Shanfara

Lived around the turn of the sixth century. Arab poet from southwest central Arabia.

Shanfara was numbered among the saluqiin, who were the ancient Arab counterparts of the izgoi in Kievan Rus’; specifically, the saluqiin were the poor who had no tribal affiliation as a result of the decay of the clan tribal system. In Shanfara’s poetry motifs of self-praise (fahr) predominate, affirming the heroism of individuals and a lack of tolerance for social injustice. Shanfara is best known for his lamiyah (literally, “poem rhyming in l”); however, scholars now think the work was actually written by the eighth-century Iraqi philologist Halaf al-Ahmar.