“His Mountain is made a sort of Mecca”

Abstract

This chapter details events that occurred in 1808. As 1808 opened, news arrived in Washington that the Muslim fugitives had escaped; and as 1808 unfolded, these fugitives seemed to escape Jefferson’s notice as well. In the final months of 1807, Jefferson had failed to find a translator for their Arabic writings; in the first days of 1808, the Arabic authors themselves seemed impossible to find. Their words were too difficult to decipher. Their whereabouts were now uncertain. Perhaps it was just time to let this all go? But Jefferson did not let it go—at least not entirely. The trail of the Muslim authors grew cold during the busy winter of 1808. Yet, the trails of Arabic ink that had arrived to Jefferson in the autumn of 1807 remained entirely tangible, if inexplicable. Through all the upheavals of his later life, these Muslim writings were kept safe, surviving along with countless papers accrued during Jefferson’s presidency.