About Shanfaraa

This site is named after a pre-Islamic poet, Shanfaraa, one a of a group of poets known as the “Sa’alik,” the “brigands” or alternatively, the “destitute.” By virtue of their outsider status, they were condemned to live on the margins of society, viewed by the mainstream as threats, but viewed by themselves as free and noble. Shanfaraa is the most famous of these poets, and his “Arabian Ode Rhyming in “Lam [the letter l],” is a firm part of the Arab poetic canon. I have named my blog after Shanfaraa because, as an Arab-American and a Muslim-American, we are currently on the margins, but I am convinced that like Shanfaraa, our contributions will one day, perhaps not too far off, be recognized as central.