Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

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S̲h̲āʿir
(23,851 words)

(a.), poet.

1. In the Arab world.

A. Pre-Islamic and Umayyad periods.

Among those endowed with knowledge and with power in ancient Arabia stands the figure of the s̲h̲āʿir , whose role is often confused with that of the ʿarrāf ( s̲h̲aʿara and ʿarafa having the same semantic value: cf. I. Goldziher, Abhandlungen , i, 3 ff.) and of the kāhin [q.v.]. They were credited with the same source of inspiration, the d̲j̲inns (Goldziher, Die Ǧinnen der Dichter , in ZDMG, xlv [1891], 685 ff.). However, the s̲h̲āʿir was, originally, the repository of magical rather than divinatory knowledge; …

Cite this page
Fahd, T., Moreh, S., Ben Abdesselem, A., Reynolds, D.F., Bruijn, J.T.P. de, Halman, Talat Sait, Rahman, Munibur, Kane, Ousmane, Hiskett, M. and Hooker, Virginia Matheson, “S̲h̲āʿir”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1028>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004161214, 1960-2007



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