Ayuba Suleiman Diallo also known by the biblical translation of his name, Job Ben Solomon
He is notable for his success in gaining his freedom, and his production of Arabic texts in England in the early eighteenth century. He published work in Arabic and scribed three Qur’ans from memory. He also played a major role in introducing Islamic to Britain. Ayuba Suleiman Diallo was one of very few who managed to return to their African homeland in the era of the Atlantic slave trade. He is known as `the lucky slave`
1701
1773
Bondu, West Africa, present day Senegal
Black African
His Memoirs was published in 1734
He went to London in 1733 where his piety and intelligence led to his freedom and recognition in Britain.
Diallo was an educated Muslim from a high status family from Bondu in West Africa, known today as Senegal. He was captured by the Mandingo people and sold into slavery in 1731. He was taken to North America and made to work in a plantation. He became known by the biblical translation of his name in America, Job Ben Solomon . Through his own venture and some luck Diallo arrived in London in 1733. He sought and obtained his freedom, with the help of the clergyman Thomas Bluett. His intelligence and aura attracted people to him, and he was introduced to the Royal Court. In 1734 he was able to return to his homeland.
He published his Memoirs in 1734. This had a significant and lasting impact on Britain’s understanding of West African culture, Black identity, and Islam
His memoirs were published as one of the earliest slave narratives
His portrait was the first of a freed slave in Britain, and the first portrait to honour an African subject as an individual and an equal. It was painted by William Hoare in 1733
He played a major role in introducing Arabic to Britain
He scribed three Qur’ans from memory
He wrote letters to his home during his time away from there
Diallo had married two wives and fathered several children by the end of the 1720s
“Diallo, Ayuba Suleiman [Job Ben Solomon]”. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/100405.
Ayuba Suleiman Diallo. National Portrait Gallery. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/display/2011/ayuba-suleiman-diallo.php
British Library. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.bl.uk/west-africa/articles/crossings-african-writers-in-the-era-of-the-translatlantic-slave-trade
