The Rise of Nasir Al-Nims: A Tribal Commentary on Being and Becoming a Shaykh
This article examines local conceptions of shaykhly authority among Near Eastern tribes-people. Special attention is given to the personal history of Nasir al-Nims, a shaykh of the Murad tribe in North Yemen. The story of Nasir's rise to prominence, told by his grandson, is recounted and analyzed. A close study of this narrative reveals (1) patterns which recur frequently in the lives of shaykhs, (2) the structural conditions in which shaykhs of a certain kind emerge, and (3) a way of talking about authority and leadership in an egalitarian society which views both with ambivalence. It is argued that shaykhly authority will be better understood when tribal narrative and other forms of local expression are more fully incorporated in anthropological discourse.