The Sheikh of Zubayr

Today I finally found time to drop by Shakespeare & Sons, the new English-language bookstore in the neighborhood – I'd met one of the store's co-owners when I went to their Chanukah party in December, and she invited me to drop by sometime for a coffee and a chat (the store doubles as a café). Now, in March, I finally made it over there.

The place is warm and welcoming, and several of us sat around the front chatting with Laurel, the owner, while customers wandered in and out and ordered lattes and flipped through the books.

At one point, a middle-aged man came in and walked purposefully up to Laurel. "What kind of shop is this?" he asked in German. She explained, in English, that it's a bookstore, but also open on Sundays as a café.

"You only speak English?" he asked. Then: "Not Arabic?" (He looked himself like he was probably Middle Eastern.) Laurel apologized for not speaking Arabic, though Adam, who was also there, tossed in some phrase in Arabic that seemed to impress the man. He nodded, wished us a good day, and left.

About 30 seconds later, he walked back in.

"The name of the shop," he said. "Shakespeare. You know, there's a theory that Shakespeare was Arab. He might have actually been the Sheikh of Zubayr – it's a city in southern Iraq."

Then he left again.

I just looked this up, and indeed Zubayr is a city in southern Iraq, and indeed one scholar has attempted to prove that Shakespeare might have had Arab ancestry, though I don't think his proof was very credible.