{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_63635/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_63635","id":"gutenberg_63635","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63635","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Enslaved persons -- North Carolina -- Biography -- Manuscripts -- Translations into English","Enslaved persons' writings, American -- Manuscripts -- Translations into English","Manuscripts -- Washington (D.C.)","Said, Omar ibn, 1770?-1863","Slave narratives -- North Carolina -- Manuscripts -- Translations into English"],"text":"------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n       Translation of the Life of Omar ibn Said: Manuscript No. 1\n\n\n\n\n \u25cf Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n    \u25cb This document was transcribed from a handwritten text. The author\n      later made changes and insertions which are marked like this\n      [\u2191my], meaning the word \u201cmy\u201d was written as an insertion at that\n      point.\n    \u25cb There was no page numbered 5 in the manuscript.\n    \u25cb In the paragraph beginning \u201cI gave alms every year, gold,\u201d there\n      is an illegible word.\n    \u25cb Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Typographical errors were silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only\n      when a predominant form was found in this book.\n    \u25cb Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n                                                          Omar ben Saeed\n\n\n\n\n                                  (1)\n\n                          Manuscript, No. 1.\u2014\n\n\n          In the name of God, the merciful the gracious.\u2014God grant his\nblessing upon our lord (seidna) Mohammed. Blessed be He in whose hand is\nthe kingdom & who is Almighty; who created death & life that he might\nmake you the best of his works; for he is exalted; he is the forgiver\n(of sins,) who created seven heavens one above the other. Do you discern\nanything trifling in creation. Bring back your thoughts. Do you see\nanything worthless. Recall your vision in earnest. Turn your eye inward\nfor it is diseased. God has adorned the heavens & the world with lamps,\n& has made us missiles for the devils, & given us for them a grievous\npunishment, & to those who have disbelieved their Lord, the punishment\nof hell & pains of body. Whoever associates with them shall hear a\nboiling caldron, & what is cast therein may fitly represent those who\nsuffer under the anger of God.\u2014Ask them if a prophet (director) has not\nbeen sent unto them. They say, \u201cyes; a prophet has come to us, but we\nhave lied to him.\u201d We said, \u201cGod has not sent us down any thing, & you\nare in grievous error.\u201d They say, \u201cIf we had listened & been wise we\nshould not now have been suffering the punishment of the Omniscient.\u201d So\nthey confess they have sinned in destroying the followers of the\nOmniscient. Those who fear their Lord & profess his name, they receive\npardon & great honor. Guard your words, (ye wicked), make it known that\nGod is all-wise in all his manifestations. Do you not know from the\ncreation that God is full of skill? that He has made for you the way of\nerror, & you have walked therein, & have chosen to live upon what your\ngod, Nas\u00fbr has furnished you. Believe on Him who dwells in heaven, who\nhas fitted the earth to be your support & it shall give you food.\nBelieve on Him who dwells in Heaven, who has sent you a prophet, & you\nshall understand what a teacher (He has sent you.) Those that were\nbefore them deceived them (in regard to their prophet.) And how came\nthey to reject him? Did they not [\u2191see] in the heavens above them, how\nthe fowls of the air receive with pleasure that which is sent them? God\nlooks after all. Believe ye: it is He who supplies your wants, that you\nmay take his gifts & enjoy them, & take great pleasure in them. And now\nwill you go on in error, or walk in the path of righteousness. Say to\nthem; \u201cHe who regards you with care, & who has made for you the heavens\n& the earth: & gives you prosperity, Him you think little of. This is He\nthat planted you in the earth, & to whom you are soon to be gathered.\u201d\nBut they say, \u201cIf you are men of truth, tell us when shall this promise\nbe fulfilled?\u201d Say to them; \u201cDoes not God know? & am not I an evident\nProphet?\u201d When those who disbelieve shall see the things draw near\nbefore their faces, it shall then be told them, \u201cthese are the things\nabout which you made inquiry.\u201d Have you seen that God has destroyed me\nor those with me? or rather that He has shewn us mercy? And who will\ndefend the unbeliever from a miserable punishment? Say; \u201cKnowledge is\nfrom God.\u201d Say; \u201cHave you not seen that your water has become impure?\nWho will bring you fresh water from the fountain?\u201d\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nO Sheikh Hunter I cannot write my life because I have forgotten much of\nmy own language, as well as [\u2191of] the Arabic. Do not be hard upon me my\nbrother.\u2014To God let many thanks be paid for his great mercy & goodness.\n\n\n                                Page 14\u2014\n\n\nIn the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.\u2014Thanks be to God,\nsupreme in goodness, & kindness, & grace, & who is worthy of all honor,\nwho created all things for his service, even man\u2019s power of action & of\nspeech.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n                      From Omar to Sheikh Hunter.\n\n\n          You asked me to write my life. I am not able to do this\nbecause I have much forgotten my own, as well as the Arabic language.\nNeither can I write very grammatically or according to the true idiom.\nAnd so, my brother, I beg you, in God\u2019s name, not to chide me, for I am\na man of weak eyes, & of a weak body.\n\nMy name is Omar ibn Seid, (son of Seid.)\n\n\n\n\n                                  (2)\n\n\nMy birth place was Fut T\u00fbr, [\u2191(Fouta Toro,)] between the two rivers,\n(Mesopotamia in Africa?) I sought knowledge under the instruction of\n[\u2191a] Sheikh called Mohammed Seid, my own brother, & Sheikh Soleiman\nKembeh, & Sheikh Gabriel Abdal. I continued my studies twenty five\nyears, & then returned to my home where I remained six years. Then there\ncame to our place a large army, who killed many men, & took me, &\nbrought me to the great sea, & sold me into the hands of the Christians\n[\u2191who bound me] & sent [\u2191me] on board a great ship & [\u2191we] sailed upon\nthe great sea a month & a half, when we came to a place called\nCharleston in the Christian language. There they sold me to a small,\nweak, & wicked man, called Johnson, a complete infidel, who had no fear\nof God at all. Now I am a small man; & unable to do hard work so I fled\nfrom [\u2191the hand of] Johnson & after a month came to a place called\nFayd-il (Fayette-ville?). Here I saw some great houses (churches). On\nthe new-moon I went into a church to pray. A lad saw me & rode off to\nthe place of his father & informed him that he had seen a black man in\nthe church. A man named Handah (Hunter?) & another man with him on\nhorseback, came attended by a troop of dogs. They took me & made me go\nwith them twelve miles to a place called Fayd-il(?) where they put me\ninto a great house from which I could not go out. I continued in the\ngreat house (which, in the Christian language, they called jail) sixteen\ndays & nights. One Friday the jailor came & opened the door of the house\n& I saw a great many men all Christians, some of whom called out to me,\n\u201cwhat is your name? Is it Omar or Seid?\u201d I did not understand their\nChristian language. A man called Bob Mumford took me [\u2191& led me] out of\nthe jail, & I was very well pleased to go with them to their place. I\nstaid at Mumford\u2019s four days & nights, & then a man named Jim Owen, son\nin law of Mumford, who married his daughter Betsey, asked me if I was\nwilling to go to a place called Bladen, (B. Co. N.C.). I said, Yes, I\nwas willing. I went with them & have remained in the place (house?) of\nJim Owen until now.\n\nBefore (after?) I came into the hand of Gen. Owen a man by the name of\nMitchell came to buy me. He asked me if I were willing to go to\nCharleston City. I said \u201cno, no, no, no, no, no, no, I not willing to go\nto Charleston. I stay in the hand of Jim Owen.\u201d\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nO ye people of N. Carolina, O ye people of S. Carolina, O ye people of\nAmerica, all of you; have you among you any two such men as Jim Owen &\nJohn Owen. These men are good men. What food they eat they give to me to\neat. As they clothe themselves they clothe me. They permit me to read\nthe gospel of God, our Lord, & Saviour, & King; who regulates all our\ncircumstances, our health & wealth, & who bestows his mercies willingly,\nnot by constraint. According to my power I open my heart, as to a great\nlight, to receive the true way, the way of the Lord Jesus the Messiah.\n\nBefore I came to the Christian country, my religion was the religion of\n\u201cMohammed, the Apostle of God\u2014may God have mercy upon him, & give him\npeace.\u201d I walked to the mosque before day-break, washed my face & head &\nhands & feet. I prayed at noon, prayed in the afternoon, prayed at\nsun-set, prayed in the evening. I gave alms every year, gold, silver,\nseeds, [_illegible word_], cattle, sheep, goats, rice, wheat, & barley.\nI gave tithes of all the above-named things. I went every year to the\nholy war against the infidels. I went on pilgrimage to Mecca, as all did\nwho were able.\u2014\u2014My father had six sons & five daughters, & my mother had\nthree sons & one daughter. When I left my country I was thirty seven\nyears old;\u2014I have been in the country of the Christians twenty four\nyears.\u2014\u2014Written A.D. 1831\u2014\n\n[\u2191Written in year one thousand eight hundred and one and thirty of Jesus\nthe messiah]\n\nO ye people of N. Carolina, O ye people of S. Carolina, O all ye people\nof America\u2014the first son of Jim Owen is called Thomas, & his sister is\ncalled Masa-jein (Martha Jane?) This is an excellent family.\n\nTom Owen & Nell Owen have two sons & a daughter. The first son is called\nJim & the second John. The daughter is named Melissa.\n\nSeid Jim Owen & his wife Betsey have two sons & five daughters. Their\nnames are Tom, & John, & Mercy, Miriam, Sophia, Margaret & Eliza. This\nfamily is a very nice family.\n\n\n\n\n                                  (3)\n\n\nThe wife of John Owen is called Louisa & an excellent wife she is. She\nhad five children. Three of them died & two are still living.\n\nO ye Americans,\u2014ye people of N. Carolina\u2014have you, have you, have you,\nhave you among you a family like this family having so much love to God\nas they?\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nFormerly I, Omar, loved to read the book of the Koran the famous. Gen.\nJim Owen & his wife used to read the gospel, & they read it to me very\nmuch,\u2014the gospel of God, our Lord, our Creator, our King, He that orders\nall our circumstances, health & wealth, willingly, not constrainedly,\naccording to his power.\u2014Open thou my heart to the gospel, to the way of\nuprightness.\u2014Thanks to the Lord of all worlds, thanks in abundance. He\nis plenteous in mercy & abundant in goodness.\n\nFor the law was given by Moses but grace & truth were by Jesus the\nMessiah.\n\nWhen I was a Mohammedan I prayed thus: \u201cThanks be to God, Lord of all\nworlds, the merciful the gracious Lord of the day of Judgment, thee we\nserve, on thee we call for help. Direct us in the right way, the way of\nthose on whom thou hast had mercy, with whom thou has not been angry &\nwho walk not in error. Amen.\u201d\u2014But now I pray \u201cOur Father\u201d &c.. in the\nwords of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nI reside in this our country by reason of great necessity. Wicked men\ntook me by violence & sold me to the Christians. We sailed a month & a\nhalf on the great sea to the place called Charleston in the Christian\nland. I fell into the hand of a small, weak & wicked man, who feared not\nGod at all, nor did he read (the gospel) at all nor pray. I was afraid\nto remain with a man so depraved & who committed so many crimes & I ran\naway. After a month our Lord God brought me forward to the hand of a\ngood man, who fears God, & loves to do good, & whose name is Jim Owen &\nwhose brother is called Col. John Owen. These are two excellent men.\u2014\u2014I\nam residing in Bladen county.\n\nI continue in the hand of Jim Owen who never beats me, nor scolds me. I\nneither go hungry nor naked, & I have no hard work to do. I am not able\nto do hard work for I am a small man & feeble. During the last twenty\nyears I have known no want in the hand of Jim Owen.\u2014\n\n\n[Illustration]","title":"Translation of the Life of Omar ibn Said: Manuscript No. 1","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2203}