Manuscript:
Moreh Nevuchim
from the Rambam
Dlela Alchirin دلالة الحائرين – the manuscript of the Guide to the Perplexed (Moreh Nevuchim) in its original Arabic!
All three volumes of this sefer are complete and boast an illustrated bordered title page in color with colorful chapter titles. The manuscript opens with a table of contents for all three volumes of the sefer.
The Rambam’s monumental work Moreh Nevuchim discusses fundamental topics of Jewish faith and theology and is regarded as the premier work of Jewish thought and philosophy. Written to address Jews who dwelt in Spain, Egypt, North Africa and Yemen, the sefer was originally authored by the Ramban in Arabic, although translations of the text already began appearing throughout the Diaspora during the Rambam’s lifetime.
Yemenite Jews accepted the Rambam’s authority unilaterally, regarding his every word with awe and submission. Therefore, Yemenite scribes who copied the Rambam’s writings worked with utmost devotion to ensure absolute accuracy and flawless precision. Even during the Rambam’s life, Yemenite Jews engaged scribes and scholars to carefully proofread every manuscript containing the Rambam’s writing (see R. Y. Kapach in preface to Moreh Nevuchim p. 23).
The colophon at the end of the manuscript reads: “Moreh Nevuchim was completed with the help of the One Who uplifts the perplexed, on Friday, Rosh Chodesh Av, 5684 (1924) to the creation of the world…and I, the simple of the simple, dust at the feet of the scribes Daoud ben Chaim ben Yosef Elbadichi…”
Further in the colophon the printer reveals that he is very young, “And you, my brother who peruses [this], if you shall find an error, please judge me favorably, and the Blessed One shall judge you favorably, as I have written this while still a schoolboy…”
An additional inscription by the scribe appears in a circular illustration on the verso of the title page: “I, who write this as the simple of the simple, dust at the feet of scribes, Daoud ben Chaim ben Yosef Elbadichi; and it was written in the country of Sana’a Ka-Bir Elazav may she be desolate and destroyed, and may Jerusalem be rebuilt and restored. Amen, may it be His Will.” (Ka-Bir Elazav was the Jewish neighborhood in Sana’a.)
Sana’a, 1924. Page Count: [5], 278 [1] leaves (567 sides).
Page Size: 24 cm.
Description: Handwritten manuscript on paper. Neat, straight lines. Several annotations in margins. Bound in an impressive original Yemenite leather-bound wooden case which serves as both a binding and case.
Condition: Good.
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