a singer could only appear at a caliph's familiar sessions devoted to light divertissement, whereas a poet might offer praises both at public ceremonies and familiar sessions. Therefore singers could 8 THE BACKGROUND not easily serve as go-betweens for panegyrists and patrons. If a panegyrist needed to contact a new patron or patch up a faux pas with a current sponsor, he approached an honorable individual who had access to the patron's circle and was in his confidence, thus being better equipped to intervene on the poet's behalf. These intercessors gave rise to a new sub-genre of praise poetry, the poem of intercession, which praised the intercessor and the one who responded to intercession alike.