Book/Printed Material The Book of Songs.
About this Item
Title
- The Book of Songs.
Summary
- Abu Al-Faraj Al-Isbahani (or Al-Isfahani, 897--967 AD) was a literary scholar, poet, and genealogist who was born in Isfahan, in present-day Iran, but lived much of his life in Baghdad and Aleppo. Kitab al-Aghani (The book of songs) is often considered his masterpiece. A dozen or more other works by him are known. Most of them describe the indulgent social life of his times, a topical choice that prompted considerable criticism especially from clerics, some of whom went as far as to question his scholarly rigor and authenticity. Al-Isbahani named his work The Book of Songs because he based it primarily on 100 songs, originally selected by renowned musician and singer Ibrahim Al-Mosili, to be sung for his patrons, the Abbasid caliphs Harun Al-Rashid and Al-Wathiq. It was said that it took Al-Isbahani 50 years to complete the book, before he dedicated it to Seif ud-Dawla, the emir of Aleppo. The book consists of three parts: a selection of songs that Al-Mosili performed for his caliph patrons, stories of caliphs and their relatives who composed song melodies, and other songs of Al-Isbahani's own selection.
Names
- Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī, 897 or 8-967 Author.
Created / Published
- Cairo : Dar Al-Kutub Press, [1927 to 1938]
Headings
- - Iran, Islamic Republic of
- - Iraq
- - Syrian Arab Republic
- - 897 to 967
- - Caliphs
- - Musicians
- - Songs, Arabic
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource extent: Volumes 1-4 and 6-11.
- - Original resource at: Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
- - Content in Arabic.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021666165
Online Format
- compressed data
- image