Letter from the People of Cyprus

The Letter from the People of Cyprus (Arabic: Risāla min ahl jazīrat Qubruṣ) is an anonymous Arabic letter written to an unnamed recipient.[1] The author is generally thought to have been a Melkite Christian, although it has been argued that he in fact belonged to the Church of the East.[2] The letter was composed shortly before 1316, probably on Cyprus, by reworking and expanding Paul of Antioch's Letter to a Muslim Friend. Like Paul, the author claims to have travelled and learned the opinions of Christian experts about the Qurʾān. The result is a defence of Christianity that concedes as much as possible to Islam without accepting it.[3] In 1316 or 1317, a copy was sent to Ibn Taymiyya, whose al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ was written in response.[4][5] In 1321, another was sent to Ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Dimashqī, who wrote the Jawāb risālat ahl jazīrat Qubruṣ in response.[6][7]

Incipit of the Letter in a manuscript from 1538

Five manuscripts of the letter are known. The earliest was copied on Cyprus by Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā in August 1336. The latest is a Garshuni copy from 1856. In addition, the letter is quoted in full by Ibn Taymiyya and al-Dimashqī.[8] There are two manuscripts of al-Dimashqī's Jawāb, one from 1370 and another from 1665.[6] The Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ is known from three manuscripts, the earliest from 1330 and the latest from 1901.[9]