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Ta'abbata Sharran

تأبط شراً

The outlaw-poet whose ghul verses — 'I awoke and the ghul was my neighbour' — head al-Mas'udi's chapter on the Arabs' ghul lore 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
Pre-Islamic Arabia
Review
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Humour and everyday life

Overview

Ta'abbata Sharran, a formidable poet, known for his line about the ghoul: "So I awoke, with the ghoul as my neighbour" 2.

In al-Mas'udi

al-Mas'udi cites this line in the section on the reports of the Arabs about ghouls and their transformations 2.

He is also cited in the section on the pre-Islamic beliefs about souls. His maternal uncle al-Shanfara asked him about a man he had killed, and he said: "I bridled him with a sword, and his soul flowed like water" 3.

People and things also explored

The virtues of the Arabs of the Jahiliyya· Consecrated Livestock· al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba· Hatim al-Ta'i· The Muslims Are Coming!· The Unknown Saint· Four Lions· Barakah Meets Barakah

Sources

  1. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p. 469
  2. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p.469
  3. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p.468
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Ta'abbata Sharran”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/taabbata-sharran/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

The virtues of the Arabs of the Jahiliyya

The praiseworthy traits al-Raheeq al-Makhtum finds among the Arabs of the Jahiliyya alongside their vices: generosity, which filled half their poetry and bore blood-money and burdens, and from which came their boasting of wine and gambling; fidelity to covenants, a religion to them as in the stories of Hani ibn Mas'ud, al-Samaw'al and Hajib ibn Zurara; self-respect and refusal of humiliation; resolve; forbearance, rare among them; and Bedouin simplicity yielding truthfulness and trust; the author sees in these traits a reason the Arabs were chosen to bear the message.