( JPEG format )A single-stringed, bowed lute. The neck passes through the wooden frame of the body, which is rectangular with rather sunken left and right sides and corvered with animal hide. The player holds the instrument vertically with the lower edge resring on his knees. It is an instrument of nomads, player in the context o recitations of poetry for recreation. Also called rabāba al-šā'ir("the poet's fiddle").