Faifi is a possible descendant of Old South Arabian language and is spoken by about 50,000 people[2] in the vicinity of the Fifa Mountains in the southwestern corner of Saudi Arabia and across the border in Jebel Minabbih, Yemen.
Faifi is spoken in an area of roughly 600 km² (232 m²)[2] along the Saudi border known as Jabal Fayfa by some estimated 50,000 people primarily living in the upper part of the mountains.
Many Faifi-speakers leave Jabal Fayfa for educational and work related prospects and thus it is speculated they normally do not transmit their language to their children born outside of the native speech area.
Faifi-speakers have historically enjoyed a sustained degree of independence due to the terrain they inhabit, similar to the peoples of Jabal Minabbih across the border, and thus many of the effects of modernity were experienced later in the region.
[2][5] The discussion of Faifi as a Sayhadic language is not well studied, and although plausible it is fair to stay on the side of caution given that no definitive comparative study has been conducted between Faifi and any known Sayhadic language, including neighboring Razihit.