regardless of the syntactic function of the noun (the *n* being generally retained in construct state). The Classical nominative -*ūn* form is reserved for stylistically marked use.

14 لـ ولد خلق lit. 'a child is created (born) to…' (colloquial *ḫiliq*); compare the following ولد له ولد) speaking of a man).

15 الذي من للنسوان. Invariable الذي is extremely common in MA. .الناس الذي برا Compare

16 يشهروه مرادهم ما. Most probably a transposition of colloquial *ma bidd-hon yišǝhrū*.

17 ترباته. Colloquial verbal noun of *rabbā* (*tǝrbāy*, *tǝrbāye*, etc.).

18 تجيبه *žāb*, *yžīb* 'to bring' is probably the most frequently used colloquial verb in MA, and can be considered a typical 'plain MA' verb.

19 الحرمه' the woman' (colloquial).

20 جوا من lit. 'from inside'. Colloquial *žuwwā* (adverb and preposition, construct state *žuwwāt*) 'inside' and *barrā* (*barrāt*) 'outside' are widely used in MA.

 ,الى of use The .)ديوره الى االوالد والرجال and (ديوره الى بنات العامة 21 where either Classical or colloquial Arabic would have ل, is typical of a frequent MA procedure whereby a partial correspondence between a colloquial and a Standard preposition is generalised into total interchangeability (often bringing about a pair of stylistically contrasting variants).

22 كبر' to get old' (colloquial *kibir*).

23 جواز and يجوزوه. Colloquial forms (compare Classical Arabic *zawāj* and *zawwaja*).

24 المتربيين اوالد. Ø+ N + art. + active participle qualifying N (= المتربيين االوالد(. متربيين is morphologically colloquial (*mitrabbyīn*). 25 برا. See no. 20.

26 الرجال is the colloquial singular form (*rǝžžāl*), whereas in االوالد والرجال it is the plural (Classical *rijāl*, colloquial *ržāl*).

## **10.  Reproduced from the journal *Mediterranean Language Review* with kind permission of the editor, Prof. Matthias Kappler.

2 .*ṣuʿub* צועוב for סועוב

.וראח for ווארח 3

4 פי here *fi-* (< *fa-*).

 Seriously, I was very sad about him, as (3) were his sister and wife, and even more. On the day when the (4) news reached (us) that he had not returned (home), I went to look (for him) near al-Basātīn. (5) While I was walking, one of the Muslims, a friend of mine, a seller of milk, met me. (6) Jacob and I had frequented his house when we wanted sweets. (7) The Muslim milkman said: "O Ḥajj Muḥ(ammad), what are you doing (8) here?" I said to him: "Don't you know that Jacob, my friend, went out (9) yesterday night to bury little girls, he went and did not come back." Then the milkman (10) said to me "Come with me! We'll go and look for him!" So we went to look, (11) but did not find him. On the next day, the milkman came carrying milk (12) in order to sell it here. He said to me: "I saw two who had been struck down, with broken (13) hands and feet, and blood oozing from their heads." When the milkman looked down on them, (14) he recognised Jacob. So, he said to me: "Come with me! (15) I will show them to you." Then the milkman and I went to look for them, but we did not find them.

## **11.  Reproduced from the journal *Mediterranean Language Review* with kind permission of the editor, Prof. Matthias Kappler.

2 Based on *muʿāmala*.

 So-and-so (2) and so-and-so eat from our food and from our meat, and buy from the (3) market and bring (it) to us so that we cook (it) for them, and they eat together with us. Concerning Aṣlān (4) the Tall, who belongs to you (Jews) may God have mercy on him—he adheres to his (5) religion. He does not eat from our food. He does not taste our dishes. His behaviour is (6) excellent in terms of piety. He and I, and his business partner with him, were at the (7) Sūq Barakātih (market). We, they and I, wanted to cross to Maḥallat Abū ʿAlī on that (8) day, when there was dust and wind. I had something to do in (9) the market, so they went ahead of me and went on the ferry. (When) I came to (10) the river in order to cross to Maḥallat ʿAlī, they told me that (11) Aṣlān the Tall and his companion went on the small ferry. (12) It capsized with them on board and no one escaped from the ferry except for a woman, who grabbed on to the horns of the cow, 5 and she (alone) came out of it.

5 The speaker presupposes the listener's knowledge of a cow that had been in the ferry.

## **12. A BASRA PASSOVER HAGGADAH WITH JUDAEO-ARABIC TRANSLATION (CA. 1700)**

*Omer Shafran*

Location of the manuscript: Jerusalem, The National Library of Israel Ms. Heb. 8°713 [B 296 (8°713)].

## **Transcription**

### **Aramaic/Hebrew**

הא לחמא עניא די אכלו אבהתנה בארעא דמצרים כל דכפין יתי וייכול כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח השתא הכא לשנה הבאה בארעא דישראל השתא הכא עבדי לשנה הבאה בארעא דישר אל בני חורין.

### **Judaeo-Arabic**

האד֗ א כבז אל מסכין אל ד֗ י אכלו אבאיינא פי בלד מצר כל ג֗ ועאן ייג֗ י ויאכל כל מעתאז ייג֗ י וייפסח הסנא נחנא הון לי סנת אל ג֗ אייא פי בלד יסראיל הסנא נחנא עביד ליסנת אל ג֗ אייא פי בלד יסראיל בנין אל מטלוקין.

## **Arabic Transcription**

هاذا خبز ال مسكين الذي اكلو اباي ينا في بلد مصر. كل جوعان ي يجي وياكل, كل معتاز ي ي جي ويفسح. هسنه نحن هن, لي سنه ال جاي يا في بلد يسرايل. هسنا نحنا عبيد, ليسنت ال جاي يا في بلد يسرايل بنين ال مطلوقين.

## **Translation**

'Lo! This is the bread of the afflicted, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt; let all those who are hungry enter and eat thereof; and all who are needy, come and celebrate the Passover! This year we are here, but next year we hope to celebrate it in the land of Israel. This year we are slaves here, but next year we hope to be freemen in the land of Israel.' (English translation with slight alterations drawn from Russotto 1912).

## **Commentary**

The Hebrew/Aramaic influence is obvious in this Judaeo-Arabic passage: the element ה, in הסנא *has-sana* 'this year', is an apocopation of the demonstrative *hāḏi*, as is common on Southern Iraqī.1 Its use in this context may additionally have been facilitated by the homophonous Hebrew definite article. The verbal form ייפסח *yifsaḥ*, here 'he will celebrate the Passover', is peculiar to the language of the Jews, and is derived from the festival name *Pesaḥ* 'Passover'; this verb appears also in the original Aramaic/Hebrew text (see above, יפסח(. The structure אייא ֗ג אל סנת לי

1 I am grateful to Prof. Clive Holes for this suggestion.

reflects the spoken Arabic of Iraq, where constructions such as *sana l-jāya* 'next year', *bab iš-šārgi* 'the eastern gate', and *ṣōb aljanūbi* 'the southern direction' are common.2 It is an old construction that has disappeared from Modern Standard Arabic, but is still very common in the dialects, and its usage in this place may have been reinforced by its being a calque of the analogous Hebrew construction הבאה לשנה, *le-šana* (indefinite, thus in this passage) *hab-baʾa* (definite) 'next year'.

2 Again, I am indebted to Prof. Clive Holes for his comments on the phenomenon.

## **13.   It is important to note the coincidence of the manuscript's copy date and the death of its author. Also, the first three stanzas appear in Kīlānī (1965, 194–95). My thanks to Adam Sabra for providing me with the manuscript source.

هي حل ما نهى عنها نُهى فاسقني یا صاح شنف الكاسات واسمع ما اقول اإنها شرب ال جالء الفحول اولیاء ه ارباب الوصول الل لحمي الفتاح ما علینا من عذول جاهل مفترى زور كالم باطل خامل الذكر ومیت زائل راح مع من راح ان یقل تنشي اقل سكر القلوب مثل ما یثمل ابطال الغیوب یها الموجوب قد ی مر ف ودي ال فاجل لي القداح اإنما ینكر ما یقترب با مور مثلها ل یحسن فا بهج سنة قوم احسنوا في احتسا الراح

#### **Translation**

'Coffee' from *Dafʿ al-iṣr ʿan kalām ahl Miṣr* by al-Maghribī:

[The Egyptians] say: coffee (*qahwa*) for the extract of the bean, but this usage is not in the standardised language [according to al-Fayrūzabādī], who says, "*qahwa* is wine, a thoroughly4 satiating drink, and a froth-less, clear5 yogurt. It is like *qiha/qaha* (one of the names of the narcissus) [?] and it is an aroma. The word *qahwān* means a large aged goat with two horns. The verb *aqhī*6 means to persist in drinking *qahwa* and to obey the sovereign." These definitions don't indicate coffee used today, and even the bean, which is its source, has no mention in the medical textbooks, so bear in mind their lack of mention by the author of *al-Qāmūs*—did it occur after him? Shaykh al-Ḥākimī7 gave me an account of his deceased companion, Abū al-Ṣaʿūd,8 who was writing down the statements of his master, the preacher Shaykh al-Qudsī one day when he was preaching in one of the mosques. 9 Shaykh al-Ḥākimī was there, and heard him say, "Coffee (*qahwa*) is that with which the people are afflicted, and its prohibition appears in the Ḥadīth. This is so because of the prohibition against *qahwa* (i.e., *khamr*)." Then Shaykh al-Ḥākimī stood as if he did not know this already, and said, "O Shaykh, take note of what you're saying." So, Shaykh al-Qudsī said to him, "It is as though you are of those who are afflicted by *qahwa*." So, al-Ḥākimī replied, "Contemplate what you are saying." And because

5 *Makhḍ* (*sic* – read *maḥḍ*).

4 While the original reads *muḥmaka*, this is likely an error on al-Maghribī's part, as the edition of *al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ* shows *muḥkama*. See al-Shami and Ahmad (2008, 1378).

6 *Sic* – read *aqhā* .

it seemed that he was lying about the Prophet [he added,] "What is the definition of wine (*khamr*)? Is it not the juice of grapes?" Shaykh al-Qudsī said, "Yes." So, al-Ḥākimī said, "So, where does coffee fit in this?" He was then speechless and feared that I would inform al-Ustādh al-Bakrī10 of this. So, he sent some companions to make peace over the matter, and to this day he doesn't mention coffee in anything. So, I was pleased, and didn't inform al-Ustādh [al-Bakrī], who has many poems in praise of coffee—as does Shaykh Abū al-Fath al-Mālikī.11 I wrote the following:

I witnessed a virtue in the coffee husk when he who is without compassion is far I judged it fairly to make peace between us as this virtue from coffee is a just arbiter

## Entry for Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muballaṭ from *al-Kawākib al-sā'ira biaʿyān al-mi'a al-ʿāshira* by Najm al-Dīn al-Ghazzī:

The Eminent Shaykh, litterateur, poet Ibrāhīm Burhān al-Dīn ibn al-Muballaṭ al-Qāhirī, poet of Cairo. The following comes from his poetry on the coffee bean:

My critic says, "coffee is a bitter drink water is the sweet beverage without equal" So, I replied, "what you disparage with bitterness I've chosen—So, chose for yourself that which is sweet"

10 Given the prominence of the Bakrī family during this period it is difficult to ascertain to which member this reference is made. Al-Maghribī died nearly a quarter century after Muḥammad al-Bakrī, author of the below mentioned *muwashshaḥ*. It is possible but improbable that al-Maghribī's reference is being made to the same al-Bakrī.

11 Muftī and poet who lived in Damascus, died 1567/8.

He has also said:

These days, I see the coffee bean is what people have agreed upon drinking Drinking it became a custom it neither hurts nor helps

He is also noted for these lines:

O critic of the imbibing of our coffee which cures the soul of what ails it Or you do not see it, when in its cup it speaks the eye amidst its white

Another poet has a verse with the same motif:

Drink, savoring the coffee bean that is sweet with brothers and friends A blackness within the whiteness of the cup speaks of the man's eyeball

I [al-Ghazzī] have said even better than this, here:

Drink two cups of coffee even if it costs an extra coin, silver or gold A blackness in the white of its cups as though they were of the man's eyes

Coffee *Muwashshaḥ* from the *Dīwān* of Muḥammad al-Bakrī:12

Pass the coffee in the glass at hand of the coffee bean, how excellent, how grand What sound reason considers contraband

12 For commentary on the first three stanzas of this *muwashshaḥ* see Larkin (2006, 231). Note my translation here departs selectively from the literal text in order to retain the rhyme scheme of the poem.

#### So, friend, for me have a drink poured

Adorn the cups, hear what I disperse it's the drink of the masters of verse Allah's privileged, endowed with his forthcoming force for the protection of the lord

Upon us is an ignorant censor who with invalid speech is a lie dispenser a fleeting death, a memory obscure he has gone with wine, poured

It's said at the slightest drink hearts grow intoxicated just as the brave of the unseen get inebriated the matter now finished, the hearts morally obligated But surely, the glasses I've scored.

Though he denies what he nears there's nothing better than these frontiers people's most joyous practice, they're the best, it appears, at drawing out the wine, poured.

#### **Commentary**

The role of coffee in early modern Ottoman society has been addressed from many historiographical perspectives, from its importance as a traded commodity to the religious-legal debates surrounding its illicit status in Islamic law. What is less understood, perhaps, is the intellectual and literary impact of coffee. Presented here are three samples from the linguistic and literary corpus of 16th- and 17th-century Ottoman Arabic. First, an abridged version of Yūsuf al-Maghribī's (d. 1019/1610), entry on coffee (*qahwa*) in his dictionary of colloquial Egyptian Arabic, followed by a few verses of coffee poetry from Najm al-Dīn al-Ghazzī's (d. 1060/1650) centenary biographical dictionary. Lastly, a *muwashshaḥ* (strophic poem) by Muḥammad al-Bakrī (d. 994/1586), in which the subject of coffee merges into that of wine, demonstrating the generic link in between the two substances in Arabic literature. While these samples have primarily been translated here for readers' enjoyment, they also invite us to think of coffee as a linguistic and literary problematic during the Ottoman period.

## **14. EGYPT: DAMURDĀŠĪ'S CHRONICLE OF EGYPT (FIRST HALF OF 18TH CENTURY)**

*Jérôme Lentin*

Chronicle of al-ʾamīr ʾAḥmad al-Damurdāšī (middle of the 18th century), *Al-durra al-muṣāna fī ʾaḫbār al-kināna* (manuscript: British Museum OPB MSS OR 173, copied by Miḫāʾīl Ṣabbāġ, Ms pp. 218–19; ed. Crecelius and ʿAbd al-Wahhāb 1991, 198; ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm 1989, 121–22) 1

## **Transcription**

وبنرجع 1 سنته الى عبدين باشا اخر 2 سعوا له فى عبد الـله افندي الروزنامجي فاراد قتله دقنه ولبس لبس قرندلي يولداش وخرج 3 فاتاه الخبر فوزع ما يعز عليه وقص ملبس اخذه 4 معه وما يحتاج اليه االمر و نزل / بوالق 6 فنزل فى معاش 5 فراش بكسمه وسافر دمياط 7 ومنها نزل فى غليون وسافر الى الشام له معنا ]كالم[ يوم الثالثا دور عليه الباشا لم ارسل ضبط 8 وجده 9 كامل الذي 10 وجده فى 11 بيته وكان له بيتين بيت للحريم وبيت بيت الحريم منعته اوالد الحاره وقالوا 12 للعيله والمطبخ ثم ان االغا المعين اراد يدخل عليه مال للميري وكان 15 وجعلوا ان 14 فى هذا البيت اخذ ما وجد وطلع 13 له لم له شى حصصه الى اختيارية موجر 16 النه فى االوجاق الجاويشيه قد كان يولداش عندهم

1 For images see https://ia801308.us.archive.org/zipview.php?zip=/ 21/items/M-0004/09794-.zip: 114/المصانة الدرة.tif (pp. 217–18); الدرة 115/المصانة.tif (pp. 219–20).

17 فبذلك حمو لحصصه من الباشا وجعلوا انهم اشتروهم منه وان لهم سنتين والمقاطعات اخبر بمن يدفع المال اقام بالشام ثمان سنوات

## **Translation**

(Crecelius and ʿAbd al-Wahhab Bakr 1991, 199)

Let us come back to ʿAbdīn Bāšā. At the end of his year [as governor], some people worked to set him against ʿAbdallah ʾAfandī the *rūznāmjī* (executive director of the Treasury) and he planned to kill him. But this latter got informed. He distributed the possessions dear to him, cut his beard, dressed up as a Kalandar dervish [*qarandalī yūldāš*], took a saddlebag where he put clothes and things he could need, and went to Būlāq disguised as a servant. He embarked on a *germe* boat and sailed to Damietta, from where he embarked on a galleon to Syria. We will come back to him later. On Tuesday, he [= ʿAbdīn Bāšā] searched for him but he could not find him. He ordered that everything that could be found in his house be seized. He [= ʿAbdallah ʾAfandī] had two houses, one for his women, and one for his servants and the kitchen. When the appointed *ʾāġā* wanted to enter the house of the women, the people of the quarter prevented him, saying: "He has nothing in this house." The *ʾāġā* [just] confiscated what he had found and left. They [= ʿAbdallah ʾAfandī's friends] claimed that he owed money to the land administration and that he had rented his shares to the elders [commanding officers] of the Jawīšiyya unit since he was their fellow. By doing that, they protected his shares from the Pasha. They pretended that they had bought them from him two years earlier, and that the rentingcontracts are the best source of information on who pays. ʿAbdallah ʾAfandī lived in Damascus for eight years.

## **Commentary**

1 *b*- has inexplicably been omitted in the two editions.

2 ه سنت. For *ḍamma* in ـه representing the vowel [u] or [o] of the 3ms suffixed pronoun, see Lentin (2012, §3.9, 225–26).

3 خرج' saddleback' (classical *ḫurj*, colloquial *ḫǝrǝž*).

4 بوالق نزل. In Egyptian MA texts, verbs of movement often take a direct object (as they do in colloquial); cf. دمياط سافر) but note سافر .(الى الشام

5 كسم' clothes, dress' (colloquial).

6 معاش a kind of (small) boat.

7 ]كالم ]معنا له. The form كالم is rightly restored by the editors. This expression is frequently used in the text, as is also common in 'popular' literature, especially in the *sīra*s.

8 وجده لم. On *lam* used with the suffix conjugation, see Lentin (1997, 764–67).

9 ضبط ارسل. Similar to *baʿaṯa/baʿat*, the verb *ʾarsal(a)* often functions as a factitive auxiliary (see Lentin 1997, §14.5.1, 633–36); the auxiliary verb is generally in the perfect.

10 وجده الذي كامل. In Egyptian MA texts, كامل is the most common quantifier for 'all, whole, entire', even before a singular (pro)noun, as is the case here. It is the exact equivalent of Levantine MA جميع) see text II.9, no. 5).

11 بيتين له كان. The former oblique case of the dual form -*ayn*/ -*ēn* is the dominant form used in MA, regardless of the syntactic function of the noun (exactly like -*īn* in the sound mpl form, see text II.9, no. 13).

12 يدخل اراد. Modal auxiliaries are very often asyndetically constructed in MA texts.

13 شى له لم. For *lam* negating some types of nominal clauses see Lentin (1997, 782).

14 The colloquial verb طلع is the normal (Near Eastern) MA verb for 'to walk out, go away, leave'.

15 ان جعلوا. For the meaning 'to claim, pretend to', see Dozy (1881, I 198).

16 اختيارية. Plural of اختيار' old man, senior'.

17 سنتين لهم. Colloquial turn of phrase indicating duration: prep. *l(a*)- + pers. pron. + noun indicating a period of time + predicative clause 'he… for a (two, three…) year(s)/month(s)'.

## **15.

#### **Translation**

(1) "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate" and my good fortune is only Him, recites the poor self to the One God. (2) Muḥammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Saʿid al-Anṣari, May God, treat him with kindness. (3) Praise be to God, the one who enlightens the hearts and inspires the righteous ones. This compendium contains the science of phlebotomy and its uses. (4) As for the practice of phlebotomy, I called it "The end of search in the art of phlebotomy" and divided it into two volumes. (5) The first volume concerns procedure with regard to the details and generalities of this art. It consists of twenty chapters concerning the manner, (6) conditions, rules and benefit of phlebotomy, and what is related to its practice. The second chapter concerns the details of this art (7) and mentions each individual vein separately, with characteristics of its phlebotomy and benefits. (8) It warns against mistakes that may occur. God, I ask you that there may be benefit in it. (9) The first chapter is concerned what transpires with regard to the details and generalities, and it consists of twenty chapters. (10) The first chapter concerns the manner of phlebotomy, focussing on the separation of voluntary joining, followed by draining of the veins. (11) The second chapter is on its characteristics, and that is to feel the vein before the binding, (12) in order to see the condition of the arteries; and to stay away from them, as they are not discernible after the binding. (13) Then the upper part of the humerus is bound with a moderate tie, veins are filled up (using) the thumbs to become visible and be felt with the forefinger (14) in order to establish its place, and it should be bound with the thumb of the left hand in order to avoid it moving under the scalpel. (15) Then it should be extended, corresponding to the depth of the vein and the scalpel is pointed according to the touch. (16) It should remain in place and it should become apparent whether it hits the vein. The scalpel should be inserted to widen the opening as much as intended. (17) And if it does not hit the vein, remove the scalpel without pulling apart the wideness of the opening to facilitate cleanliness (18) and allow the blood to clot, because it does not heal quickly, and from it can occur unconsciousness, prolongation, and slowness of closing.2 (19) Fast closing is not suitable for the thin and horizontal veins. It should be detested for thin ones for fear that they might be cut off and tightened. (20) Make it suitable and balance it, and if the vein becomes thick in the hand and the loosening of the binding has not made it become apparent, repeat it several times; and suspend something heavy from the hand in order for the vein to appear.

#### **Commentary**

The late Judaeo-Arabic medical treatise *Nihāyat al-qaṣd fī ṣināʿat al-faṣd* (henceforth NQSF) of MS No.1751 is written in a register close to Classical Arabic, despite the lateness of the text.

It exhibits regular occurrences of the Classical Arabic demonstratives *hāḏā* and *ḏālika*. The vernacular pronoun *hāḏi* is rare, but also employed in the text (line 5).3

2 Or 'Allow the blood to clot, however, it does not heal quickly; there is a fear that there would be unconsciousness, prolongation, and slowness of closing' according to the earlier Arabic version of the text للدم امكن و .الغليظ لكنها ال تندمل سريعا ويخشي منها الغشى والطول وبطء االلتحام

3 As Wagner (2010, 75) has argued, this may reflect Modern Egyptian Arabic di + the presentative prefix hā. It is worth mentioning, that two different spellings of *hādi*; הדי ,האדי are found in the text.

In NQSF the numerals composed of single digits and tens adhere to the rules of the Classical Arabic; (i) they are followed by the accusative singular and (ii) have a single-digit numeral in gender polarity to the counted noun (lines 5, 9). Numerals almost exclusively appear fully written.

## **16. A CLERICAL LETTER BY RAFAEL AL-ṬŪḴĪ FROM THE PRIZE PAPERS COLLECTIONS (1758)**1

*Esther-Miriam Wagner and Mohamed Ahmed*

## **Transcription**

**Envelope**

.1 بعونه تعالي .2 يصل الى ناحية دجر جة بصعيد مصرويسلم .3 بلتم القس روكس قدسي امانه مرسله .4 بالخير

**Recto**

	- .6 بعد تقبيل االيادي نعرض على **حضرتكم** بان وصلت لعندنا مشرفتكم
		- ُ اوطبره اعني به شهر **بابه** سنه 1758 .7 العزيزه في اليوم 20 من شهر
		- .8 وفيها اعلمتمونا عن وصول الكتب التي ارسلتها لعندكم وعن
	- .9 سالمتكم وصار عندنا **فرح جزيل** من اجل ذلك لكن من جهة اخري

1The letter is part of the box HCA 32/212 in the National Archives. Analyses of this letter were previously included in the linguistic description in Wagner and Ahmed (2017). At the time, the authors gave this letter the siglum NAL 46.5, as the letters had not yet been catalogued by the National Archives.

  With the help of God.

2 Why the *nūn* was added to this form is not quite clear.

#### **Recto**

(5) To the Excellency, our brother and beloved in God, the honourable priest Rūks Qudsī—may God prolong his life. (6) After kissing hands, we acknowledge to your respected self that your precious letter reached us (7) on the 20th of the month *Ottobre*, i.e., the month Baba, in the year 1758, (8) in which you inform us about the arrival of the books that I sent to you, and about (9) your safety, and we were greatly content to hear that. But on the other hand, (10) we were sorry about the death of our brother, the deceased priest ʿAwaḍ—My God's mercy be upon him, and may God give you consolation (11) and may there be recompense for you, because we cannot offer anything but prayers for him and his welfare (12) from the Creator and peace for his soul. Then we would like to ask you to inform us about the large (13) paintings that belong to us that were in his keeping and about some other books we gave to him (14) in Rome to sell on our behalf. So, please inform us about everything, especially (15) about the paintings, because they belong to the Church's charitable organisation (*waqf*) and no one has the right to dispose of them. (16) Finally, we wish you to keep in touch and not delay in (17) doing as you did previously, because for a long time we have received nothing (18) from you but this letter, which reached us this year after a thirteen-month (19) delay. From now on, please do not forget us for such a long period again. (20) Finally, send our greetings to all the brothers who (21) are with you, the beloved in God; the Master Mushraqī al-Bāskī and his family; (22) and to our relatives and to all who are under your protection send our greetings,

## **Signature**

## **Date**

26. written on 22nd Hathor 27. of the year 1758

28. of the Lord

## **Commentary**

There is a marked difference in register within the corpus of Arabic Prize Papers between letters written by merchants and those written by clerics. The clerical letters overall show more literary forms, such as the future particle *sa*- and much-increased use of the negation particle *lam*. These forms are used as stylistic markers of the clerical register and were probably introduced through exposure of the clerics to literary Arabic texts, which led to the development of a particular clerical register.

At the same time, vernacular, non-literary forms occur in particular sociolinguistic circumstances and we also find phonological and morphological Middle Arabic forms similar to those found in the traders' correspondence.

Line 7

 الدعا' prayer'. As in most Middle Arabic texts, *hamza* is not spelled. Line 13

reached news no ,time long a for 'من مدة طويلة لم وصلنا من عندكم خبر us from you'. The negation particle *lam* is a register marker in various Middle Arabic varieties.3 In the clerical Prize Paper letters, as in many other Middle Arabic texts, *lam* has considerably enlarged its functions, and occurs with the perfect, in contradiction to Classical Arabic grammar.

With the imperfect*, lam* negates the present and with the perfect, past tense forms. The use of *lam* appears to be related to register in the Prize papers, with clerical writers much more likely to use it than mercantile authors.

Line 15

اشهر عشر ثالثة' 13 months'. In most of the Arabic Prize papers under HCA 32/212, there is little marking of the Standard Arabic interdental fricatives /ḏ/and /ṯ/, and they are usually spelled as *dāl* and *tāʾ*. The writer of the letter, Rafael al-Ṭūḵī, is an exception in his use of marking /ṯ/ with three dots.

3 For an extensive discussion of *lam* in spoken and written varieties of Arabic, see Wagner (2010, 141–50).

## **17. A CHRISTIAN MERCANTILE LETTER FROM THE PRIZE PAPERS COLLECTIONS (1759)1**

*Esther-Miriam Wagner and Mohamed Ahmed*

## **Transcription**

**Envelope**

$$
\begin{matrix}
\downarrow & \downarrow & \downarrow \\
\downarrow & \downarrow & \downarrow \\
\downarrow & \downarrow & \downarrow \\
\downarrow & \downarrow & \downarrow
\end{matrix}
$$

**Recto**

1 The letter is part of the box HCA 32/212 in the National Archives.  (6) After (expressing) our intense longing for you, it will not have escaped your notice that previously we sent you a letter with the ship of captain Panofisk (7) Raguzī in answer to your letters. God willing, (the letter) found you well. We informed you about the arrival of the four bales (8) of safflower and two bales of yellow wax and six packets of coffee that you sent on our account via Damietta. When (9) you inform us about the price including expenses, we will register it for you. Also, we told you that Antwān made (10) a list of the income and expenditures as set down in the records, and he sent it to you with Panofisk. Then (11) we informed you about the missing bale of safflower and two bales of cloth. We wrote to Yūsuf (12) Faranjī to check our records in Alexandria and to see if they were lost in the ships which were lost (13) or whether there was a mistake. You should urgently inform us about this so that he does not forget about it. When you have inspected the (14) aforementioned list, you should close the account. You should inform us of its correctness and send us an annulled list (15) so that we can see the extent of it, and close the account, because it has taken so much time. There is nothing left but a revision (16) from your side to our side and vice versa. Now, we hope that this will be the end of the account that Antwān sent to (17) you and there is no disparity. We informed you that we did not receive letters from ʿAbūd Šalabī, we do not (18) know what his desire for these stones that you sent is. So please

## **Signature Bottom Left**

19. Your sincere friend 20. Yūsuf 21. Baktī 22. m

## **End Right Margin (Date)**

23. Year 1759 (written) on 24. 16th of the Second 25. Kānūn

## **Right Margin**

(26) My brother, when this letter reaches you, you should send (27) a letter to him and inform him to send us a reply and to tell us (28) what he wants, because we spent two good half-dinars on the preparation (29) of these stones and on setting them, which has been delaying us. (30) Also we informed you to send us the final account calculation (31) of our deceased brother, which was (for the period) before your brother Ḵawāja (32) Yūsuf's (account) so that we would know how much is it, and to cut off your account from the one of our deceased (33) brother. Then, the ship of captain Andropoly Korniz arrived in our area (34) from Alexandria, with it came to us your dear honourable (35) letter dated to 15th Tishreen Awwal. We have read it and understood (36) all of what you had explained. We thanked God for your well-being. We knew about (37) the arrival of our letter at yours with the Swedish ship hired by Antwān (38) and the mentioned […] who had the intention of heading to Damietta to load rice. Well, this is not (39) confirmed, because the rice ship that came from Damietta was stored entirely (40) at the (government) corn stores, and there is no outright sale option, only two or three baskets are available

#### **Top Margin**

(41) at a price 14 and 14,25. We learned about the prices and the conditions (of merchandises) in your area during the time of *Hajj*, may God (42) give his mercy. You informed us that there is one barrel of tin plating left with you. Now, you should get rid of it (literally: sell it out with profit or loss). (43) Also, there is some cardamom left with you. We informed our cousin to sell it. (44) If you are asking about the news in our area, it is as usual. The coffee price is 23 and the safflower (45) is depreciated, and its price went down to 10,25. There is enough available, and there is no demand for it from abroad. The gum arabic is (46) priced at 8 and 8.25. All types of clothes sales are dead. Afterwards, we will prepare for you (47) a list of the net of all merchandises that arrived from your side. Concerning the silk, we sold (48) five hundred libra from it; the rest is sitting (on the shelves). We wish that we could manage to sell it. (49) The prices of the Beiruti silk is 16, and the Tripolitan is 16 and 17, and the Bāyāsī (50) is at 14, and the Cypriot is at 12. The rest of the prices are unchanged; you should know this (51) for now, this is all the news we have. We wish that you do not cut us off from news about your health. Whatever (52) you need and desire, please let us know (we will do it) with pleasure. Send our many greetings (53) to your brothers and their dear children, and to our brothers and all the beloved. People (54) from here are sending you greetings. The children of our brother are kissing your hands.  Peace.

## **Commentary**

Line 7

 بالة اربعة' four bales'. Final *tāʾ* is frequently spelled as *tāʾ marbūṭa.* Line 8

ارسلتوهم الذين' which you sent' (see also twice in line 12 and in line 18). The use of the plural relative pronoun for inanimate objects is slightly unusual here. The writer, Yūsuf Baktī, appears to favour this hypercorrect form, perhaps seen as more elevated style, as it also appears in another letter of his to a different addressee, interestingly, a Muslim correspondent.

Line 13

اتطالعكم' your inspection'. The colloquial *itfaʿʿala* stem appears frequently in the mercantile letters of the Prize Papers.

Line 16

 الحساب نهايت' the end of your account'. Just as final *tāʾ* may be spelled with *tāʾ marbūṭa*, so *tāʾ marbūṭa* is spelled with *tāʾ.*

Line 17

 مكاتيب لنا حضر لم' the end of your account'. In the mercantile letters, *lam* is not as frequent as in clerical letters, but it does occur, here with the perfect to negate the past.

## **18. ḤANNĀ AL-ṬABĪB, RIḤLAT AL-SHAMMĀS ḤANNĀ AL-ṬABĪB ILĀ BALDAT ISTANBŪL (1764/65)**

*Feras Krimsti*

Gotha Research Library, Gotha, Ms. orient. A 1550. The text excerpt is selected from folios 14a–14b.

 (14) Before Bolvadin, a bridge was built over the river, and the bridge is about three (15) hours long and leads to the river [=Akar Çayı] and from there to Bolvadin. You should know that the road to Istanbul, from (16) when you leave Antakya until you enter Istanbul, is all *kaldırım*, built like a bridge. (17) Ragıp Paşa provided this, using Asʿad Paşa's money, by repairing the road (18) to Istanbul and making it very easy. Because initially one could only pass along the road (19) if one put up with weariness, many an injured beast, the loss of burdens, troubles, and great problems, (20) but now Ragıp Paşa made the road so easy that wood and litters can be transported easily. (21) Close to the town, there is another bridge consisting of fifty arches, big ones and small ones, (22) a very pretty bridge this is with the aforementioned pavement. As for Bolvadin, it is a medium-size keep, (23) between a village and a town, and it is prosperous. In it are five mosques with minarets one of which [14b] (1) has a leaden dome and it is a pretty mosque. The water of this town is also good. It is a cheap town because we bought in (2) Bolvadin three chickens for nine *misriya*, seven ounces of red apples, which whet the appetite with their (3) beauty and their scent, for a single *misriya*, many grapes, honey melons, and water melons, a lot of everything. [Bolvadin's] bread (4) is delicious and its cheese is delicious. There are also chestnuts, i.e., Abū Furaywa; seven ounces of them cost a *misriya* and each single one of them has the size (5) of a big walnut. There is nothing new that would not come to this town. This city has a prosperous market (6) and everything is available there. It has two *khān*s for pilgrims and they are two pretty *khān*s. There are some (7) pretty carved stones and stones with crosses on them. [The city] has pretty water fountains, built by ancient kings (8) and displaying evidence of their antiquity, and they come from the big cities of the Greek kings. There are few gardens (9) and a lot of tasty big fish is sold in them, because a big river, which we mentioned before, (10) is close and a small lake with a lot of fish is also close. The wood in this village, (11) and in the entire area, is very cheap because a load that weighs thirty and forty *raṭl* is sold (12) in this area for fifty *misriya* or less, and charcoal is also plentiful and cheap. As for the grapes, the honey melons (13), the apples, and the rest of the fruit, don't ask about them—it is as if they were illusions. Ask someone who travels on the road (14) to Istanbul during the fruit season. As for the chestnuts, i.e., Abū Furaywa, loads of them are available everywhere. (15) There is *tütün yananca* belonging to Istanbul in [the town], a pottery workshop where good earthenware is produced, (16) and a pretty *khān* the roof of which is leaden. As for the people of this town, they are hardly civil, (17) just vulgar Turks. During that night, we stayed in the [town's] *khān* and on Saturday morning, (18) 27 October [1764], we departed, heading to Bayat.

#### **Commentary**

Ḥannā al-Ṭabīb (c. 1702–1775) was a Maronite physician from Aleppo with contacts among bureaucratic circles in Istanbul. While his travelogue in general contains numerous dialectal elements, the text is not colloquial in the strict sense; rather, a striving for the use of classical Arabic can be detected, e.g., in the excerpt *sahl jiddan*, and not *ktīr*, for 'very easy'; *yūjad bihī asmāk*, and not *fī asmāk*, for 'there is fish'; *ayḍan* 'also', instead of *kamān*; etc. It is not clear if the travelogue was intended to be read aloud or silently in a private setting, but the style is generally unofficial, as evinced in the excerpt by the frequent recurrence of casual phrases, e.g., the water of the town is said to be 'good' (*jayyid*), bread and cheese are 'delicious' (*ṭayyib*)—without further specification. The narrator addresses the reader directly with imperatives, here, notably, *iʿlam* 'you should know' and *lā tasʾal ʿanhum* 'don't ask about them'. Also quite notable is the tendency to use emphatic language, e.g., phrases like *shī mithl al-kadhib* 'it is as if they were illusions.'

Folio 14a, line 16

قلدريم. Ottoman Turkish *kaldırım* 'pavement.'

Folio 14a, lines 17, 19; 14b, line 7

اعتنا, عنا, قدما, and further instances. The absence of final *hamza* can be regularly observed in so called 'Middle Arabic' texts. See Lentin (2011, 220).

Folio 14a, line 18

جدا سهل صيره' he made it very easy' (to traverse).

Folio 14a, line 19

هلقدر' to such a degree', here 'so many'. *Ha* + *l* + *qadar* is equivalent to the demonstrative construction *hādha l-qadar* and the result of the assimilation of the demonstrative pronoun. See Kallas (2012, 236–37) and Barthélemy (1935–1969, 870–71).

Folio 14a, line 22; 14b, lines 1, 6, 7, 16

مكلف / fem. مكلفه / dual ن مكلفي here 'pretty'. The extremely frequent use of this word is a peculiarity of Ḥannā al-Ṭabīb's writing style (in the excerpt six times, in the entire travelogue more around three hundred occurrences). In Arabic, the use of the word *mukallif* with this meaning is rather unusual. Ḥannā may have used Ottoman Turkish *mükellef*, which means 'great, grandiose, magnificent'.

Folio 14a, line 23

بموادن. *Hamza* in the plural *maʾādhin* is replaced by *wāw*. The *dhāl* is replaced by a *dāl*. Interdentals shifting into postdental plosives are a regular feature in the Aleppo dialect and can be detected elsewhere in 17th- and 18th-century travel accounts. See Kallas (2012, 224–26, especially 225–26).

Folio 14b, lines 2, 3, 4, 12

مصريه / plural مصاري or مصريات. Currency, a para.

Folio 14b, lines 2, 4

اواق) plural of اوقية (weight measurement. The Aleppo *ūqiyya* corresponded to 100 dirhams or 320 gr. See Barthélemy (1935– 1969, 905).

Folio 14b, line 2

النظر يشهي literally 'which impassionate the eye'.

Folio 14b, lines 4, 14

فريوه ابو literally 'the father of the little fur'. The *kunya* refers to the furry shell of chestnuts.

Folio 14b, line 4

قدر' of the size, of the dimensions'.

Folio 14b, line 5

البالد هذه الى منه يجي ما شي وجديد. The phrase is syntactically awkward; it supposedly means 'there is nothing new that would not come to this town'; however, the negation 'there is nothing' is missing.

Folio 14b, line 6

شي كل *kull shī* < *kull shayʾ* 'everything'. On the absence of final *hamza*, see above. On the different uses of *shī*, see also Barthélemy (1935–1969, 421–22).

Folio 14b, line 11

حمل' the load of a beast of burden'. See Barthélemy (1935–1969, 178).

Folio 14b, line 11

رطل a weight measurement. The Aleppo *raṭl* corresponded to the weight of 800 dirhams (2.566 kg). See Barthélemy (1935–1969, 284).

Folio 14b, line 13

الكذب مثل شي' it is as if they were illusions', i.e., they are so fantastic that they can only be made up.

Folio 14b, line 15

ينكجا تتن. Probably Ottoman Turkish *tütün yananca* 'tobacco that burns'. The reference may be to tobacco that is smoked (as opposed to smokeless tobacco).

Folio 14b, line 15

كرخانة Ottoman Turkish *kerhane* 'workshop', here a 'pottery workshop'. On the dialectal word in Arabic, *karkhāna*, see also Barthélemy (1935–1969, 709).

Folio 14b, line 17

قبا Ottoman Turkish *kaba* 'rough, vulgar'.

## **19. SYRIA 1: CHRONICLE OF IBN AL-ṢIDDĪQ (1768)**

## *Jérôme Lentin*

The chronicle of Ibn al-Ṣiddīq (Ḥasan, al-šahīr bi-–), *Ġarāyib albadāyiʿ wa-ʿajāyib al-waqāyiʿ*, covers the events between 1182/1768 and 1185/1771 and is a contemporary account. We have no information about the author. The manuscript (a unicum) is part of the Wetzstein Collection, in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (We II 417, Ahlwardt's catalogue vol. 9 n° 9832). The edition by Yūsuf Nuʿaysa (1988) is very faulty, full of mistakes and inaccurate readings. Long passages are omitted or mixed up. The text below is taken from the manuscript (p. 70; Ms f° 80b–81a).

## **Transcription**

 كبسوا اطراش 1 فعلوا اهل حران ما امرهم فراحوا 2 ابن احسين ارشيد وجابوه 3 الى الشام فدري 4 ابن حبي قبل ما يصل فراح يركض الى الصرايه 5 ودخل الى الكخية وعيط عليه وصرخ وقلوا 6 8 وقول مالكم كيف باشتك 7 دين ايمان مالكم 9 يعطيني بيورلدي االمان وتبعثوا فى قفاي 10 انتوا من بعد جبتوا انا واعطيتوا تبعثوا الى حران وتنهبوا طرشوا وماله او رزقوا الى الشام 12 قول كمان 11 قدمي من هون 13 وحيات راس السلطان ما بقيم الى ما تكتبوا بيورلدي اخر برجوع الطرش 14 قوة واقتدار يوم ثمانيه في شهر رجب عمل 15 ولب ابن احسين ارشيد ّ فكتبهم قوة واقتدار س باشا قلّت عقل بالشام وجميع 16 عصمان الخلق سبوه وقالوا هذا الرجل صار مجنون وجاب 17 ّ محمد اغا ابن ومي الر وعزلوا من قلعة المزيريب وعمل بدلوا صبي صفير مسكون الريح النه هو

18 فسق بتاع اوالد ابن احسين اغا الذي قتل فى سوق االروام سلموا كل امور الحج ووكالة الدروز وحوران وجميع الناس سبوه ولعنوه وقالوا اهل الشام ان تم هذا الرجل على هذا العقل 19 الفاسخ يروح الشام دخان ويوم تسعه فى رجب اجا جوقدار من عند متسلم حمص ومعه 20 مكتوب الى الباشا ومضمون المكتوب يا افندينا ان ّّا نخبرك ا ّن اهالى حمص ب ّدها ترحل من اخبار الذي 21 شاعت علينا ما فعل نعمان باش ا في مجي الى حما فطلب منّا ذخيرة ثمن جميع اهل حمص لما دريوا 22 تيام اعتمدوا انهم يرحلوا ويهربوا في البراري والقفار 23 24 فارسلنا 25 واخبرناكم ونستنا منك الجواب فحاال ارسل جواب الى متسلم حمص كلما طلب نعمان تعطيه

#### **Translation**

The people of Ḥarrān [= Ḥarrān al-ʿawāmīd, in the vicinity of Damascus] did what he had ordered them to do and they went and looted the cattle of Ḥusayn Rušayd and brought it to Damascus. Ibn Ḥibbī got aware of this before its arrival and he rushed inside the Palace to find the *kaḫiya* [intendant] and shouted and screamed at him and said: you, man of no faith! You traitor to your word! How is it that your Pasha gives me a written order (*buyuruldī*) granting me safe-conduct and quarter and that you send [people / messages] behind my back [to harm / discredit me], after I have brought it to you and after you have given your word. Moreover, you send [people] to Ḥarrān to loot his cattle and his goods and livelihoods and bring them to Damascus. By the life of the Sultan, I will not remove my foot from here until you write a new written order ordering that the cattle must go back. He compelled them to write [it] by force. He bestowed marks of honour upon Ibn Ḥusayn Rušayd by force. On the 8 Rajab, ʿUṯmān Bāšā behaved improperly in Damascus. All the people insulted him, saying: this man has turned crazy! He let Muḥammad ʾĀġā Ibn al-Rūmī come, dismissed him from the fortress of al-Muzayrīb and replaced him by a mentally ill young boy – because of his depravity with young boys. He entrusted the son of Ibn Ḥusayn ʾĀġā, who had been killed in the *Sūq al-ʾArwām*, with the leadership of the pilgrimage, and made him his representative [*wakīl*] for [the region of] the Druzes and Ḥawrān. All the people insulted and cursed him and the Damascenes said: should that man continue with his depraved mind, Damascus will go up in smoke. On the 9 Raǧab a *jūqadār* (*čūḫadār*) [here: a high rank messenger] sent by the *mutasallim* of Homs arrived bearing a letter to the Pasha saying: Sir (*ʾAfandīnā*) we are informing you that the people of Homs are about to move away, because of the news that spread out and reached us about what ʿUṯmān Bāšā did when he arrived to Hama: he required of us [that we supply] the provisions for eight days. When the people of Homs heard about that, they decided they would move and run away to the steppe and the desert. We have already sent you a message to inform you and we are waiting for your response. Right away, he sent his answer to the *mutasallim* of Homs [saying]: Grant ʿUṯmān whatever he might ask.

#### **Commentary**

1 راحوا. See text II.9, no. 4.

2 اطراش. The usual plural of this (colloquial) word is *ṭrūš*; *(ʾa)ṭrāš* is probably a classicising form.

3 جابوه. See text II.9, no. 18.

4 ما قبل, although attested in the Classical language, is most probably the colloquial form of this conjunction.

5 الصرايه. Shift of s > ṣ; cf. *sarāy(a)*.

6 قلوا *qal*-*lo* (< *qāl l*-*o*). Notice also the *ʾalif wiqāya* after the final *-o/-u* (a common feature of MA orthography); cf. طرشوا *ṭarš-o*, جبتوا *žibt-o*, رزقوا *rizq-o*, عزلوا *ʿazal-o*, بدلوا *badal-o*.

7 مالكم\* > *mā l-kum* 'not to you' = 'you don't have'.

8 باشتك. Borrowings like *bāšā* often have a -*t* in the construct state (and are often written with a *tāʾ*, e.g., باشة, also in the absolute state).

9 تبعثوا. For the -*ū* form (and not -*ūn*) of the 2pl of the imperfect see text II.9, no. 7. The verb *baʿaṯa/baʿat* often functions as a factitive auxiliary (see Lentin 1997, §4.5.1, 633–36); the auxiliary verb can follow immediately or be preceded by the conjunction *wa*, as in the just following وتنهبوا حران الى تبعثوا' you send [people] to Ḥarrān to loot his cattle', which could very well be translated 'you let loot his cattle in Ḥarrān'. Cf. also text II.14, no. 9.

10 انتوا colloquial pron. (*ʾintu*). Notice also the *ʾalif wiqāya* after the final -*u* (cf. n. 6).

11 اعطيتوا. The (colloquial) -*ū* form (and not -*um*) is used most of the time in MA for the 2mpl and 2fpl of the perfect.

12 كمان *kamān*, colloquial adverb.

13 بقيم: *b(a)qīm*, i.e., *b-* + 1cs of *qām*, with *i* theme vowel (cf. Classical *ʾaqāma*) 'to remove'. The *b(i)*- imperfect, significantly used here in the first person and in reported (direct) speech, indicates modality (here modal future in a strong assertion) as well as the commitment of the speaker.

14 هون *hawn*/*hōn*, colloquial adverb.

15 احسين and ارشيد. The initial prosthetic *ʾalif* indicates (in this case) that the noun begins with CC-. Thus, we have to read something like *Ḥsēn* and *Ršēd* (*Rašīd* is never abbreviated as \**Ršīd*).

16 عصمان\* *ʿUṯmān* > *ʿUsmān* > *ʿUṣmān*.

17 جميع. See text II.9, no. 5.

18 بتاع is one of the numerous 'genitive particles' used in MA texts (see Lentin 1997, §17.8.2, 745–47). Its particular (qualificative) value here is not frequent.

19 اجا *ʾiža* (/*žā*) 'to come' (Classical *jāʾa*) occurs regularly in MA texts.

20 دهاّ ب *bidd-hā*. Colloquial *bidd-* + pronominal suffix 'to want, wish' or 'to be intending/going to' is common in (the most colloquialising) MA texts.

21 الذي اخبار invariable الذي) see text II.9, no. 15). Also notice the construction Ø+ N + relative clause (= Classical التي االخبار(.

22 تيام ثمن colloquial *ṯmǝn-t-iyyām*.

23 دريوا *diryū*. Morphologically colloquial (*diri* 'to become aware, hear').

24 والقفار البراري في. This literary cliché is very common in 'popular' literature, especially in the *sīra*s.

25 نستنا *nistanna* (colloquial).

## **20. A LETTER TRANSMITTED BY AMBASSADOR HAJJ MAHDĪ BARGASH FROM SULTAN MUḤAMMAD BIN ʿABDALLAH TO SULTAN ABDUL ḤAMĪD (1789 CE)**

*Ahmed Ech-Charfi*

CBH. 226/10511

A letter transmitted by Ambassador Hajj Mahdī Bargash from Sultan Muḥammad Bin ʿAbdallah to Sultan Abdul Ḥamīd informing him that he is sending a present of four ships and 536 liberated Ottoman prisoners.

 والخديم المذكور من يصلكم فيه الل علينا بإانقاذ اإخواننا المسلمين من يد اعداء ه ه كفاية الخبر والذي يقول لكم فخرا امرناه به والسالم في اوائل شعبان المبارك عام .1203

## **Translation**

Your Majesty, with a crown of splendour and sovereignty and adorned with favours and glory; you, perpetrator of deeds of ultimate generosity; you, a planet in the horoscope of good omen and happiness; you, who come from a lineage of the best noble sovereigns forming a chain of *mujāhidīn* against unbelievers and enemies of Allah, the *mujāhidīn* whom Allah has given the responsibility to protect Islam and provide peace for all people; you, sultan of the two lands, Khagan of the two oceans, and custodian of the two holy mosques; a sultan and son of a sultan; Sultan Abdul Ḥamīd, son of Sultan Aḥmed Khan, may Allah grant them everlasting happiness and make their good achievements famous and celebrated; peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you!

There will be delivered to our brother—Sultan Abdul Ḥamīd; May Allah make him glorious—by our servant Hajj Al-Makkī Bargash, son of Captain Pasha, four of our navy vessels, as a gift from us to you. We ask Allah for glory, empowerment, and further conquests to us and to you and all Muslims so that Muslim armies always prevail and their enemies be vanquished and humiliated. Also, our servant Caid Mohammed bin Abdellah will deliver to you five hundred and thirty-six (Ottoman) prisoners freed by the help of Allah—we thank Him for that and for helping us to liberate our Muslim brothers from the hands of unbelievers, Allah's enemies. The aforementioned servant will provide you with more information on the operation he carried out under our order.

 ARAB MERCHANT LETTERS FROM THE GOTHA COLLECTION OF ARABIC MANUSCRIPTS**

## *Boris Liebrenz*

Arabic letters concerning personal and business matters abound in the pre-Ottoman period, but become extremely scarce afterwards. Since the early 19th century, the Forschungsbibliothek Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha (Germany) has held seven volumes of merchant letters dating from the middle of the 18th century until 1806. Numbering more than 1,600 letters, this repository seems to be the largest one preserved from the period.

The writers and addressees are both Christian and Muslim and examples of both will be given here. There are some overlaps, but in general the Christian letters cover a network of merchants of Syrian origin that operated between Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta, Jaffa, Jerusalem, and Damascus, with mentions of further extensions to Istanbul, Cyprus, and Rhodes. The letters by Muslims (with few Christian examples) belong to several networks of Muslim merchants centred in Cairo. In the case presented here, the network revolves around two brothers Abū Qaṣīṣa and letters are exchanged primarily between Jedda, Suez, and Cairo.

The language of the Christian network is marked by unequivocal embracing of the colloquial. Its features include: loss of gender distinction, plural, or dual; replacement of emphatic consonants with their unemphatic counterparts (ص < س ;ض < د ;ط > ت ;ظ < ز(, but also occasionally the reverse (e.g., دراهم regularly becomes ضراهم ;(case endings lost or wrong ( خيرا بكل ;(negation of all tempi with *lam* followed by a verb in perfect tense (*lam kān*) or even negation with *lam* with no verb at all (*lam huwa bāqī*); imperfect verb forms are often prefixed with a ب. The lexicon includes not only several words of Italian and French origin ( بوليصه(, but also several particles of colloquial usage (*šū*, *layš*, *minšān*). The orthography changes with the individual scribes, but some features are prevalent: *tāʾ marbūṭa* becomes *tāʾ* and vice versa; *plene* writing of long vowels that are regularly omitted (ذالك ;(the *ʾalif* of the article is dropped when the initial *hamza* is silent ( بلسالمة ;(individual words can be joined into one when contracted in speech ( قلله = *qul lahū* > *qillu*). The letters of Abū Qaṣīṣa's network are generally more in line with the grammatical and orthographic rules of written Arabic although any of the aforementioned phenomena may occur.

The address differs between the two networks in layout and sometimes wording. Those from the Red Sea and Egypt are written in one line at the top of the verso side. The Syrians write several lines at the centre of what was the outer side of the folded letter. The same can be observed from other contemporary letters from the Ottoman Empire north of Egypt. This formal feature appears to mark a general division between letters written in Greater Syria and north of it (of which the Syrian merchant diaspora is an Egyptian extension to the south) on the one side, and those coming from Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, and further south, on the other.

## **Transcription**

#### **MS Gotha orient. A 2837, doc. 1**

Fransīs Bernard Dumyān to his cousin Giovanni Rūk / Rocco and his maternal uncle Yūsuf Anṭūn Tarjumān Talāmās / Giuseppe Talamas in Damietta. The writer's unnamed sister1 is also mentioned in the internal address.

The details of the matter reported in this latter are not always clear to me.2 Yet the contours of dramatic events revolving around two fierce legal cases taking place in Rosetta are evolving. They first pitted Fransīs against a powerful consul, while he believes he has the whole community of consuls on his side, securing documents from as far as Istanbul. The second case is that of a murder that had taken place in the Frankish quarter and sees the consuls united against the city's governor, who is unable to present the murderer.

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$$

.2 يصل الى ثغر دمياط ويسلم ليد جناب حضرة ابن عمنا الخواجه

$$\downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow} \downarrow^{\downarrow}$$

1 Theresia, according to other letters.

2 The matter is taken up again in Forschungsbibliothek Gotha, Ms. orient. A 2837, no. 27 (dated Ṣafar 30, 1219), which this one must precede, since the murder is mentioned as an immediate case here unlike in no. 27.

.4 المحترمين امانه مرسله بالخير

*MSig. Guiseppe Talamas Incaricato dell'Agenzia d Spagna opera altiss. Giovanni Rocco in Damietta*

#### **Recto**

	- ه تعالى يكون وصلكم وانتم بخير االن .6 بوصولنا الجل االطمان انشا الل
	- .9 انني صحيح رسلت وراه انه يحضر والكن االن لم لي عنده وال له عندي
		- .10 فطلبناه للشرع عند ا ]..[ـا قنصل الذي هو يريدو بحضور كافت القناصل
	- .13 ووجود المحبين منبظر عينه بوصط كرفوه الن كافت القناصل ختمو لنا االوراق ه تعالى الى كرفوه للسناتو اول )...( .14 ايضا الرويسة افرنج وروم ووجهناهم بسالمت الل .15 ولجل البخت توجه ايضا والد االب المحترم ابونا ديونيسيوس وكيل الروم فجنابه .16 سلمهم لوالده وايضا بمكتوب منه للبرينشبه حكم ما ردنا نحن فنساله تعالى
		- .17 دعاكم فرنسيس .18 مــــــــــــــمد .19 برنا دميان

١٢١٩ .20

.21 سنة

#### **Righthand Margin**

.22 ان يطول بعمر المحبين فلرجا دايما تكونو مطمنين .23 علينا ولم يكون لكم علينا فكرة بوجه من الوجوه .24 وعمالين كل يوم بعزومه ايام عند القناصل ايام عند .25 التجار والمحبين نساله تعالى ان يقضدرنا ]كذا [ علي مكافت .26 الجميع ورد شملنا وياكم بجبران خاطر عن قريب .27 بجاه والدت السياده وابنها الحبيب وكافت .28 القديسيين امين .29 االن رسلنا الكنباري الى راشيد الجل .30 يحصل محضر المركب من بيترو اتر امارني .31 عن يد الخواجه روشيتي انما ارجوكم .32 ترسلو لنا الورقة الذي حضرت من .33 اسالنبول بختم كنشليريت ]السبع[ 3 ومكتوب .34 جوزر فيها حساب .35 محضر المركب وبتجادوها بين .36 االوراق الفرنجية الن الكنباري .37 ينساها الرجا ارسالها حاال .38 مع قوطم الجوخ الزروق بتوع .39 االبيتو الذي عليه السبابيطا .40 ووجه دوشك من الصوفر عـ ١ واربع .41 وجوه امخدات بلونو ام خمسة

3 This short-lived Republic of the Seven Islands or Septinsular Republic comprised several islands off the coast of modern Greece in the Ionian Sea, among them Corfu, mentioned in the letter. It was established by a joint Ottoman-Russian military intervention that took the territories from the French and it existed between 1800 and 1807, after which they were first annexed by Napoleon and then transformed into a British protectorate from 1815 to 1864.

$$
\omega\_{\omega} \llcorner \omega\_{\omega} \llcorner \omega\_{\omega} \llcorner \omega\_{\omega}
$$

#### **Top Margin**

.43 دايما وسالمنا للجميع كل حي .44 باسما وايضا االخ يعقوب غطاس .45 ومنا بتقبل )...(

## **Recto**

(1) May the Exalted protect them!

(2) Amen.

(3) [To] his Excellency our sister, our cousin Signor Juwānī, and our maternal uncle Signor Yūsuf, the esteemed.

(4) After expressing the longing for you with exceeding yearning for your Excellency, what we have to put before you (5) is this: you previously received a letter regarding the mint of Rāšīd by hand of the master Baṭrūshī, in which we informed you (6) about our arrival to put you at ease. God willing, it reached you and you are fine. Now (7) we want to report to your Excellency on the issue of the consul when he found all the consuls in support of us (8) because, unlike him, they were not driven by greed for money. Said consul answered to the crowd: (9) "It is true that I sent after him so that he would appear. But right now I have no claim against him, as he has none against me. (10) We had cited him to court at […] a consul who wanted him in the presence of all the consuls, (11) which he refused." It is clear that this is a man who knows his ways and won't stay blemished because of that. (12) His intention is to pocket the down payment—533 ½ [piasters and] 3 [*miṣriyya*] plus expenses—but—God willing— (13) with the presence of loving friends, he will be thwarted, with the mediation of Corfu. Because all the consuls have sealed papers for us, (14) also the heads of the monasteries of the Europeans (Ifranj) and the Orthodox (Rūm). We delivered them to Corfu for the Senate first […]. (15) And for good luck, the father of the esteemed Father Diyūnīsiyūs, guardian of the Orthodox, His Excellency (16) directed them to his father, too. And also a letter from him to the Principe according to our answer. We ask God (17) Praying for you Fransīs (18) …

(19) Barnā Dumyān

(20)–(21) in the year 1219.

### **Righthand Margin**

(22) to prolong the lives of our friends. Please, always be at ease (23) about us, and don't spare a thought on us. (24) We spend our days being invited, sometimes with the consuls, sometimes with (25) the traders. About the friends we ask God to enable us to satisfy (26) them all and that he would unite us in good spirit soon, (27) through the power of the Mother of the Lord, her beloved son, and all (28) the saints. Amen.

(29) Now: we sent al-Kunbārī to Rāšīd so that (30) he would get the ship's manifest from Pītrū Atrāmārnī (31) by way of the master Rūšītī. I ask you only (32) to send the paper that arrived from (33) Islāmbūl with the seal of the consul's office of the Seven (34) Islands, as well as a letter with the account (35) of the ship's manifest. You will find it between (36) the *franjī*

(Italian or in Latin characters?) papers. (This is) because al-Kunbārī (37) (might?) forget it. Please send it immediately (38) together with: a (قوطم (?of blue broadcloth belonging to (39) the dress on which are the shoes; (40) and 1 kind of (دوشك (?from (الصوفر ;(?and four (41) or five coloured pillows.

(42) This is what I ask from you, with my constant prayers,

## **Top Margin**

(43) and greetings to everyone, each (44) by their names! Also to the brother Yaʿqūb Ġaṭṭās. (45) And from us (…) all the mothers kiss (the hands of) His Excellency (46) Our Father Bāṣilī and His Excellency Our Father Yūsuf and al-Bītrīyū, the great (47) guardian, and the guardian of Jerusalem, and al-Sanāyitū, and Father ʿĪsā, our neighbour. (48) We always ask for their intercession. This is written hastily! May your life be prolonged! (49) Extensive greetings to His Excellency the master Bāṣīlī Faḫr and the master (50) ʿAyrūt, the esteemed.

#### **Verso**

(1)–(2) Previously, one (دلي اجر (overpowered the dragoman of Switzerland (3) and Napoli with a carabine and (the dragoman) was immediately killed. They took him and buried him (4) and all the consuls sent for the governor to demand the perpetrator. They wanted to (5) strangle him in the Frankish quarter. The governor searched for him but did not find him. So he said (6) to them: "I will hand over another ( دلي اجر (for you to kill. Thus it's still one (7) for one." But they did not accept. And up to date they are still looking for the (8) killer. They want to fortify the gates and make the Frankish quarter (9) isolated. The local people rose up and will certainly write (10) to His Excellency the pasha. And they are waiting for his answer. They set out to build (11) on the wall. The worst curse on the local people every day! May our Lord (12) give a good outcome because all business stops at this state of affairs and (13) everything is expensive. This is to let you know.

We ask of our cousin, Senior Giovanni, (14) if he so pleases, to find a better opportunity to turn his merchandise into cash (15) than here or in Rāšīd—for Cairo we don't know the prices. (16) The war is always an obstacle for this. Enough now! May you live long!

### **Commentary**

The address is in Italian and the lexicon of the writer, too, seems to show familiarity with Italian terms (*l'abito*, *principe*).

## **Recto**

Line 12

العرابون. I interpret this to be a form of *ʿarabūn*, which, according to de Biberstein-Kazimirski (1860, 209) means *arrhes*, i.e., 'deposit, down payment'.

Line 38

بتوع. Like the more prevalent form بتاع, this term signifies a connection or belonging between two nouns, equivalent to the terms .تابع and ذو/ذات

## Line 39

االبيتو. This word appears to be of a non-Arabic form and I interpret it as a rendering of the Italian *l'abito* 'the dress'.

Line 48

عجله خط. A standard excuse for a letter written in haste.

## **Verso**

Line 2

اسويسيا. This seems to reflect the Italian version of Switzerland, *Svizzera*.

Line 8

بادين. This is the dialectal expression of intention and desire which is usually formed today and in the letters with بد) *badd*) as an invariable noun to which a personal pronoun is attached to express gender and number, e.g., بدهم. But in this rare case, as in a few other places throughout the letters, it is formed like a verb, e.g., بدني.

## **MS Gotha orient. A 2837, doc. 148**

Makkī Rawāy to Ṣāliḥ Abū Qaṣīṣa at the Wikālat al-Naššārīn in Cairo. The letter was presumably sent from Suez, where Makkī was posted.

## **Transcription**

**Recto**

$$\text{אַזאַנדער אַזאַנדער אַזאַנדער אַזאַנדער אַזאַנדער אַז דעם } \mathcal{L}$$

#### **Verso**

 ه تعالى .1 الجناب المحترم المكرم االخ العزيز الحاج صالح ابو اقصيصة اعزه الل .2 بعد مزيد السالم عليه وكثرة االشواق اليه ال يخفاكم نعرفكم سابق تاريخه ه تعالى يكون .3 ارسلنا لكم مكتوب وفيه قايمة بعلم المشحون ان شا الل .4 وصلكم واتطلعتوا عليه وانتم بخير ويوم تاريخه قدمنا لكم .5 في داو العيدروس خرز ١٥ وداو السعيدي خرز ١٥ على با هارون خرز ٢٢ هذا غالق .6 الخرز ونعرفكم من قبل اصحاب الثالثة داوات المزكورة فهم عندكم .7 في مصر اياك تنولوا في كل داو خمسة احمال الجل شحنت الشامية .8 الذي لكم الن بلغنا انهم بينولوا في مصر وخايفين يحضروا .9 ويكونوا غلفوا الشحنة في مصر يكون في علمكم واستلموا لنا .10 على االخ الحاج محمد ابن قيموا وكل من يسال عنا والسالم .11 السيد مكي .12 رواي .13 )عالمة( ١٢١٠ .14 .15 سنة .16 في ٥ رجب

## **Translation**

#### **Recto**

(1) May it arrive, God willing, to the well-protected Cairo and be delivered to the hand of the esteemed and noble one, the beloved brother al-ḥājj Ṣāliḥ Abū Qaṣīṣa at the Wikālat al-Naššārīn 8642

### **Verso**

(1) His Excellency, the esteemed and noble one, the beloved brother al-ḥājj Ṣāliḥ Abū Qaṣīṣa, may God strengthen him!

(2) After copious greetings for him and much longing for him, it shall not be concealed from you that we inform you that previously (3) we sent you a letter which included a cargo manifest, God willing it has (4) reached you and you looked at it and are in good health. As of today, we have forwarded to you, (5) on the dhow of al-ʿAydarūs, 15 beads, and on the dhow of al-Saʿīdī 15, and on (that of) Bā Hārūn 22. And that is the rightful passage of possession (*ġilāq*) (6) of the beads. We also inform you on behalf of the three captains of the aforementioned dhows, that when they are with you (7) in Cairo you can load five loads (*aḥmāl*) on each dhow because of the Syrian cargo (*šaḥnat al-Šāmiyya*) (8) that is with you. Because it has reached us that they load in Cairo and are afraid to come, (9) they will wrap the cargo in Cairo. So that you know.

Greet on my behalf (10) the brother al-ḫājj Muḥammad Ibn Qīmū and everyone who asks after us. Peace!

(14)–(16) on 5 Rajab in the year 1210 (=15.1.1796)

## **Commentary**

### **Recto**

Line 1

٨٦٤٢ '8642'. This number has an apotropaic function. The letters of the southern network of mostly Muslim writers who corresponded between Cairo, the Red Sea, and the Hejaz, rarely exclude it. But it is sometimes also found in correspondence of the northern, mostly Christian network.

## **Verso**

Line 5

 غالق. I am not certain about the meaning of this word. My translation is based on Lane's (1863–1893, VI: 2284) translation of the verb غلق and its infinitive nouns ق لَغَ and وق غل as "The pledge was, or became, a rightful possession [i.e. a forfeit] to the receiver of it," although this remains an unsatisfactory explanation.

## **22.  (2) Tunis on the 21st of Cheshvan 5557, (3) Our beloved and dear Rav Shlomo Bushʾara1—may his Rock

1 Although I have provided the direct transliteration 'Bushʾara' in line with that of Richard Ayoun (2010), there is a great deal of variation in transliterations of this surname in primary sources related to HCA 32/1208. For example, in HCA 32/901/276 spellings range from 'Bouchara' (n.48r), 'Bochara' (n.41r), 'Busciara' (n.37r), and 'Bocharra' (n.35r). Most of the papers and letters in HCA/32/1208 appear to have

keep him and grant him life. (4) Much peace upon you in the name of God. I am sending these two letters in order to briefly inform you that I have received from (5) the messenger in between the letter of the respected Rav Daʾnos dated the fifteenth of the aforementioned month and having taken note what's in it (6) and from it, I was happy to learn that you are well (thanks be to God) and your perspective in supervising me so that I should inform you of the sale of what the coffee (7) totals to on Saturday, informing you, sir, that you have ground coffee totalling onehundred (8) sixty and one-hundred sixty-five [*reale*s] per *qantar* and also the vessel arrived from Malta carrying the coffee, (9) yesterday a Dobra [Ragusan] vessel arrived from Algiers loaded with raisins and had with it the coffee (10) that the Muslim named Aramouche came bringing [with] one-hundred twenty *qantar* in hand, of inexperienced character (11) he told them surely it is worth granting its sale, on Saturday everyone likes selling and [through] that (12) which was sent we had previously informed you that it appears also for foodstuffs [there is] an agreeable sale in Constantine, (13) it is better selling there than in Tunis on Saturday, it is now wintertime and the coffee also was afflicted when it became unavailable, (14) and letting you know from the money for the others I sent [what] are the remaining balances (15) in their baskets, following your supervision in order to [meet that which] is on your mind and [awaiting] what you direct me to do with how (16) to handle them and also the

belonged to Shlomo Bushʾara and were captured aboard the cargo ship *Venus* in late-October 1800, after the vessel ran aground in the port of Mahon.

time is short and I have nothing new in order to prolong [this letter], may (17) you be well and healthy, if there is anything else required command me and I will gladly carry it out, with great care, peace and happiness

## **Commentary**

The letter features a variety of linguistic elements characteristic of Maghrebi Arabic. These components include the interrogatives *āsh* ( اش/ אש (and *kīfāsh* ( كيفاش/כיפאש(, as well as the conjunction *bāsh* ( باش/ באש (and the demonstrative pronoun *hād* ( هاد/ האד(. Additionally, the author makes use of the common Maghrebi verbal construction 'to be', through the conjugation of ي را in the thirdperson plural ( راهوم/ ראהום(. Ṣemaḥ's writing also demonstrates instances of code-switching to vocabulary from Judaeo-Spanish (line 11), and Hebrew (lines 4 and 16).

Another overarching feature within the letter is the author's reference to the potential sale of the coffee 'on Saturday' (lines 7, 11, 13). This arrangement should give readers pause due to the fact that it stands in violation of both biblical and rabbinic injunctions against conducting business on the Sabbath. The two

2 As with the recipient's surname, the transliteration 'Ṣemaḥ' directly portrays the sender's Hebrew orthography. That said, alternate Latinised versions of the surname surely existed in the late-18th century. One example is the spelling 'Semah', which is attested in the 1784 communal census records of the Livornese Massari (*Tribunale dei Massari*, vol. 10, f. 388r, Archivio Storico della Comunità Ebraica di Livorno).

Jewish merchants in question therefore likely relied on the assistance of Muslim or Christian trading partners to carry out this transaction. Besides the obvious temporal dimensions of the phrase سبت في/סבט פי, it may also imply the location for the coffee's sale. More specifically, the inclusive tone of Ṣemaḥ's affirmation in line 12 to the effect that 'on Saturday everyone likes selling', may suggest the existence of a Saturday market (*Sūq es Sebt*).

Line 1

```
השם בעזרת–ה''בע' with the help of God' (lit. 'with the help of the
Name') (Hebrew).
```
Line 2

'לח = לחודש' in the month' (Hebrew).

.(Hebrew' (year 'שנה = ש'

Line 3

.(Hebrew' (master the 'הרב = ה"ר

ו"יצ = ויחיהו צורו ישמרהו' may his Rock keep him and grant him life' (Hebrew; Hacker 2015, 75).

Line 4

ש''ב = בשמו lit. 'in His name' (Hebrew).

```
ו''אחדש = שלומו דרישות אחר' after inquiring about your (lit. his)
health' (Hebrew).
```
בקצור' briefly' (Hebrew).

Line 5

```
ברייט' letters' (Maghrebi Arabic بريات(.
```
Line 6

.'God to be thanks 'תודה לאל = ת''ל

Line 7

The term فاتو/פאטו/*fatto* is possibly a borrowing from Italian via Judaeo-Spanish, more specifically, the past participle of the Italian verb *fare* 'to make, to do'. Accordingly, the 'made' or 'finished' coffee may indicate that it had already been ground or processed in some manner.

Line 8

פ"כו = ופרט כלל lit. 'generally and particularly', but used colloquially as 'also' (Hebrew).

Line 10

This prepositional construction 'in hand' is perhaps a hybridisation of the Hebrew 3ms possessive suffix (ו - (and the Arabic preposition (في (with the cognate 'hand' (יד-يد(. Furthermore, the mention of אלגור כולק/ الغور خولق' inexperienced character' in this line stems from the likelihood that the merchant Aramouche did not offer the proper valuation for the coffee he brought from Algiers. From another letter we learn that the latter cargo sold for only one hundred forty *reales* per *qantar*, while the cargo of coffee from Malta sold for one hundred sixty-five *reales* per *qantar*. 3

Line 11 סיגורו/سيغورو = *seguro* 'certainly' (Castilian). Line 16 חדוש' news' (Hebrew).

3 Shlomo Ṣemaḥ to Shlomo Bushʾara, 4 Kislev 5557, HCA/32/1208/126.1, British National Archives.

#### Line 17

.(Hebrew' (happiness and peace 'שלום ושמחה = שו'' ש

 עינייה/ عينييه lit. 'my eyes' is used here colloquially as a parting word of affection that translates to 'with great care'.

Line 18

ה''ע = השם עבד' servant of God' (lit. 'servant of the Name') (Hebrew).

Line 19

.(Hebrew' (Sefardi good a 'ספרדי טוב = ס''ט

## **23.

(3) It has been told about this brazen wife, that she (4) had some male friends while being (5) married to a man of the listening and abiding kind. (6) One day, he wanted to travel, so he packed (7) provisions and supplies, said farewell to his wife and left.