A ''sha'ir'' was a pre-Islamic Arab poet believed to have magical powers.

History

The origin of the term ''sha'ir'' is unknown. The ancient Arab culture viewed the ''sha'ir'' as a type of wizard, able to commune with

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

forces, or ''

djinni Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...

'', for both knowledge and power. Members of the tribe treated ''sha'ir'' as

oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

s and

wisemen "Wisemen" is a song written by British singer James Blunt, Jimmy Hogarth and Sacha Skarbek for Blunt's 2004 debut album '' Back to Bedlam''. The song was produced by Tom Rothrock and Jimmy Hogarth. The song was released as the second single in ...

. The poems and songs of the ''sha'ir'' inspired tribe members during war, and were considered powerful weapons. ''Sha'ir'' also served as advisors to rulers. Many thought sha'ir could supernaturally communicate with the djinn and the results were beautiful poetry inspired by the mystical being.

Modern adaptation

In the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

fantasy role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ...

, a type of kit, or variation on a

character class In tabletop games and video games, a character class is a job or profession commonly used to differentiate the abilities of different game characters. In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes aggregate several abilities and aptitudes, ...

, called the ''sha'ir'' was created for the ''

Al-Qadim Al-Qadim is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game which was developed by Jeff Grubb with Andria Hayday for TSR, Inc., and was first released in 1992. Al-Qadim uses ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as a theme and is ...

campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and ca ...

. In the game, however, ''sha'ir'' have actual magical powers, and can communicate with

genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

s. In addition to being advisors, ''sha'ir'' can also be found wandering alone in the desert, something the real ''sha'ir'' were not known for.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite book , editor1=Charles Dudley Warner , editor2=John William Cunliffe , editor3=Ashley Horace Thorndike , editor4=Harry Morgan Ayres , editor5=

Helen Rex Keller Helen Rex Keller (August 13, 1876–January 21, 1967) was an American librarian and author of reference books. Her works included a two volume dictionary of dates.(November 20, 1934)Kirkus Reviews (Dictionary of Dates) ''Kirkus Reviews'' Keller ...

, editor6=Gerhard Richard Lomer , title=The Warner Library , volume=30 , pages=9–14 , publisher=Warner Library Co , year=1917 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LAoIAQAAIAAJ {{cite book , author=Grubb, Jeff , authorlink=Jeff Grubb , title= Al-Qadim: Arabian Adventures , pages=42–43 , publisher=

TSR, Inc TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been ...

, year=1992 , isbn=1-56076-358-2 {{cite book , author=Kuiper, Kathleen , title=Islamic Art, Literature, and Culture , pages=58–61 , publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group , year=2009 , isbn=978-1615300976 Pre-Islamic Arabian poets Mystic poets Occult writers Spiritual mediums Advisors Divination Jinn Arabic words and phrases