Letter From The People Of Cyprus
The ''Letter from the People of Cyprus'' () is an anonymous Arabic letter to an unnamed recipient. 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. 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 Christian apologetics, defence of Christianity that concedes as much as possible to Islam without accepting it. In 1316 or 1317, a copy was sent to Ibn Taymiyya, whose ''al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ'' was written in response. In 1321, another was sent to Ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Dimashqī, who wrote the ''Jawāb risālat ahl jazīrat Qubruṣ'' in response. Five manuscripts of the letter are known. The earliest was copied on Cyprus by Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā in August 1336. The la ...
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