منشور أبي علي
Your letter has arrived, my brother, dear and precious to me—may God prolong your life and perpetuate your honor and blessings. I read it, and thanked the One whose grateful servant is never disappointed.
My brother, the entire matter has passed and is finished; there is no reason to raise it again. Between you and my noble master there should be affection, respect, and truthful friendship, which must continue. Whatever you can obtain of what is still due to him from someone who freely acknowledges it—without coercion or reliance upon an overpowering hand—receive graciously. But do not demand anything from someone who denies, wrongs, and conceals what he owes. There should be nothing between you and anyone except what is good.
You know that Ibn Tamīm and Ibn Sakīna went out only because of their abuse of my noble master. After that they attributed shameful things to him, and he disapproved of their behavior. You may take his conduct as an example. My noble master has now dissolved the guarantee for that estate. He no longer has any need of it, since it has brought him no benefit comparable to the distress it has caused him. Loss is followed by having to hear words that should never have been spoken. Were I to expand on all the individual points in the letters that reached him, a single book could not contain them. A brief statement is sufficient for people of intellect and understanding.
Now then. In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. My success comes only through God, the Most High, the Magnificent.
Let my brethren among the pure shaykhs—may God guard and protect them—know that the pure Ibn Wahb, Abū ʿAlī, is known for trustworthiness, probity and his acknowledgment of the Guardian. His only failing was his delay in explaining the condition of the community, even though he had witnessed the matter and observed those who defended the traitor in opposition to what truth demanded.
When his heart turned back toward the truth, as his mind and conscience led him to do, he explained the actions and scandals of that person to the community. God repays each person according to his intention and requites him. By God, I count Abū ʿAlī a truthful, trustworthy, religious and upright man. God is Pardoning and Forgiving toward whoever repents.
Let the community recognize his merit and his place without reproaching him. The things said about him in the earlier letter were intended as rebuke and admonition. A compassionate counsellor's sternness and correction do not impugn the intentions of the people of truth. I send him my fullest greetings, and to the community my wishes for sound and praiseworthy well-being.
As for my brother—may God preserve and protect him—I have witnessed his truthfulness before the community and verified his intentions. Whatever doubt or haste he showed, the trustworthy shaykh should not count it against him or reproach him for it. By God, He will confirm for him and the community the virtues I have pledged to them and fulfill them.
The pure shaykhs of the House of ʿAbd Allāh, my brethren, are people of patience, honor and composure. God will suffice us against whatever danger we fear for them or their community. Reports arrive praising their good character. Their stations rise in honor and dignity before God and His Guardian.
He also mentioned the cloak and shirt that the wronged shaykh, whose trustworthiness exceeds that of trustworthy men, had worn until they were threadbare. Let those articles be sold, and let the proceeds be distributed among the poor of the households and the daughters.
As to the sword in the possession of my brother Abū al-Khayr, he has the best right to retain it in every circumstance. There is no need for us to purchase it. Whatever has been concluded was done discreetly and in secret. God watches over the community; to Him belong praise and thanks. He is sufficient for me, and His Guardian is the avenger against people of treachery and unbelief. Peace upon the House of ʿAbd Allāh and the House of Sulaymān.
Completed through the favor of the Guardian of the Command.