Triliteral root Sh-Ayn(‘)-R. Verb. 1st Form, Sha’ara, He knew; He said or spoke or gave utterance to poetry. 3rd Form, Shaa’ara, He vied with him in poetry; He slept with him or her in one innermost garment. 4th Form, Ash’ara, She (a camel) cast forth her fetus with hair on it. 6th Form, Tashaa’ara, He pretended to be a poet. Noun. Sha’r, Hair. Shi’r, Knowledge, poetry, falsehood (because of so many lies in poetry). Sha’ir, A sheep or goat having an itching on the knee which therefore scratches it. Shi’ra, Hair of the pubes. Al-Sha’raa, The star Sirius. Shu’roon, Poetaster, flies that collect on the sore on the back of a camel which disperse when roused. Shi’aar, A call or cry by which to know one another in war or a crowd. Shaa’ir, A poet. Ash’ar, A testicle, scrotum, furred garment, a kind of fly that alights on camels and asses and dogs. Mutashaa’ir, One who pretends to be a poet but is not.
-Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon
There were no shu’roon on the Darb al-Arba’een. Either they were true poets like Bilal and Idris, who recited verses corrupted from the Classical at the campfire or on camelback, or they were true poets like KhairAllah, who with a slight flick of his whip could make the herd turn off the pace and halt as one wherever he intended. Each man was shaa’ir of his own diwan.
We often cried out to the others when driving the camels fast and late in the dark, from our places at the front of the herd to the back or from the left flank to the right. Not a war whoop, not a crowd call, not exactly a shi’aar, but rather a joke or a tease or a taunt. O Uncle KhairAllah! O Father Bilal! Where will you make our beds tonight? We are tired and want to sleep. The ibl are thirsty and want to drink. The sha’ir want to scratch their shi’ra.