One of the most remarkable figures in the history of Islam in America was Omar ibn Said (ʿUmar b. Sayyid,
1770-1863), a Muslim scholar educated in West Africa, who was captured in warfare in his homeland and
sold into slavery in America in 1807. For over half a century he lived in North Carolina, enslaved by the
prominent Owen family of Fayetteville, and he left behind a small body of writings in Arabic that have for
the most part been misread and misunderstood. In this article, I would like to present three short poems
quoted by Omar in his writings, which provide a clear indication of the intellectual and theological range
of materials that he was familiar with.