[4] The name of the movement is derived from the Qur'anic use of the word for "nations" or "peoples", šuʿūb.
[5] The verse (49:13) :يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوباً وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another.
Most of those behind the movement were Persian, but references to Egyptians, Berbers and Arameans are attested.
A notable example of Shu'ubi literature is the epistle (risala) of the Andalusian poet Ibn Gharsiya (García).
Gardner wrote an article "Al-Shu‘ubiyah Updated" in the Middle East Journal.