In the name of the most
merciful God.
He that depends upon God goeth straight to the right way. From the
servant of God, the Emperor of the believers, who maketh war for
the cause of the Lord of both worlds, Ismael ben Assherif Al
Hassanee to the Queen of the English, nay of England, and the
mistress of the great parliament thereof, happiness to every one
that followeth the right way, and believes in God, and is so
directed.
This premised, we have heard from more than one of the comers and
goers from thy country, that thou hast seized our Armenian servant,
a person of great esteem. We sent him to thee, to compose a
difference between us and thee, and we wrote to thee concerning
him, that thou shouldst use him well. Then, after this, we heard
that thou didst set him at liberty: And wherefore didst thou seize
him? Hath he exceeded any covenant, or hath he made any covenant
with thee and broke it? We should not have sent him to thee, but on
393 account of our knowledge and assurance of his understanding and
integrity; and when he resolved upon his journey into your country,
we gave him directions to dispatch some of our affairs. Wherefore
we wrote unto thee concerning him, and said, If thou hast any
necessity or business with us, he will convey it to us from thee.
And we said unto thee, Speak with him, and whatsoever thou sayest
unto him, he will communicate unto us, without addition or
diminution.
As for what our servant Alkaid Ali ben Abdallah did to ----, the
Christian, thy servant, by God we know nothing of it, nor gave him
any permission as to any thing that passed between them; and, at
the instant that we heard that he had taken thy man, we commanded
him to set him at liberty forthwith; and since then we have never
manifested any favour to Alkaid Ali, nor was our mind ever right
towards him afterwards till he died.
Our Christian servant, the merchant, Bayly, told us, that thou
hadst a mind to an ostrich, and we gave him two, a male and a
female, which shall come to you, if God will. And, lo! a secretary,
our servant, (who is much esteemed by us,) when he cometh he shall
bring what goods he hath collected with him, if it please God. And
we are in expectation of thy messenger the ambassador; and if he
comes, he shall see nothing from us but what is fair; and we will
deliver to him the Christians, and do what he pleases, if God will.
Wherefore be kind to our servant, with respect.
394
Written the first of the Glorious Ramadan, in the year of the Hejra
1125 (corresponding with A.D. 1710).