Translation of the Life of Omar ibn Said: Manuscript No. 1

One of the rarest documents in American history: an autobiography written in Arabic by an enslaved West African Muslim in the antebellum South. Omar ibn Said composed this extraordinary manuscript around 1831, addressing it to 'the Christian public' in hopes they might recognize his humanity. Born in what is now Senegal, educated in Islamic theology and the Arabic language, Omar was kidnapped, sold into the slave trade, and eventually came to belong to a North Carolina family. His account documents the brutal disruption of his life, his enduring faith in Allah, and his profound grief for the family and homeland he would never see again. The manuscript itself, held today by Duke University, stands as testament to a man who refused to let slavery erase his identity, his language, or his dignity. This is a slim volume with enormous weight: the voice of a scholar reduced to property, writing in the only tongue that still felt like home.