Once owned by the third US president Thomas Jefferson, a rare, translated copy of the Quran dating back to 18th century has been put to display at the Expo 2020 Dubai.

Once owned by the third US president Thomas Jefferson, a rare, translated copy of the Quran dating back to the 18th century has been put to display at the Expo 2020 Dubai.

One of the treasures of the Library of Congress in Washington DC, this is the first time the holy text has left the US since it arrived in colonial-era America and was acquired by the former president.

The Quran, that is a two-volume English edition, along with a framed map of Mecca, made its journey amidst high security in a custom-made crate along with a sensor that detects vibrations and temperature changes to the World Fair in the UAE.

Library conservation and security staffers, along with police and an international freight company that specialises in fine art shipping, secured the crate on its way to the event.

“Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Quran left the US for the first time from its home at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC,” wrote the USA Expo 2020 account on Twitter.
“It is on display in the USA Pavilion as an integral part of our theme,” they said.

Jefferson, who was President for two terms from 1801--1809, is believed to have bought his copy of the Holy Quran when he was in his early twenties, studying law. He had an enduring interest in world religions, and it is said that he valued the Holy Quran as a comparison for legal codes across the world.

One of the highlights of the Expo’s USA Pavillon, the historic text has been translated and is named ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of the Future’, a riff on Jefferson's famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence.

The second edition of the influential 1734 translation by George Sale is on display in a secured case at the USA pavilion. It is visible after guests emerge from a sound-and-light experience that showcases the USA’s founding principles, particularly its innovations.