الرسالة المنفذة إلى القاضي
I have placed my trust in the Commander of the Faithful—exalted be His remembrance—and through Him I seek help in every affair. The Cause of causes; the attributes of the Cause: In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
From the servant and possession of the Commander of the Faithful, Ḥamza son of ʿAlī son of Aḥmad, Guide of the Responders, who takes vengeance upon the polytheists through the sword of the Commander of the Faithful and the strength of His sovereignty, besides whom none is worshipped, to Aḥmad son of Muḥammad son of al-ʿAwwām, called Chief Judge.
Now then: We previously sent you a letter asking about your knowledge of yourself, but you failed to answer, because you possess little knowledge of the truth and have turned away from it.
How can you claim this exalted title, Chief Judge, when you have no knowledge of the realities of cases and judgments? It is thus established that you are a pretender to the position you hold.
You must therefore learn to know and train yourself. If you remain ignorant of yourself, you are the Pharaoh of this age, and your actions follow those of ʿUthmān son of ʿAffān. You must abandon what you are doing and follow the conduct of your predecessors Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. Remove the white veil from your head, together with the turban and the ṭaylasān cloak. Wear a long black garment with yellow patches hanging down upon your chest. Wear a sleeveless outer garment, not a cloak, but one open at the breast, ornamented with red, yellow, and black Ṭāʾif leather. It should be short on you, so that you resemble ʿUmar son of al-Khaṭṭāb. Keep a whip upon your thigh, so that you can administer the prescribed penalties to those liable to them while seated in the congregational mosque.
In every marketplace appoint an officer dressed as you are, with a whip in his hand, to administer in that market the prescribed penalties upon those who deserve them: adulterers, thieves, false accusers, and wine drinkers belonging to your religious community. Deliver the sermon yourself, ascend the pulpit without a sword hanging from you, and go on foot and barefoot between your house and the mosque, so that in this too you follow your predecessors Abū Bakr and ʿUmar.
Beware, and beware again, of hearing any case involving a Unitarian—neither you nor your deputies may do so—whether it concerns testimony, marriage, divorce, a document, manumission, or a will. If anyone sits before you seeking judgment, inquire about him. If he is a Unitarian, send him to me with your men, and I shall judge him according to the spiritual law that the Commander of the Faithful—His peace be upon us—has authorized me to administer.
Look to yourself: I have given you your excuse and warned you repeatedly.
Written in Rabīʿ al-Awwal, in the second year of the servant and possession of our Lord, the Guide of the Responders, who takes vengeance upon the polytheists through the sword of the Commander of the Faithful. He suffices me and is the best Helper and Supporter.