Arab sword

The saif (Arabic: سيف), sometimes called a shamshir (from Persian: شمشیر), depending on the era, originated in Arabia before the 7th century.

In the article "Introduction to the Study of Islamic Arms and Armour", A. Rahman Zaky says the saif is "[a]n Arab sword, [with] a rather broad blade and sometimes with a peculiarly hooked pommel.

Prior to the rise of Islam in the 630s, the settled communities in the Arabian peninsula developed into distinctive civilizations, and are limited to archaeological evidence.

The Arabs of the peninsula, thus, had their own local system of warfare, that was not of big armies, but of small battles and skirmishes among tribes.

[5] By the years of the Islamic golden age, the sabers and double-edged swords of the Middle East co-existed.

In the later years of the Arab sword, of the seven listed places by Al-Kindi where it was manufactured, four remained by the later half of the 13th century.

The last two places, Sri Lanka and Kedah, had slowly grown influenced by neighboring traditions and thus ceased to make it altogether.

Starting with the best; Yemen, Khorasan, Damascus, Egypt, Rum (meaning Byzantium), Sri Lanka and Qalah (possibly Kedah).

For example, the Zangid ruler Nur ad-Din (1146–74) was anxious to demonstrate that he was a pious traditionalist, searching out the old methods preferred by Muhammad.