[Letter : Omar ibn Said to John Owen]

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.