Anwar Shāʾūl (1904–1984) was among the most renowned Arab writers in twentieth-century Iraq. Much has been written about Shāʾūl , long considered the archetype of the Iraqi Jewish intellectual and an embodiment of the Arabization of the Iraqi Jewish community. He was both active in Iraqi literary circles and in Jewish communal affairs, serving as secretary of the lay council for the Jewish community of Baghdad from 1929–1938. Born in Hillah, Iraq, on his mother's side he was a descendent of Hermann Rosenfeld, an Austrian tailor who settled in Baghdad in 1850 and helped found the first Alliance Israélite Universelle school in the city. On his father's side he was related to the distinguished Sassoon family, whose business empire spread from London to Shanghai in its heyday.

Shāʾūl began his education at the Alliance Israélite Universelle in Hilla. Later, his family settled in Baghdad where he  continued his education at various schools administered by the Jewish community of the city. He considered his five years at the Alliance Israélite Universelle secondary school in Baghdad to be fundamental to his development as an Iraqi-Arab intellectual. After completing high school, Shāʾūl studied law in Baghdad, and, after graduating in 1931, worked as a teacher within the Jewish community.

Parallel to his studies, Shāʾūl was the editor of the Arabic-language journal al-Miṣbāḥ from 1924–1925. Later, he founded al-Hasid, which would become Baghdad's most widely read magazine for a short period of time. On 7 March 1929, he published an open letter in the weekly magazine, addressed to the British High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief, Brigadier-General Sir Gilbert Clayton, "demanding full independence for Iraq from Britain." His identity as a patriotic Iraqi and progressive activist, advocating for an end to British colonialism, freedom of expression, the enlightenment of his fellow Iraqis, and the advancement of education and empowerment of women, is evident throughout both his prose and poetry. His first stories were published in the anthology al-Ḥiṣād al-Awwal [The First Crop] (1930). He also compiled an anthology of translated short stories entitled Qiṣaṣ min al-Gharb [Stories from the West] (1937). He wrote the story of the first film produced in Iraq, ʿAliya waʿIṣam [Alia and Issam]Alia and Issam] (1948). His other books are Fī Ziḥām al-Madīna [In the Tumult of the City] (1955) and a volume of poems, Hamasāt al-Zamān [Whispers of Time] (1956).

Like many Jewish intellectuals in Baghdad, he was outspoken in his opposition to the notion of Zionism and the State of Israel, seeing himself first and foremost as an Iraqi. He was among the minority of Iraqi Jews who chose to stay after 1951, continuing to work at the printing company he founded in 1945 and publishing his own literary works. He adamantly believed that the Jews of Iraq should live under the umbrella of Arab culture. However, this could not protect him from accusations of being a Zionist, leading to his arrest and imprisonment in Iraq. Eventually,  Shāʾūl was induced to move to Israel in 1971 due to the constraints on Jewish life in Iraq. Throughout his life, he composed poetry about his love of Iraq and his affection for Arab culture, publishing an anthology in 1983 entitled Wa-Ba-zagha Fajr Jadid [And a New Dawn Broke].

Shāʾūl remained in Israel until his death in 1984. He is remembered for his activism and his poetry, which are studied by scholars today, and for his loyalty to Iraq. In fact, before his death, he requested that his death certificate state his nationality as Iraqi.