 Zakkar speculates that the amir al @-@ ʿarab could have been a " revival or continuation " of a pre @-@ Islamic ( mid @-@ 6th century ) political tradition among the Bedouin of Syria whereby the chieftain of the Ghassanids , vassals of the Byzantine Empire , served as the supreme Arab phylarch ( tribal chieftain ) , giving him formal authority over the Bedouin tribes of Syria . In early Muslim chronicles , there is often references to sayyid ahl al @-@ badiya ( master of the desert dwellers ) or sayyid Qays ( master of the tribes of Qays ) , which Zakkar believes are possible " starting points which , in the course of time , developed to the title of Amir Arab al @-@ Sham " . During the Zengid period in Syria ( 1128 – 1182 ) , some Bedouin chieftains were accorded iqtaʿat , paid taxes called ʿidād on their livestock , and performed military duties . 
