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Omar ibn Said letter : manuscript
Creator
Title
Omar ibn Said letter : manuscript.
Production
North Carolina, circa 1819.
Physical Description
1 item (2 pages) ; 26 cm
Language
Arabic
Notes
Notes on Taylor letter: "Letter from Judge Taylor - enclosing an Arabic Amulet" ; "Judge Taylor's letter and mss to be sent to Dr Stuart, Andover" ; "To the Library of the Theol. Seminary from M. Stuart, 22 April 1837." Moses Stuart was Professor of Biblical Studies at Andover Theological Seminary from 1810 to 1848.
Accompanied by a copy of The Missionary Herald (Boston: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, April 1869) which includes an article, in English, "Arabic-Speaking Negro Mohammedans in Africa," by George E. Post, that discusses Said's manuscript, Taylor's letter, and subsequent events and writings by Said.
Title devised by cataloger.
In Arabic.
Provenance
Gift of Moses Stuart to Andover Theological Seminary Library, 1837. Acquired as part of the establishment of the Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School, 2017.
Access and use
Restricted material. May not be seen without the permission of the appropriate curator.
Biographical / Historical Note
Omar ibn Said, also known as Moro or Moreau, was a West African Muslim born and educated in the Futa Toro region on the Senegal River. He was sold into slavery in approximately 1807 and transported to the United States. From approximately 1810 until the end of his life, Said was owned by politician James Owen of Bladen County, North Carolina, brother of North Carolina Governor John Owen.
Summary
Autograph letter, in Arabic Maghrabi script, conveying a greeting to Major John Owen in Raleigh, and consisting chiefly of quotations from the Qur'an and from treatises on Arabic grammar. Quotations from the Qur'an include: Sūrat al-Najm (21-23); Sūrat al-Masad (1-2); Sūrat al-Baqarah (285-286); Sūrat Fuṣṣilat (46); Sūrat 'Abasa (34-37); Sūrat al-Infiṭār (19); Sūrat al-Nabaʼ (40); Sūrat al-Mulk (1-13). Quotations from grammatical treatises include verses from Mulḥat al-iʻrāb (Ḥarīrī) and Alfīyat Ibn Mālik (Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh). In the center of the first page, a geometric drawing encloses the Arabic text "Shaykh General Jim Owen," along with two unidentified words. In addition to the text relating to John and James Owen and the quotations, Said expresses a wish to see a place [Kaba?] in Africa.
With cover letter, in English, from John Louis Taylor, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, dated Raleigh, North Carolina, 1819 October 10, to Francis Scott Key, George Town [Washington, DC]. Taylor describes Said's history and relationship with his owner James Owen, and requests Key's assistance in obtaining a translation of the enclosed manuscript. He also asks for Key's advice in obtaining an Arabic Bible for Said, and discusses his hope that Said could be persuaded to return to Africa with "the Colonization Society," likely the American Colonization Society, of which both Taylor and Key were members.
Format
Archives or Manuscripts
Added to Catalog
October 25, 2017
References
Omar ibn Said Letter. James Weldon Johnson Collection in the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Cite as
Omar ibn Said Letter. James Weldon Johnson Collection in the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Subjects
Subjects (Local Yale)
Genre/Form
Manuscripts, Arabic - North Carolina - 19th century.
Bookmark As
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