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A Handbook and Reader of Ottoman Arabic

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Esther-Miriam Wagner

II. Reader

30. Arabia: a letter from Abdallah Ḥiṣānī to ʿAbdallah Bāšā (1855)

Jérôme Lentin

Texte intégral

1A letter from the šayḫ ʿAbdallah Ḥiṣānī to ʿAbdallah Bāšā, dated 18 Rabīʿ al-ʾawwal 1272 h (28 November 1855); from the facsimile in ʾAġlū (2002, 170), since the edition (81–82) is faulty.

Transcription

Translation

2Praise be to God alone, exalted be He

3(1) To his Lordship, model of the grandees and prominent among the leaders, protected by the eye of the Retributing Sovereign, our Sir (ʾAfandīnā) ʿAbdallah Bāšā—may God prompt him [to godly works]. Amen. (2) Greetings to you and the mercy of God and His blessings be upon you. — I have received your esteemed letter and I have perfectly understood the contents. The [very] day it arrived, we had [just] received a letter (3) from the ʾamīr of Mecca the Sharif ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and from the people of Mecca, ʿulamāʾ, and muftis. They were reporting that the Christians entered (4) Mecca, the Sacred House of God. Such news satisfies neither God, nor His Prophet, nor the Sultan, nor those who say that there is no deity except God and that Muhammad is His (5) messenger. When we heard that, the Muslims felt full of ardour [to fight] for the religion of Muḥammad (God bless him and grant him salvation) and for their religion. (6) The tribes wanted to rise up. We asked them [to wait] until we inform you and the Pasha and until things are confirmed. If it proves true (7) that the Christians disgraced the sanctity of the House of God, as the Sharif and the people of Mecca said, we will yield neither to the Christians nor to those who (8) support them and we will rise against them in zeal for the religion and we will seek the help of God, of His Prophet, and of the proclamation of His unicity. As God— praised and exalted be He—said: (9) “O you who believe! The Associationists are nothing but impure, so let them not approach the Inviolable Mosque.” You and I have concluded a pact [making a commitment] to do what satisfies God and His Prophet (10) and what is right in the land of the two sanctuaries. From the day we made this pact until today, I have never failed to serve you and the Sublime Porte. (11) We serve without taking any advantage from you or from the Sublime Porte, doing all this [only] for the sake of my love for our Sire and for you. This is because you are (12) truthful with me. I have informed His Grace, our Sir, in a letter and I am waiting for his answer. I am waiting as well for an answer from you. I am doing my best (13) to hold back the tribes until I receive the answer of our Sir and yours. This is what I needed to tell you. Greetings. This was written the day of al-wafā (ʾ) (14) of Rabīʿ al-ʾawwal 1272 by your servant the šayḫ ʿAbdallah Ḥiṣānī [seal]

Commentary

. Tāʾ ṭawīla for tāʾ marbūṭa (and vice versa, see note to ln. 7) is common in MA texts. Cf. ln. 2, ln. 8, ln. 10, ln. 12 اج žā ‘to come’ is common in MA (see text ‘Syria 1’, note to ln. 19). Cf. the imperfectin ln. 13. وي is most probably an apocopated form of‘when’.Notice the perfective aspectual value of the active participle.is probably to be read.is either an unusual plural of muftin (Classical muftūn), or—less likely—the plural of‘counsel’ (see Piamenta 1990–1991, II: 366).ṭabb ‘to enter’ (colloquial). The spelling without ʾalif al-wiqāya is consistent in this text (as in others) for the perfect(ln. 7) and(ln. 9) and the imperfect(ln. 9).al-ṣulṭān (< al-sulṭān).=(cf. Classical تباصا ). On the writing ة for ت , see note to ln. 1.. The (colloquial) modal auxiliary (3fs) baġat (on the writing ة for ت , see note to ln. 1) is constructed asyndetically, as is generally the case in MA texts.Colloquial lēn ‘until’ (for a further example see note to ln. 13).. This colloquial verb (šāf ‘to see’) appears frequently in MA texts, even in the less colloquialising ones.=ḥinna. Colloquial personal pronoun (for further examples see notes to lns 11 and 12 [2x]).. Colloquial negative construction (= Classical ل .)ا. For the frozen sound masculine plural form in -īn see text II.9, n. 13 and text ‘Syria 2’, n. 10. Further examples of the same in thisln. 8and ln. 12= Qurʾān 9 (Al-Tawba), 28. The canonical text reads:][‘O you who believe! The Associationists are nothing but impure, so let them not approach the Inviolable Mosque [after this year of theirs]’.=.=. ايلا . Colloquial ilya, cf. Classical. Colloquial prepositional phrase fi šān ‘for, for the sake of’. عار ‘owner’, hence ‘provided with’ (colloquial = Classical وذ ,); cf. de Landberg (1920–1942, II: 1321).ragab ‘to wait for’ (colloquial).

424 ذه . Short form of the colloquial demonstrative hāḏa.

. Notice the asyndetic construction of, and the perfect form of the auxiliary verb.is crossed out in the manuscript.77th (or 78th) day of the lunar year, 18 Rabīʿ al-ʾawwal.

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