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During my field work in Yemen, a frequent topic of discussion has been relevance of tribes in the Yemeni society. Part of the Qurʾanic verse 13 of the sūrah al-Ḥuǧurāt (xlix, Apartments) “wa-ǧaʿalnakum šuʿūban wa-qabāʾila” was frequently cited as a legitimation of the very existence of tribes among the Arabs. But what about šuʿūb? The first occurrence of the term is attested in Epigraphic South Arabian ŠʿB, which has been interpreted as “sedentary tribe, commune, group of village communities” (Beeston et al.), with a specific reference to the South Arabian social organization, not to be confused with the (Northern-)Arab tribal one. The term does not seem to be attested in the old Arabic lexicon. Having found no satisfactory explication in the Arabic sources, my working hypothesis has been that the presence of South Arabian sedentary communities in the oasis of Medina at the time of the Prophet could suggest a possible relationship with the Qur’anic šuʿūb. Probably this peculiar South Arabian term entered into the ʿarabiyyah with the northward emigration of South Arabian peoples. In the course of time, and in a different context, its original meaning evolved into a more general one, according to the political and ethnical developments of the Islamic empire. Šuʿūb, sing. šaʿb, has been traditionally interpreted as ʿaǧam, non-Arabic peoples, races, confederations etc. Many disagreements appear in the Qur’anic commentaries, as well as in the genealogical, lexical, historical, literary sources. Among the several interpretations in Qurṭubī’s al-Ǧāmiʿ one is noteworthy: “Someone says that Šuʿūb are the Arabs of Yemen, the descendants of Qaḥṭān”. As to Qurʾanic (Western) scholarship, I did not find a specific interest nor a consistent contextualization of this Medinan verse. The problematic balance of influence among the believers in Medina, Qurayshi muhāǧirūn and South Arabian anṣār, should not be disregarded. A new possible partial translation of Qurʾan xlix:13 is here suggested: “We appointed you (South Arabian) communities and (Arab) tribes, that you may know one another”.
