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The Mawzaʿ Exile (; 1679–1680) is an event experienced by Yemenite Jews,Tobi (2018), p. 135Ratzaby (1961), p. 79 in which Jews living in nearly all cities and towns throughout Yemen were banished by decree of the ruler, al-Mahdi Ahmad, and sent to a dry and barren region of the country named Mawza district. Only a few communities, inhabitants who lived in the far eastern quarters of Yemen (now Nihm district, al-Jawf, and Khawlan district in the eastThe one exception being Tan'am, which although it lies in the principality of Khawlan, was not spared the fate of exile.) were spared this fate by their mawla (Muslim patrons), who refused to obey the king's orders.Yosef Qafih (1958), pp. 246–286; Qafih (1989) vol. 2, p. 714 Many would die along the route and while confined to the hot and arid conditions of this forbidding terrain. After one year in exile, the exiles were called back to perform their usual tasks and labors for their Muslim counterparts, who had been deprived of goods and services on account of their exile.Qafih (1958); Qafih (1989), vol. 2, p. 714 (end); Amram Qorah (1988), p. 11
The Imam initially demanded they convert to Islam, and when they refused, he made them stand out in the sun without apparel for three days. Harsher decrees followed this. It is said that al-Mutawakkil Isma'il consulted with Zaydi fuqahāʾ (scholars) to determine whether or not the laws concerning Jews in the Arabian Peninsula applied also to Yemen, citing Muhammad, who was reported as saying, "There shall not be two religions in Arabia." When it was determined that these laws did indeed apply to Yemen, since the country was an indivisible part of the Arabian Peninsula, it then became incumbent upon Jews living in Yemen to either convert to Islam or to leave the country. However, the king fell ill and was bedridden; he did not expel the Jews, although he commanded the heir, al-Mahdi Ahmad, to do it.Tobi (2014), p. 7Tobi (1999), pp. 77-79
Al-Mahdi Ahmad of al-Ghirās, also known by the epithet "Ṣafī al-Din" ("Purity of Religion"), succeeded al-Mutawakkil Isma'il and perpetuated the same hostilities toward his Jewish subjects. This climaxed between the years 1677 and 1680, when he ordered the destruction of in Sana'a and elsewhere.In Tanḥum ben Joseph's al-Murshid al-kāfi (in manuscript form), p. 112 (Yosef Tobi's Private Collection), there is the following marginal note which reads: "The synagogue was destroyed here, in Ḥamidah, on Wednesday, the 17th day of the lunar month , in the year 1,989 of (=1678 CE), by order of al-Mahdi and Muhammad ben Ahmad" (End Quote). Yehudah Ratzaby (1984, p. 149) also brings down a manuscript extracted from the binding of an old book, now at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (239), in which the author complains: "The razing of the synagogue of Būsān on the fourth day of the week which is the third day of the year 1,989 of (= 1678 CE), and the enemies forbade us to gather as a quorum of ten for prayer and three scrolls of Law were slashed to pieces. May He in His mercy save us and all Israel from all the decrees." See: Tobi (1999), pp. 78 end-79) By early summer of 1679, he gave an ultimatum unto his Jewish subjects, namely, that they had the choice of either converting to Islam, in which they'd be allowed to remain in the country, or be killed. He gave to them three months to decide what they would do.Qafih (1958), vol. 2, page רסב (p. 270 in PDF); Qafiḥ (1989), vol. 2, p. 713
The king's words led to significant consternation among his Jewish subjects, who immediately declared a time of public fasting and prayer, which they observed both by day and night. Their plight soon became known to local tribesmen, whose chiefs and principal men pitied their condition and intervened on their behalf. They came before the king and enquired concerning the decree, and insisted that the Jews had been loyal to their king and had not offended the Muslims or had they done anything worthy of death, but should only be punished a little for their "obduracy" concerning Islam. The king, agreeing to their counsel, chose not to kill the Jews, but decided to banish them from his kingdom. They were to be sent to Zeila, a place now in Somaliland on the Red Sea, where they would be confined for life unless they converted.Qafih (1958), p. רסג; Qafiḥ (1989), vol. 2, p. 714
By late 1679, when the king saw that they were unrelenting in their fathers' religious faith, he then decided to follow through with what he had determined for them and issued a decree, banishing all Jews in his kingdom to the Red Sea outpost known as Zeila'. On the 2nd day of the lunar month Rajab, in the year 1090 of the Islamic calendar (corresponding with Gregorian calendar, 10 August 1679), his edict was put into effect, and he ordered the Jews of Sana'a to take leave of their places, but gave more space to the provincial governors of Yemen to begin the expulsion of all other Jews in Yemen to Zeila', and which should be accomplished by them in a time period not to exceed twelve months. The Jews of Sana'a had, meanwhile, set out on their journey, leaving behind them their homes and possessions, rather than exchange their religion for another. In doing so, according to rabbinic teaching, they brought Kiddush Hashem to God's name.In accordance with a teaching in Leviticus 22:31–32, and explained in the Responsa of Rabbi David ibn Zimra, vol. 2 (part 4), responsum no. 92 1163, Warsaw 1882 (reprinted), p. 47 (Hebrew pagination כד). Here, the author makes it clear that if Jews are collectively compelled by the Ismaelites to convert to Islam or else face punishment, they are to prefer punishment rather than exchange their religion for another, and, in so doing, they bring sanctity to God's name.
Rabbi Suleiman al-Naqqāsh had preemptively made arrangements for the community's safety and upkeep by sending written notifications to the Jewish communities which lay along the route, requesting that they provide food and assistance to their poor Jewish brethren when they passed through their communities in the coming weeks or days. The king's soldiers were sent to escort the exiles to their final destination, while the king himself had sent orders to the governors of the outlying districts and places where it was known that the Jewish exiles were to pass through while en route to Zeila', commanding them not to permit any Jew to remain in those cities when they reached them, but to send them on in their journey.Al-Naddaf (1928); Reprinted in Zechor le'Avraham, by Uziel al-Nadaf, (Part II) Jerusalem 1992 (Hebrew), pp. 4-5
By the time the Jews of Sana'a reached Dhamar, they had already been joined by the Jewish villagers of Siān and Tan'im (located about eastward of Bayt al-Ḥāḍir, southeast Sana'a), all of which places lie within Sana'a's periphery.Ratzaby (1961), p. 367, s.v. poem entitled: אבן אלאסבאט אבדע, lines 16–19 The Jews had sent fifteen letters to the king in al-Ghirās, asking him to forgive them of whatever offence they may have committed and to permit them to remain in their former settlements, yet none of these did he answer.Ratzaby (1961), p. 369, s.v. poem entitled: אבן אלאסבאט אבדע, lines 4–5
The author goes on to explain how that, when they reached their destination, they wept bitterly, since many of them had perished as in a plague, and they were unable to bury them because of the excruciating heat. When some of their party had tried to escape at night, approximately seventy men, the next morning when the sun arose they were stricken down by the intense heat, and there they died. The author concludes by saying, "Now, this decree of exile was at the beginning of anno mundi 5440 (= 1679 CE), and the blessed God redeemed us at the year's end; the sign of which being: 'The punishment of your iniquity has ended ' (Lam. 4:22)." Here, the author makes a play on words; the Hebrew word for "ended" (Heb. תם) having the numerical value of 440, the same as the year when abbreviated without the millennium.Ratzaby (1972), p. 207
Rabbi Hayyim Habshush, speaking somewhat about this time, writes: "For the duration of one year since this decree was first issued, they went as sheep to the slaughter from all the districts of Yemen, while none remained of all those districts who did not go into exile, excepting the district of Nihm towards the east, and the district of al-Jawf, as well as the eastern district of Khawlan."
At that time, the Muslims passed a new edict which forbade Jews from dwelling within Muslim neighborhoods, so as not to "defile their habitations," although they were at liberty to work in the city.Qafih (1958); Qafih (1989) vol. 2, p. 706 Those who traversed between the Jewish Quarter and the city would go by foot, while those who were either aged or ill would make use of beasts of burden to carry them into the city, the Jewish Quarter being then at a distance of about one-kilometer from the city's walls. The king then passed a series of discriminatory laws (Ar. ghiyār) meant to humiliate the Jews and which not only forbade their riding upon donkeys and horses, but also from walking or passing to the right side of any Muslim. Jews were to pass only on the left side of all Muslims. They also petitioned the king that a Jew would be prohibited by an edict from raising his voice against any Muslim, but to behave in a lowly and contrite spirit, and that offenders would be made punishable by flogging.Qafih (1958); Qafih (1989), vol. 2, pp. 706-707
The Exile of Mawzaʻ brought about demographic changes that could be felt all across Yemen. In Sana'a, to distinguish the original inhabitants from incoming migrant Jews, all newcomers who chose to dwell in the newly built Jewish Quarter were given surnames, each one after the place from which he was exiled, so that a man who came from the district of Sharʻab was called so-and-so, al-Sharʻabi, or he that came from the village of Maswar was called so-and-so, al-Maswari. In the words of the Jewish chronicler who wrote Dofi Hazeman (Vicissitudes of Time), being one of the earliest Jewish accounts of the expulsion (initially compiled by Yaḥyā ben Judah Ṣa'di in 1725) Goitein (1983), p. 162. David Solomon Sassoon attributes the writing to the Sa'īd, based on the author's own remark that he is "the son of Ḥazmaq the younger" (= Sa'īd, or Se'adyah), the usual rendition for this name given in the reversed order of the Hebrew alphabet. See: Sassoon (1932), vol. 2, p. 969, s.v. דופי הזמן. A microfilm copy of this work is available at the National Library of Israel in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Givat Ram Campus), Manuscript Dept., Microfilm reel # F-9103. and which work has since undergone several recensions by later chroniclers, we read the following testimony:Qafih (1958), pp. 246-286; Qafiḥ (1989), vol. 2, p. 716
German explorer Carsten Niebuhr visited the Jewish Quarter of Sana'a in 1763 during a Danish expedition, some eighty-three years following the community's return to Sana'a. He estimated their numbers at only two-thousand.Carsten Niebuhr (1992), pp. 416-418 These had built, up until 1761, fourteen synagogues within the new Jewish Quarter. In 1902, before the famine of 1905 decimated more than half of the city's Jewish population, German explorer Hermann Burchardt estimated the Jewish population of Sana'a at somewhere between six and eight thousand.Burchardt (1902), p. 338 G. Wyman Bury, who visited the Jewish Quarter of Sana'a in 1905 noted a decrease in the city's population from 1891, estimated at 50,000 people (Jews and Muslims alike), to only about 20,000 people in 1905. By 1934, when Carl Rathjens visited Sana'a, the Jewish population in the city had swollen to about seven thousand.Carl Rathjens & v. Wissman (1934), vol. 40, pp. 133-134; 141.
Our king, Al-Mahdi Ahmad, is the sun of religious guidance / even al-Mahdi Ahmad, the grandson of him who rose to power, al-Qasim. Unto him is ascribed dignities, such as were not accorded / before to, even in part. Had he not done aught but banish / the Jews of Ṣan'ā', who are the 'scum' of the world, and turned their venerable place (Ar. bi'ah = synagogue) into a mosque, / for bowing down unto God or standing before, by that decree, he would have still been most triumphant. Now the time of this event happened to concur with the date that is alluded in ghānim victorious"; Ghānim = (), the numerical value of which letters adds up to Anno Hegirae 1091 = 1680 CE).van Koningsveld, et al. (1990), pp. 156-158
Rabbi Amram Qorah brings down a brief history of the said mosque, taken from a book originally drawn up in Arabic and which was entitled: A List of the Mosques of Ṣan'ā'.Amram Qorah (1988), pp. 10-11 Therein is found a vivid description of the events which transpired in that fateful year and which reads as follows: "Among the mosques built in the vicinity of al-Sā'ilah, northwards from the path which leads from al-Sā'ilah to al-Quzālī, and the mosque known Ben al-Ḥussein built by the Imam of the Qasimid dynasty, the son of Muhammad (i.e. al-Mahdi Ahmad b. al-Ḥasan b. al-Qasim b. Muhammad), in the year Anno Hegirae 1091 (= 1679 CE) in the synagogue of the Jewish Quarter, who banished them from Sana'a and removed them unto a place befitting them, a now known as Qāʻ al-Yahud on the west side of Sana'a, just as it has been intimated by the scholarly judge, Muhammad b. Ibrahim al-Suḥuli, etc." Rabbi Amram Qorah then proceeds to bring down the words or panegyric inscribed on the frieze of the mosque in rhymed verse (see: supra), and which apparently had been composed by the said judge, in which he describes the exploits of the king who banished the Jews and who converted their synagogue into a mosque.Amram Qorah (1954), pp. 10-11 ( pp. 23-24 in PDF) Hebrew
Rabbi Amram Qorah, in the same work, brings down Rabbi Pinheas ben Gad Hacohen's account of events, whose testimony he found written in the margin of the first page of a Prayer Book ( Siddur), written in 1710:Amram Qorah (1988), pp. 9 -10. Moshe Gavra brings down the same account, mentioning that Rabbi Pinheas ben Gad Hacohen of Dhamar had first written this account in a Siddur that he had written for Rabbi Yehudah Ṣa'adi in 1680. See: Gavra (2010), vol. 1, p. 72
Now I shall inform you, my brethren, about what has happened to us at this time, since the beginning of anno 1,990 of the Seleucid Era (1678 CE) and in 1,991 of (1679 CE), how that the king made a decree and demolished all the synagogues of all the towns of Yemen, and there were some of the books and sacred writings that were desecrated at the hand of the gentiles, on account of our great iniquities, so that we could no longer make our public prayers, save only a very few men secretly within their houses. Afterwards, the king made a decree against the Jews to expel them into the wilderness of Mawzaʻ, while they, at demolished also their houses. However, there were some who managed to sell their house; what was worth one-thousand gold pieces they sold for one-hundred, and what was worth one-hundred gold pieces they sold for ten. So that, by these things, we were for a reproach amongst the nations, who continuously sought after ways by which they might cause us to change our, O may God forbid! So, all of the exiles of Israel stood up and laid aside their most beloved and precious possessions as a means by which God's name might be sanctified, blessed be He, including their fields and their vineyards, and delivered themselves up as martyrs for God's name sake, blessed be He. And if one had need of going out into the marketplace, he could not avoid being the object of hatred and spite, while there were those who even attacked him or called him by abusive language, so that there was fulfilled in this, our generation, the scripture that says, Who will raise up Jacob, for he is too small (Amos 7: 2, 5) to bear all the afflictions. So, too, was there fulfilled in us by reason of our iniquities the scripture that says, And I shall send a faintness into their hearts (Lev. 26:36). Yet, the divine Name, blessed be He, gives us strength to bear all those troubles and travails each day.
"I shall shed my tears – like rain they shall pour down / over all the pleasant sons who have gone forth into exile. They have forgotten what pertains to their happiness, and have also been diminished. / They journeyed in haste; along the parched ground they trod. On the day when 'Uzal (i.e. Ṣan'ā')Based on Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabic translation of 'Uzal in Genesis 10:27, which is rendered as Sanaa. went into exile, they took up his burden. The sun and the moon were extinguished at their departure! A multitude of the handmaid's sonsAn allusion to Ishmael, the son of Hagar (handmaid of Abraham), and the progenitor of the Arab nation. have ruled over them. / Wrath, and also jealousy, they've poured out upon them. So that they have inherited all of the glory, even their sublime honour! Whilst the dwelling place of God's glory, they have been given power to destroy! Midrash, as also the Talmud and the Torah, they have abolished. / Constable and elder were, both, drawn away by their hands. Orion and Pleiades, as well as the crescent moon, have become dim! / Even all the luminous lights, their light has turned into darkness! The beauty of their homes and their money they had entirely looted. / Every oppressor and every governor have prepared their bow for shooting. Preserve, O Master of the universe, those who are your peculiar friends, / Hadoram (i.e. Dhamar),Based on Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabic translation of Hadoram in Genesis 10:27, which is rendered as Dhamar. God's congregation, have been drawn after you! The heads of their academies have borne patiently the exile, / to do even the will of God, having valued the commandments. Redeem, O Master of the universe, your friends who have inherited / the Divine Law and sound wisdom, by which they have been blest! For the honour due to the writing of thine own hand on the day when they were gathered,An allusion to the tablets of the Ten Commandments, given to the people of Israel while they were gathered at Mount Sinai. / may you call to remembrance and deliver them during the time of their flight. My name is Shalem; 'tis written in the locked rhyme. / Rejoice in God's Divine Law, and bless His name!"
Original:
אזיל דמעותי כמטר יזלו / על כל בני חמדה בגלות הלכו. נשו לטובתם וגם נתדלדלו / נסעו בחפזון בציה דרכו. יום גלתה אוזל וסבלו סבלו / שמש וירח בצאתם נדעכו. שפעת בני אמה עליהם משלו / חמה וגם קנאה עליהם שפכו. לכלל יקר הדרת כבודם נחלו / ומעון כבוד האל להחריב נמלכו. מדרש וגם תלמוד ותורה בטלו / שוטר וגם זקן ידיהם משכו. עיש וגם כימה וסהר אפלו / גם כל מאורי אור מאורם חשכו. את כל נאות ביתם וכספם שללו / כל צר וכל מושל לקשתם דרכו. שמרה אדון עולם ידידים נסגלו / הדורם עדת האל אחריך נמשכו. ראשי ישיבתם לגלות סבלו / לעשות רצון האל ומצות ערכו. יגאל אדון עולם ידידים נחלו / תורה ותושיה ובה נתברכו. לכבוד כתב ידך ביום שנקהלו / תזכר ותצילם בעת יתהלכו. שלם שמי כתוב בחרוזים ננעלו / שמחו בתורת אל ולשמו ברכו.
In the following poem of the subgenre known as qiṣṣa (poetic tale), composed mostly in Judeo-Arabic with only two stanzas written in Hebrew, the author gives a long testimony about the events which transpired during that year of exile. The poem is entitled, Waṣalnā hātif al-alḥān – "Tidings have reached us," and is the work of the illustrious poet, Shalom Shabazi, who, at the age of 60, was an eye-witness to these events and whose name is inscribed in the poem in acrostics. The rhyme, however, has been lost in the translation:The English translation (in the collapsible thread) is based on the Hebrew translation of the poem made by Ratzaby (1961), pp. 353-354.
"Tidings have reached us on the second day of the Rajab (i.e. corresponds with the 2nd day of the lunar month Elul), saying, 'My companions, arise and ascribe singularity unto the Merciful One, and read the that has been inscribed! Hearken to these matters, and let not your mind be distracted, for the appointed time is at hand. Al-Mahdi Ahmad the king has decreed over us that we take flight.' The Jews of Sana'a then took leave, and have wandered unto those select places,Lit. "...have wandered unto Khabt," perhaps being the Al-Khabt in the Abyan District, in the far south-eastern reaches of Yemen, near the Indian Ocean. Yehudah Ratzaby suggests that the sense here is to two towns, the one being called Khabt of Darʻān and the other, Khabt of al-Baqr. Initially, the king had agreed that Jews be permitted to resettle in these towns, but later changed his mind. See: Ratzaby (1961), pp. 378-379, note *4. even unto the habitation of vipers and brute beasts. Even from al-Mahjam and from Dar'ān it was decreed over us to leave; by authorization of an edict which has overcome us. Now, we shall wait in Mawza'; there we shall dwell in the far reaches of the land belonging to the inhabitants of Arabia.
All of the inhabitants of 'Uzal (i.e. Ṣan'ā') were obedient, and they assembled in Dhamar. My companion, tighten the camel's gear and we'll begin moving after the ass. Let us proceed to 'Adinah, then to 'Amirah, and to al-'Ammār, while there we shall make camp. As for the young ones and those who were weak, their tears flowed like riverine brooks. 'Idaynah, receive those who are beloved! Go out to the gate of the city to welcome them! Now is the hour of testing those who are friends. Let them take pleasure in the weary fugitive, so that his fatigue might depart from him. Lo! They are the sons of the tribes and of those who are pious; those who are highborn and of gentility.
Ṣafī al-Din (i.e. Al-Mahdi Ahmad) has already given the order that we not remain in our places. Whether rich man or poor man, or he that is respectable, together they have gone forth; let us proceed according to our ability, under the influences of Saturn's horoscope; its evil portent will bring destruction. If its light flickers, it is about to change. The wisdom of the Blessed God has decreed upon the Sages of Israel, even the chosen sons of Jacob. Our elder, Suleiman al-Naqqāsh the Helmsman, will be the judge of those attempting to bypass his. In his hand there is the Imām's order for all to see, while there is nothing disparaging about the matter.
I am curtailed of my sleep from dismay, while tears run down my cheeks. When our elder, al-Naqqāsh, had arrived, all of the Jews who were shaken-up. 'Let us go out into the barren wasteland, a place of monstrous beasts and every kind of lion. Happy is he who returns safely from that place. We have already sold our fields, have forsaken our houses, and have submitted to the decree of our lord, the.' The young men wept, as also the pious men, when His anger was turned against us. Consider, O Lord, and reflect upon how many distinguished men, as well as those who were delicately raised, have been humiliated!
Weep, O Rachel, in our city for your wandering sons! Stir up our forefathers, let them arise, standing upon their feet, so that they may make mention of our fathers who, with grace, insist upon God's unison. May God's favour accompany us, in whose shadow we fervently desire. Let him gather those who dwell in Yemen, seeing that He is a Shepherd and the Faithful God. We shall then hear the song of the sons of Heman (i.e. the sons of Zerah, the son of Judah). Let him then take away the poison of the adder, which is most bitter. Let him command Yinnon (i.e. the Messiah) and the Prefect of (i.e. Elijah, the forerunner of the Messiah), and let him say to him: 'Draw nigh!'
By the merit of our forefathers, by the favour with Levi who is of Jacob's seed, make level the along the route in your wilderness for the son who is, both, comely and good. And by the nut tree garden may you sedate my heart which is in pain. As for Gabriel and the rooster, I have heard them in the street, whilst my pigeon is at rest; she calls out to the poor: 'Release them from their bonds!' In Zion there is to be found relief, whilst our portion is in the Garden of Eden, just as a son who is dearly loved. We shall then behold the house of our God, and the houses of Gush Halav (Heb. Gush Ḥalab).
The MashtaiteAnother appellation for Shalom Shabazi has said: O God, remove mine affliction. Our strength is brought low in Yemen, in the days of my exile. In both small and great matters, I think about my case. Now, by the abundance of delights have been diminished. O gracious God! He who instructs my tongue to speak, Heaven forbid that you have forgotten me! Unto Whom belong signs and wonders. Behold, it was upon us that He bestowed His bounty, and He has chosen Moses, the son of Amram, our beloved prophet!
The pampered pigeons are cooing in the tops of the citadels. The householders of al-Sā'ilah who have come to visit al-Mahdi Ahmad are complaining before about how destruction and evil have come over them. They recall the conversations revolving around the Divine Law spoken between, and the vines and the flowers in; they recall also the social gatherings where wine was served, and the chalices, and the splendour of their wedding feasts, where a would delight himself in them, become inebriated, but would avoid that which is obscene or mockery; he'd pure wine, whatever kind at hand, whose colour was as gold!
The Book of the Law (i.e. Torah) calls out to all wise men, and says: 'Have you neglected the study of the Law? It is the reason for their ignorance. Let them repent before the masters and return unto their Lord. The day of redemption is nigh, and He shall gather together their dispersed. There is a time for drinking wine, together with eating dainties, and there is a time for delving in wisdom. He, whose wine makes him heavy laden, let him sleep and from his weariness and from his burden. Let him wake-up to drink a second cup, such as may be imposed upon him.
In conclusion, let that He who is congenial (i.e. God) might conceal us in the covert of His mercy. The Benevolent One shall not forget us, while we shall proclaim the eminence of His bountiful grace. He that will console us, may he be merited with a good life. He that gives to us clothing, may his own wishes be fulfilled. My salutations go out unto those of my companions on this happy, but powerful night; which until Venus comes out in. That which my God has decreed shall come to pass, while for every thing there is a reason. The birds will once again trill at the top of the ben nut tree ( Moringa peregrina) in the fruitful orchard."
Another record of these events, composed here in poetic verse (although the rhyme has been lost in the translation), is the poem composed by Sālim ben Sa'īd, in Judeo-Arabic. The poem is written as a nashid and is entitled, 'Ibda' birrub al-'arsh (I shall commence by addressing Him who is upon the throne).Ratzaby (1961), pp. 379-380 (Translation of the original Judeo-Arabic), s.v. poem entitled: אבדע ברב אלערש; The original Judeo-Arabic was published in Hazofeh – Quartalis Hebraica (ed. Dr. L. Blau), vol. 7, Budapest 1923; ( ibid.) Second edition, Jerusalem 1972, pp. 2–3. The original Judeo-Arabic text can also be had at the Hebrew University National Library (Givat Ram Campus), Jerusalem, Manuscript Dept., Microfilm reel # F-9103.
"I shall commence by addressing Him who is upon the throne of, even He that is an Omniscient God, the Creator of all creatures; He who causes the dumb to speak.
I was curtailed of my sleep this night, while my heart was aching on account the king's decree; he that has made a decree against us by an oath.
He has revealed his ill-intentions on a dark night, one made sullen by the shadow of death; and who has sent against us soldiers and oppressors.
We lifted up our voices unto God of heaven, saying: 'Remove from us the evil of this decree. Behold! You are He that governs all!'
They have destroyed all of the cities, and have cast their fear upon the Sages. There is none who takes an interest in our case, nor anyone who will take pity upon us.
He lifted up his right hand and swore, 'They have no choice but to be banished unto Mawza!'
He commanded to destroy the synagogues which were in Sana'a, the habitation of the Divine Law and the seating place of the Sages.
He forced (?) them to go out into a parched land, the Tihama and al-Mahjam.
They wandered unto Mawza' and walked along the paths, in the fierce blaze of heat and with severe thirst.
On the day in which he took them out of their houses, their eyes rained tears of blood. They had gone out a short distance in the dark of night.In accordance with a verse in Ezekiel 12:4, And you shall go forth at eventide in their sight, as they that go forth into exile.
Several distinguished persons, and several disciples of the Sages went; they and their little ones, who were without understanding.
'You are obliged to go forth into exile; `tis from the Lord of Heaven, who once delivered us from the hand of wicked Pharaoh.'
My heart moans over my relatives who are missing. I have no pleasure in sleep, nor in bread or water!
A flame burns inside of me, ever since the evil tidings of reached me; I have become perplexed.
Praised be the Creator of the heavenly circuits, the Ruler of all things, unto whom none can be compared.
Your covenant and your signs have been forever. You have intoxicated your people with the waters of Abraham, made the covenant between the dissected halves.An allusion to Genesis 15:1-21.
But now, O king of most puissant kings, your people are sadly distressed and are deprived of all things.
They (i.e. the gentiles) cast their fear upon us, while the horsemen inflict us. No one tries to help us, nor is there anyone who takes pity upon us.
They have humiliated our religion, and have called out to us to become Muslims; even to sin and to desecrate your Divine Law.
He (i.e. the Imām) has issued against us frequent declarations; shall we not fear the punishment of God on High?
Our elders have gone forth into exile by an urgent command, whether willingly or unwillingly.
I have concluded my words, my brethren! Take-up my salutations and remain silent! Our hope is in God the Omniscient.
Remember me, O God, on account of the Divine Law's hidden mystery! So, too, remember Jacob, 'the man of pure intentions' dwelling!An allusion to Genesis 25:27.
Remember Moses who built for you the Tent of Convocation in the Sinai wilderness, on the day in which your Divine Presence dwelt thereon.
Do not forget Isaac, your bound servant, on the day in which he spoke to Abraham face to face.
Praise be to you, O Master of the universe! `Tis from me, Sālim ben Sa'īd, who has written rhymed verse."
"The dwelt securely, beneath the shadow of the kings of that country, until three-hundred (sic) years agoShould be amended to read "approximately two-hundred years ago," i.e. 1679 while they were dwelling in that chief metropolis, when the daughter of the king became pregnant outside of wedlock, and they laid the blame upon a Jewish man, one of the king's courtiers and of those who behold his countenance. However, the king's wrath wasn't assuaged until he had banished all of the Jews from that city and the surrounding regions, expelling them to the region of Tihama, a desolate wilderness (a walking distance of ten days' journey in a south-westerly direction from Sana'a), between Mocha and Aden; a salty land, and one of very fearsome heat, while they were all tender and accustomed to delicacies. Many of them died along the way, while those who came there could not bear the climate of that place and its infirmities. Two thirds of them succumbed and perished, and they had entertained the notion that all of them would perish either by the plague, by famine or by thirst, may God forbid. (Here, J. Saphir brings down a poem written about the event by Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, and which has already been quoted above) Now during the time of this exile and perdition, they had lost all of their precious belongings, and their handwritten books, as well as their peculiar compositions which they possessed of old. I have also seen their synagogues and places of study used by them of old in the city of the gentiles; eternal desolations 'and where demons will be found making sport' (Isa. 13:21), on account of our great iniquities. Notwithstanding, it is by the mercies of the Lord that we have not perished. He (i.e. God) did not prolong the days of their exile, but sent great distempers upon the king and upon his household. (They say that this was on account of the virtue of that pious Rabbi, the kabbalist, even our teacher and Rabbi, Mori Shalom Shabazi, may the memory of the righteous be blessed, who brought about multiple forms of distempers upon that cruel king, who then regretted the evil that and sent messengers to call out unto them with a conciliatory message, requesting that they return to their place – with the one exception that they not dwell with them in the royal city built as a fortress. He then gave to them a possession, being a grand inheritance outside of the city, which is al-Qaʻa, B'ir al-ʻAzāb – the plain wherein is the cistern known as ʻAzāb, and they built there houses for their dwelling quarters and built for themselves an enclosing wall which extended as far as to the wall of the city built like unto a fortress. In only a short time God assisted them, and they built there a large city and one that was spacious. They also acquired wealth and they rose to prominence, while many of the villagers likewise seized upon with them, that they might dwell in the city, until it became a full of people. At that time, Mori Yiḥya Halevi was the Nasi among them and the Exilarch.)"
German-Jewish ethnographer, Shelomo Dov Goitein, mentions a historical note about the old synagogue in Sana'a, before the expulsion of Jews from the city in 1679, and which is written in the glosses of an old copy of the Mishnah ( Seder Moed), written with Babylonian supralinear punctuation.Levi Nahum (1975), Introduction, p. 18 The marginal note concerns the accurate pronunciation of the word אישות in Mishnah Mo'ed Ḳaṭan 1:4, and reads as follows: "Now the Jews of Sana'a read it as אִישׁוּת ( ishūth), with a vowel shuraq ( shuruk). I studied with them a long time ago, during the time when the synagogue of Sana'a was still standing in situ."
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