In the 1530s, the Christian Empire of the Ethiopian-Eritrean highlands was facing an existential threat—a rebellion by its Muslim vassals, led by a charismatic Imam. During this period, the spiritual leader of the Christians, an abbot named Enbaqom, penned a powerful polemic against the rebels in the form of a letter to their commander. The letter contained large sections of the Quran translated masterfully from Arabic into Ethiopic (or Ge’ez). Through these translations, the abbot impressed upon the Muslim rebels the truths of his religion on the basis of their scripture. Enbaqom’s translations of the Quran are artefacts of African literary genius. They are evidence of the connectivity and cosmopolitanism of the medieval Red Sea world.

Photo Info / Credit: St. Mark, Ethiopic Bible Manuscript / MSS 102, Getty Museum (Public Domain)