page_title: Omar ibn Said
section_title: Manuscripts
hierarchical_section_title: Omar ibn Said / Manuscripts
caption_attribution_description: English: Surat (Chapter) al Mulk from the Quran written by Omar Ibn Said
context_page_description: Omar ibn Said was a writer and Islamic scholar, born and educated in what is now Senegal in West Africa, who was enslaved and transported to the United States in 1807. There, while enslaved for the remainder of his life, he wrote a series of works of history and theology, including a posthumously famous autobiography.
context_section_description: Omar ibn Said is widely known for fourteen manuscripts that he wrote in Arabic. Out of all of his Arabic manuscripts, he is best known for his autobiographical essay, The Life of Omar Ibn Said, written in 1831. It describes some of the events of his life and includes reflections on his steadfast adherence to Islam and his openness towards other "God-fearing" people. On the surface, the document may appear to be tolerant towards slavery; however, Said begins it with Surat Al-Mulk, a chapter from the Qur'an, which states that only God has sovereignty over human beings. The manuscript is the only known Arabic autobiography by a slave in America. It was sold within a collection of Sa'id's documents between private collectors prior to its acquisition by the Library of Congress in 2017. It has since been treated for preservation and made viewable online. 
  Most of Said's other work consisted of Islamic manuscripts in Arabic, including a handwritten copy of some short chapters (surat) from the Qur'an that are now part of the North Carolina Collection in the Wilson Library at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Transcribing from memory, ibn Said made some mistakes in his work, notably at the start of Surat An-Nasr. His Bible, a translation into Arabic published by a missionary society, which has notations in Arabic by Omar, is part of the rare books collection at Davidson College. Sa'id was also the author of a letter, dated 1819, addressed to James Owen's brother, Major John Owen, written in Arabic and containing numerous Quranic references (including from the above-mentioned Surat Al-Mulk), which also includes several geometric symbols and shapes which point to its possible esoteric intentions. This letter, currently housed in Andover Theological Seminary, is reprinted in Allen Austin's African Muslims in Antebellum America: A Sourcebook.
caption: Surat Al-Mulk from the Qur'an, copied by Omar ibn Sa'id in a rudimentary Fulani script.
exif: {}