111450
The Minstrelsy of
The Arabian Nights"
Only 350 Copies printed
No.
Musical tablature of a melody (labri) and a vocal piece (saut) in
the kuufisht melodic mode (fariqa) and the ramal rhythmic mode
(tfarb). From the Kitab al-adwar of afi al-Din 'Abd al-Mu'min
(d. 1294). British Museum manuscript (dated 1663) Or. 2361.
MELODY
T r f i -r^
VOCAL PIECE
'A-
haj-ri
1ft
wal-lft-hl
mi a-
nft sft-bl
-ru
Wa ghaJ-rT 'a- 1ft ftq- dl al- a- ^1- b- ba-tl qft-dl
^ ^' ],< " ],' \,<- ^
Transcription of the above.
AEABIAN Music
MINSTRELSY OF
"THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 1
A Study of Music and Musicians in the Arabic
"AlfLailawaLaila"
BY
HENRY GEORGE FARMER
Ph.D., D.Litt.
AUTHOE OF
The Organ of the Ancients : From, Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic Sources
The Sources of Arabian Music : An Annotated Bibliography.
Music : The Priceless Jewel [An Arabic Defence of Music].
Turkish Instruments of Music in the Seventeenth Century.
Sa'adyah Gjaon on the Influence of Music.
Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments.
Maimonides on Listening to Music.
A History of Arabian Music.
An Old Moorish Lute Tutor.
New Mozartiana.
WITH. TWELVE PLATES
fflNIUCHSEN EDITION .
SOLE AGENTS:
No. 4 2 C. F. PETERS CORPORATION
373 Park Avenue So -th
New York, N. Y. 10016
To
ERNEST NEWMAN
In Memory of Days that are Past
PREFACE
TT is to the late Sir E. Denison Eoss (1871-1940) that I owe the
suggestion that I should examine the technical passages in the
Nights which, he said, were quite incomprehensible to him in the
Arabic original. It was made to me in 1931, at the Huis ter Duin
at Noordwijk, Holland, where, in the September of that year, the
18th Congress of Orientalists held its official banquet. In the
cool of the evening, when talking casually with him about the
Nights, he proposed that I should unravel the technical musical
expressions in these " tales ". I can recall his smile when I warned
him of the fate of those who meddled with " ludicrous stories ". 1
On my return to Scotland, I immediately began reading the
various texts and translations of the Nights, when I soon realized
that there was much more than musical terminology that was of
interest in these entrancing tales. It was then that I made the
copious notes that have served as the basis for the present study
which, to my great regret, Sir Denison did not live to see. Indeed,
it was his death that reminded me of my unfinished and neglected
undertaking.
It was in the pages of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
that this work appeared in 1944-45, and it is to the Council of this
Society that I owe permission to reproduce it, although it has been
considerably altered and much fresh matter, as well as more
illustrations, introduced. For the right to reproduce photos of
designs of instruments on Saracenic brassware and the use of blocks
I have to express my thanks to the British Museum, the Victoria
and Albert Museum, the Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums, and
the Glasgow Bibliographical Society. I also have to acknowledge
my indebtedness to the Bodleian, Stambul, Cairo, and Munich
Libraries for the use of miniatures.
The Arabic texts used for this study are those of Calcutta (1839-
1842), Beyrout (1888-1892), and Bulaq (1893-5 A.H. 1311-12).
Unless otherwise specified the texts quoted belong to the Calcutta
edition. The footnotes also refer to the latter. What follows in
round brackets refers to Burton's Arabian Nights (London, 1886-7)>
which is Lady Burton's edition. This latter is used in preference
to the scarce Benares edition because the references can be checked
if necessary by the general reader.
HENEY GEOBGB FAEMBE.
BBABSDEN,
SCOTLAOT.
1 S&ra * 5-6
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
THE FUNCTION or THE Music 3
THE EFFECT OF THE Music 9
THE MAKERS OF THE Music ...... 15
THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE Music 23
THE CRAFT OF THE Music 39
EPILOGUE . . . 49
PLATES
PLATE
ARABIC MUSICAL TABLATURE (13th Cent. A.D.) . Frontispiece
LUTE, EEEDPIPE, and TAMBOURINE (12th Cent. A.D.) . . 1
LUTE (1281 A.D.) 2
PANDORE (14th Cent. A.D.) 3
HARP (13th Cent. A.D.) 4
HARP (13th Cent. A.D.) 5
PSALTERIES (14th Cent. A.D.) 6
CLAPPERS, PANDORE, and FLUTE (15th Cent. A.D.) . . 7
DRUM, LUTE, TAMBOURINE, FLUTE (13th Cent. A.D.) . 8
KEEDPIPE and 1 TAMBOURINE (13th Cent. A.D.) ... 9
EEEDPIPE and TAMBOURINE (13th Cent. A.D.) ... 10
TRUMPET and KETTLEDRUMS (15th Cent. A.D.) ... 11
PANPIPES, VIOL, and PSALTERY (15th Cent. A.D.) . 12
Introduction
Introduction
"Tear away the veils of doubt by interrogation."
An Arabic Proverb.
THIS study of the minstrelsy of the Arabian Nights, as the
Alf laila wa laila is popularly called, has a rather censorious
tone. This can be forgiven because animadversion is often a key
to the truth. It was for this reason that the above proverb was
inscribed on the portal. The subject has certainly been veiled too
long. Not that interest in the topic has not been evinced until
now, but what has shown itself in print on this particular theme
has generally been misleading when it has not been erroneous.
Even contributions to the periodical press on this special subject
have given incorrect impressions of the music and musicians of
the Nights. Nor are the writers alone in their capricious ways,
since the illustrators of even some of the best known translations
of the Nights have been equally as wayward in their romanticism,
most of the characters, especially the minstrels, being portrayed
in far too afrawjl a pose, which has proved a source of amusement,
when it has not given offence, in the Orient.
In the inixumerable editions, in many languages, of the Nights,
rarely is there to be found an explanatory note of any worth devoted
to the music itself, save in the perspicuous Lane, of whom this
country should be proud, in spite of the inordinate veneration
which it too readily accords less worthy men beyond these shores.
It is true that he is occasionally wrong in his notes on the music
of the Nights and in the translation of some technical passages, but
he did not profess to be a specialist in Arabian music and was
content to follow those who were accepted as authorities, viz.
Villoteau and others, whose blunders misled all and sundry, as
did those of the German Kiesewetter later.
The earliest of the translators, Galland, 1 is far too free in his
interpretation for us to take special heed of his unravelling of the
technical passages on music. Indeed, it is generally admitted that he
took great liberties and glossed over his material The later French
i Les MiUeM une Nuiti (Paris, 1704-1717).
IV INTRODUCTION
translator, J. C. Mardrus, 1 is almost equally as fanciful, and with
such treatment textual fidelity can scarcely be expected in the
subject under discussion.
The Germans are little better. Von Hammer-Purgstall, one of
the first of the German translators, 2 had not that Ziistdndigkeit
in music to interpret those intricate lines in the Nights, although
he later helped his son-in-law Kiesewetter, who did not know
Arabic, with his Musik der Araber (1842). Nor can Weil's transla-
tion 3 be said to give anything like a precise rendering of the original
in the passages under discussion, whilst the illustrations in many
instances are quite amusing. Dancing to the accompaniment of
large military band cymbals instead of the small finger instruments
(i, 173), singing-girls using music books (ii, 343 ; 14, 48), side drums
and method of playing, both of Occidental conception (iii, 116),
to say nothing of grotesque instruments which never existed (iii, 303)
are stupidities.
On the whole the English translators, editors, and artists give
far better results than any of the above on the special subject
with which the present book deals, and in this appraisement I refer
to Lane, Payne, and Burton. Regarding Lane's rendering of the
passages in question I have already spoken. Of his work on the
Nights as a whole, it has already been accounted as " admirably
accurate " and " excellent " by so great an Arabist as M. J. de
Goeje and so high an authority on the subject as J. Oestrup.
Payne, from the aspect of this particular study, is not so reliable
as Lane. His contemporary, Burton, who based many of his
passages dealing with music on Payne's interpretation, is generally
more perverse in his approach, yet his vigorous style and illuminating
notes, only one of which by the way is devoted to music, are a
saving grace. In the following pages, however, I have utilized the
translation of Burton rather than of Lane because the former dealt
with practically all the known material whereas the latter did not.
.Further, Burton used the Calcutta text (1839-1842), which was my
sheet anchor, whereas Lane depended on the Bulaq text (1835). 4
From what has been said above it ought to be palpable enough
that there was a pressing raison d'etre for this study although,
1 La Livre des MiUe Nuits et une, Nuit (Paris, 1899-1904).
s Der Tausend und wn&n, Nacht (Stuttgart, 1823-4).
8 TauQend und eine Nacht (Bonn, 1897).
4 I have chosen the Calcutta text as my basis, not because it is the best, but
rather since it is fuller in some of the passages on music.
INTRODUCTION V
in presenting it, I have thought it advisable to consider more than
one class of reader, and have aimed not only at satisfying the
Arabist and musicologist but the general reader as well. For the
first of these I have no qualm. Knowing the linguistic background
of the Nights he will, I feel sure, be only too pleased to have the
new technical Arabic clarifications. The second, being sufficiently
equipped in the musicological domain, will also appreciate the
technical side, especially chapters iv and v, but, not knowing the
Orient, he may not see eye to eye with me in the earlier chapters.
The third, i.e. the general reader, will be in a new world, and one
can almost presage the reaction. Where the rdwl or storyteller
deals with the ordinary occurrences of daily life his utterances
will be accepted at their face value. Where they deal with less
practical things, a complete scepticism will result, and in this
I am referring to what is detailed in chapters i, ii, and iii. Indeed
this incredulity might even be found in the musicologist, and so,
lest these two classes of readers be prompted to raise the brow of
dubiety at what is related therein, let me say that there is little
in the Nights that is not applicable, mutatis mutandis, to the modern
European West in regard to music.
The wide use to which music was put in the palmy days of the
Islamic East, as shown in chapter i, may be found equally as varied
in Western Europe to-day, for the simple reason that " in history ",
as Combarieu says, " music has always been united to the mani-
festations of social life. ... It has never been, as philosophers
put it, ' an end in itself, 9 for we have always subordinated it to
some important act of public life." *
Some people may even smile at the Arab's esoteric interpretation
of music, or at his naive belief in the efficacy of the art, as we see
it in chapter ii, but dozens of passages could be quoted from authors
in Western Europe which are on all fours with these conceits.
Was it not Wagner who said : " The power of the composer is
nought else than that of the magician. It is really in a state of
enchantment that we listen to one of Beethoven's symphonies." a
The stories in chapter iii of the almost fabulous sums of money
paid for and to minstrels in the times of the Khalifate, which are
pooh-poohed by some historians, are actually within the bounds
of credence. In Britain to-day more than one minstrel, be he
1 Music : Its Laws and Evolution (1910), 14.
1 Gesamm. Schriften und Dicht., ix, 86.
vi INTBODUCTION
a renowned composer or a popular music-hall artiste, has left
a fortune of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
In the very nature of things chapter iv cannot occasion criticism,
but in justification of my fairly lengthy treatment of these Arabian
and Persian instruments mentioned in the Nights I may be permitted
to quote from our own historian of instruments of music, the
Kev. Canon F. W. Galpin, who says : " The study of musical
instruments [which are] now no longer with us is necessary, not
only for the musician but for the man of letters, the artist, and the
chronicler, for many allusions to customs of bygone times cannot
otherwise be understood." 1
As for chapter v, on the theory and practice of music, it is possible
that this may only interest the specialists, i.e. the Arabist and
musicologist. Yet I hope that there may be a morsel here and
there which is sufficiently edible to be digested by the long-
suffering general reader who may well cry with Prince Henry;
" Oh monstrous ! but one half-pennyworth of bread to this intolerable
deal of sack."
Finally I would like to point out that, even apart from the
specialized aspect of this study, I believe that the clues which
reveal themselves in the discussion will assist in solving other
problems, such as the date and provenance of particular tales,
a point which I emphasized in my contribution to The Survey
of Persian Art (1938) . 2 In any case the undertaking cannot possibly
have been vain since an Arabic proverb tells us that even a seemingly
useless thing can be turned to some account: Sjj-^lkU c^^ (*yb*
" They cut it to pieces, yet it served for the pandore ". 3
1 Old English Instrum&nte of Music (1910), ix.
1 p. 2794.
* Burokhardt, Arabic Proverbs, 155. The reference is to a worthless piece of
skin which can be used for the face (wajh) of the pandore (twMra), a long-necked
lute. Burokhardt calls this instrument " the drum ", being misled, apparently,
by the French word " tambour ".
Chapter I
The Function of the Music
Chapter I
The Function of the Music
" To some people music is like food ; to others like medicine ;
and to others like a fan." The Porter and the Three Ladies.
The musical interlude which, adonis so many a story in The
Thousand Nights and One Night is one of the most interesting
features of that "wondrous treasury of Muslim folk-lore", as
Burton dubbed the Alf laila wa laila,}- Yet, strange to say, as
I have already stressed at length in the Introduction, our translators
and commentators have taken little cognizance of this fact. Indeed,
beyond the brief and inadequate notices contributed by Lane 2
to his translation of the Nights, it can safely be averred that no
serious attention has been devoted to the subject.
Almost everywhere in the Nights we see music in the predicament
of being linked with Wine and Woman among the maldhi or for-
bidden pleasures against which the Muslim purists hurled anathema-
Both Lane and Burton only touch the fringe of this subject, but
by saying too little imply too much. Whilst Burton expresses the
view that " Muhammad objected to music " 8 Lane is more
peremptory and states that " Music was condemned by the Prophet
almost as severely as wine ", 4 his sole quoted authority being the
comparatively late Mishkdt al-masalnh, whilst the hadlth given by
him is actually rejected as unsound by no less an authority than
Al-Qhazall (d. 111!). 5 The truth is that we have as much evidence
that Muhammad did not discountenance listening to music (cd-samd')
$6 that he did, a point which I have emphasized more than once. 6
That is why Muslim society, both high and low, in spite of the
fulminations of the moralists, have ever appreciated music, as the
Nights prove conclusively.
Arabian Nights, Lady Burton's edition (London, 1886-7), i, p. ix.
The Thousand and One Nights (London, 1883)
vi,59.
i,200.
IbyV 'ulum al-din (Cairo edit., 1908), u, 195.
History of Arabian Music, chap, ii : Music : The Priceless Jewel, sect. 3 and 4.
4 THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
As our prseludium testifies, music was put to other uses than
mere concomitance to the forbidden pleasures, and we see that to the
sufl and darmsk music was " food " because it sustained them in
their devotions. Does not the pseudo-dervish in the Nights say,
"Our food is the remembrance of Allah in our hearts and the listening
to singers with our ears." x Unfortunately this usage of music is but
rarely adverted to in the Nights, and even then merely en passant,
such as the reference to the tallff of the Sublime Qur'dn 2 the
munshid at the dhikr* the mu'adhdhin at the minaret, 4 or the
nd'iha at the funeral. 5 Yet there are scores of Arabic treatises on
music as an aid to devotion. 6
The above line also tells us that music was " medicine ", a
circumstance due to the fact that the art had its place in therapeutics.
It was not the mere soothing effect of music on the mind that was
held to have curative power, but rather a theory in which
mathematics, astronomy, and music were linked together in an
elaborate system which produced cures according to certain pro-
portions. 7 The system was actually followed in the hospitals. 8
Yet to the great majority of people music was, as we shall see, as
refreshing as " a fan " on a sultry day although, to the hedonistic
crowd as displayed in the Nights, usually to the accompaniment of
Wine and Woman. The stories and verses testify this abundantly.
"Drinking without music (tarab) is not pleasant," says the
Shaikh Ibrahim, 9 whilst another urges that " drinking without
listening to music (al-sama*) lacks its essential joy ", 10 and a third
admonishes with a saying of Baghdad that " wine without listening
to music results in the headache ". u The needs of the man who
wished to drink in the tale of Ibrahim and Jamila further illustrates
the point. Although he merely " wished to drink " he says to the
porter, " Buy us fresh fruit and wine . . . and dessert and flowers,
and five plump fowls, and bring me an 'ud (lute)/' 12
Indeed it was to the drinking chamber (majlis cd-sharab) that
1 ii, 88 (ii, 463). a iv, 649 (vi, 124).
i, 591 (ii, 112). i, 246 (i, 277).
i, 244 (i, 275).
Fanner, Sources of Arabian Jtftwtc, 92.
Farmer, The Influence of Music, 12.
JH&w&D. al-afa* (Bombay edit.), iii, 67 : Farmer, Sa'adyah Goon, 6.
i, 304 (i, 336). i v> 259 (v, 291).
11 ii, 163 (iii, 15). " iv, 541 (vi, 30).
THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 5
guests retired to hear the singing-girls. 1 Thus the second of the
" forbidden pleasures ", Woman, enters the scene, with the inevitable
result. Hearken to 'All Nur al-Dln in the Nights chanting, " A
lutanist to us inclined, and stole our wits bemused with wine." 2
Or, as another sings, " The fawn of a maid bent her lute in hand,
and her music made us right mettlesome." 3
Those who may recall the delightful fantasy of Al-Fasbshar
(The Boaster) in The Barber's Tale of his Fifth Brother, where
" Wine, Woman, and Song " stand out in high relief, will remember
how he bragged that he would have every singer and songstress
in the city perform at his bidding when Dame Fortune smiled on
him. 4 Yet this gratification in the witching charms of music was
a costly affair in these days and small fortunes were gifted to the
practitioners of the art, as we shall see. In the story of The Man
Who Never Laughed the moral of spending to excess on music
(tarab) and other delights is made plain. 5 The theme is an old one
and is often discanted in Arabic literature, hence the proverb,
" Man listens [to music], rejoices, spends money, reflects, grieves,
and dies." 6 Yet despite the reams of moralizing the Arab still
says, " Better a liberal sinner than a stingy saint."
In these diversions of the upper and middle classes, the art of
music reached its apogee in Islamic lands, for it was in these
surroundings that Arabian classical music was born and nurtured.
Here the great vocal qasida, qita' 9 and nufta were cultivated as
well as the vocal and instrumental suite the nauba. Yet all that
was performed was no more than what we would term chamber
music. Indeed, in the early tales of the Nights 9 it was generally the
t ud (lute), either alone or with some accompanying pulsatile
instrument, a duff (tambourine) or tabl (drum), that was used to
play with a singer or to perform an instrumental divertimento.
Sometimes we read of the nay (flute) being used with the *ud,
or even the nay or shabbdba (fife) alone, 7 although there would
invariably be a duff or tabl added for the rhythm. Then we see the
jank (harp) and sinfw (dulcimer) complementing each other, 8 and
1 i, 274 (i, 307). a iv, 264 (v, 296).
8 i, 309 (i, 341). The Arabic is much plainer.
* i, 265 (i, 297). 5 iii, 146 (iv, 96).
s Burckhardt, Arab. Prov., No. 335.
7 iv, 172 (v, 191). 8 ii, 654 (iii, 428).
6 THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
of the t ud, duff, and qdnun (psaltery) in company. 1 The largest
chamber music combination in the Nights is the inclusion of the
'ud, jank, qdnun, nay, and duff, in what might be termed an
orchestra, 2 but this was not usual, and certainly not in the days
of the XJmayyads and early 'Abbasids, although we have several
iconographic instances of such a " consort of instruments " later.
Although all this indulgence in the " forbidden pleasures " by
the upper and middle classes, as displayed in the Nights, was railed
at by the strict men of Islam, it mattered little, since the classes
could point triumphantly to the Khalifate court as their example.
The masses were no different, and even they set the fiats of the
piously-minded at naught where the intriguing qaina (singing-girl)
of the tavern was concerned. All and sundry were prepared to fritter
away their dardhim (silver coins) where a pretty face and alluring
song prompted, for the " wanton one ", as the Islamic purists would
say, expected her clients to be liberal. Others, it would seem, made
their own music when they went wine bibbing, as did the hunchback
who took his duff with him. 8
Then there is the other side of the picture, for music could still
be "as refreshing as a fan " without being associated with Wine
and Woman, and it is thus that we see it amongst the folk, the
people at large, as the Nights frequently record, like the bath-
keeper with his drum (darbukka)* or the negro with his reed-pipe
(mizmar)* or the corn chandler and scavenger who danced as
they sang. 6
At all private and public festivities, vocal and instrumental
music were indispensable. Guests were frequently welcomed by
slaves beating their tambourines (dufuf). 1 At births, 8 and marriages 9
the professional songstresses (muqhanmydt) could be heard singing
their joyous lays to the beating of the square (duff) or round
tambourine (tar), the latter also serving as the collecting box for
the customary tips (nuqut), 10 for it was said that " Singing without
tips (nuqut) is like a corpse without aromatics (hunut) ". n
1 i, 67 (i, 83). * i, 372 (i, 395). 8 i, 203 (i, 230).
4 i f 244 (i, 274). 6 ii, 179 (in, 30). i, 244 (i, 275).
7 i, 373 (i, 396). 8 i, 353 (i, 378). i, 165 (i, 191).
10 Nuqvj, is quite a late word. Both Payne and Burton say that the root naqata
means " to handsel, i.e. to mark or cross the palm of a singing-girl with silver ".
Naqafa simply means " to let fall in drips ", hence the " drippings " or " tips "
which fall into the j&r of the songstress are called nu
11 Burokhardt, op. cit., No. 464.
THE MINSTRELSY OP TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS 7
When outdoor music was required at private or public festivities
it was the tambourine, drum, and reed-pipe that made the welkin
ring, 1 for the cry was, " Gladden thine heart, drum thine drum,
and pipe thine reed-pipe." 2 Indeed, some of the instrumental
combinations which were used on public occasions may conceivably
have been provided by folk-minstrels rather than by official bands,
although more generally perhaps this was supplied by the military
authorities.
In such .a work as the Nights, where the martial throng creates
almost as much interest as the love theme, it is only natural that
military music should find ample mention. Although generally
known as the tabl khana, as I have explained elsewhere, 8 the military
band is spoken of in the Nights as the nauba* its chief function in
times of peace being the performance of certain pieces of music
at particular hours (<-*'y) of the day, hence the term nauba, as
well as at official ceremonies. 5 Indeed the phrase daqqat al-basha'ir,
used in announcing glad tidings in the Nights and elsewhere, shows
that it was the drum which was struck (daqqa) to announce these
glad tidings. 6
In time of war the nauba played an important part, as may be
gathered from such stories as the History of Ghanb and his Brother
'Ajib and the Story ofJdnshah. In battle array the nauba was usually
drawn up away from the actual conflict, where it played unceasingly
during the strife. So long as the music lasted the army fought on,
and even a division forced to retreat would often return to the
fray because its nauba was still playing.
Two definite calls or signals are mentioned in the Nights, viz. the
" Battle " (al-harb) 7 and the " Eetreat " (al-infisal)* both being
sounded on the drum (tabl), although the former is sometimes
announced by the cymbals (kdsdt). 9 We also read of the cymbals
proclaiming the " March ". 10
The nauba or military band described in the Nights comprises
various combinations. Generally it is simply the drum, or the
1 i, 680 (ii, 196). 2 ii, 32 (ii, 413).
3 Encydopsedia of Islam, v, 217. * i, 95 (i, 114) ; iv, 528 (vi, 65).
5 i, 700 (ii, 202). 6 iii, 617 (v, 7).
7 ii, 282 (iv, 228). ' 8 iii, 283 (iv, 229).
9 iii, 298 (iv, 242). Probably "kettledrums" (kusat) are meant.
10 ii, 57 (ii, 159). Beyrout edit. " kettledrums " (ku&t) instead of " cymbals "
8 THE MINSTRELSY Off TEB ARABIAN NIGHTS
kettledrum, or the cymbals which sound in civic or battle scenes. 1
Yet sometimes we read of horns and drums, 8 horns and cymbals, 3
drums and cymbals, 4 reed-pipes and cymbals, 6 or reed-pipes and
drums. 6 Occasionally there are such groups as drums, horns, and
kettledrums, 7 drums, reed-pipes, and kettledrums, 8 drums, reed-
pipes, and cymbals. 9 The largest instrumental display in the Nights
is seen in cymbals horns, drums, and reed-pipes, 10 although on
another occasion one trumpet (nafir) is added to the preceding
array. 11
With such material one can quite believe the rdwl of the Nights
when he tells us that it " silenced all ears " 12 or that the sounds
made " the very earth tremble ", 13 The value of noise in battle
as a consternator was well recognized by the so-called Saracens,
and we read that even the mules and camels were caparisoned with
grelots (jalajil), clinkets (qalaqil), and bells (a/jrds) so as to create
dismay. 14 One recalls the description of Saladin's steed in the
Romance of Richard Cceur-de-Lion :
" His crouper heeng al full of belles/*
From what has preceded we can appreciate the many uses to
which music was put in the Nights as an inspiration to the dervish,
as a cure for the physician, as diversion to the hedonist, as gladness
to the steadfast, and as stimulation to the warrior. Yet music was
something more. Although the art was developed in its highest
form among the leisured classes, even midst the more proscribed
malahl, it was here that we catch a glimpse that it was sometimes
appreciated for itself alone, although such an attitude of mind was
forbidden by some of the fuqahd. We also know that as a science
which engaged the minds of the greatest Muslim thinkers, an
AKFarabi and an Ibn Sina, it was also given recognition in the
Nights, where even the qaina Tawaddud boasted of her knowledge
of the theory of music (fann
1 iv, 45 (v, 84) : iii, 271 (iv, 217). i, 559 (ii, 84).
* i, 403 (i, 420). * iii, 150 (iv, 100).
* iv, 616 (vi, 95). ' ii, 32 (ii, 413).
* i, 80 (i, 97). s ii, 96, Beyrout edit, (ii, 202).
9 ii, 649 (iii, 425). " ii, 656 (iii, 430).
u ii, 569 (ii, 432). " ii, 569 (ii, 432).
18 iii, 308 (iv, 246).
14 iii, 293 (iv, 328). See my article in Islamic Culture, xv, p. 240.
ii, 493 (iii, 281).
Chapter II
The Effect of the Music
Chapter II
The Effect of the Music
" The hearing of music is a poignant pain."
An Arabic Proverb.
The greatest praise that can be paid an Arab musician is to
liken his performance to that of David the Prophet. The phrase
often runs, as in the Nights, " as melodious as the psalms of the
House of David," x in which expression (mazdmir dl Da'ud) we
have " higher criticism " before its time. It was the Prophet
Muhammad who gave the lead in this respect when he likened the
voice of Abu Musa al-Ash'arl to David's performance in the saying :
" Verily, he has been granted a pipe of the pipes of the House of
David " (Ihyd' 'ulum al-dm, ii, 185). It is strange, however, that
not one of the many extant Arabic works in defence of listening
to music refers to the mention of David in the Qur'dn (sura ii, 252)
in support of their thesis. The stock argument from the Qur'dn
is usually sura xxxv, 1, which says : " HE adds to creation what
HE wills/' the exegete claiming that " what HE wills " is " the
beautiful voice ". Yet the first named sura gives greater force
to this claim since it says of David : " And Allah taught Tiiim what
HE willed."
Another form of compliment paid to singers was to compare
their singing to " warbling " (gharid), 2 or that its excellence " stayed
the flight of birds ". 8 According to the Qur'dn,* birds were the
companions of David in singing the praises of Allah, and so, with
the psalmist, the warbling of birds was considered music par
excellence, and the death of birds on hearing music was taken as
proof of its " killing charm ". 5 The expression " kills with delight "
in relation to music actually became quite a commonplace in Arabic
literature. 6
1 ii, 83 (ii, 486). 2 ii, 450 (iii, 253). * ii, 83 (ii, 485).
* Sur&t, m, 79 ; asoriv, 10 ; xxxviii, 16.
Aqk&M, v, 52 ; Sa'dl, QuListan, iii, 28.
6 Agfani (Bulaq edit.), ix, 95.
12 THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Death at the hearing of music is not a rarity in Arabic tales, 1
and it occurs in the Nights in the story of The Three Unfortunates,
which is said to have been related by Al-'UtbL 2 Swooning at
music is a more general casualty, and in the Nights it happens in
the stories of The Lovers of Al-Medina 3 and The Ruined Man of
Baghdad.^ Music as the cause of violent or sudden actions, such
as the rending of garments, or taking horse to a distant place, are
too prevalent in Arabic literature to warrant comment. Probably
only those who have witnessed the reaction of auditors to music
in the Islamic East can fully appreciate the truth of the many
recitals of the potency of this art.
It is only by taking the fullest cognizance of what has been
detailed above that we can understand the extravagant language
used in the Nights and elsewhere in relation to the effect of music.
It is averred that one performer's music would " deaden the quick
and quicken the dead " : of another's that " it made the
unintelligible intelligible ". Delightful anagogues. Yet when we
are told that " it made the hardest stones dance for glee ", 5 or that
" the very room danced with excess of delight ", 6 it is not mere
verbal imagery or metaphor that prompts the storyteller but rather
anthropomorphism. The literature of Arabian music reeks with
this doctrine, as the Nights so often reveal, and perhaps the most
delightful of the anthropomorphic fantasies is that which invests
the very instruments of music with human attributes.
As its name indicates, the lute (*ud) itself was made of wood
('tid), and the Arabs deluded themselves into the belief that the
resonance of the instrument was due to the fact that the wood
had absorbed the warbling of birds that had once perched on it
when it was a branch of a tree. So the poet of the Nights chants 7 :
" A tree whilere I was, the bulbuls' home,
To whom for love I bowed my grass-green head :
They moaned on me, and I their moaning learnt
And in that moan my secret all men read :
The woodman felled me without offence,
And slender lute of me (as view ye) made ;
But, when the fingers smite my strings, they tell
How man despite my patience did me dead " :
1 AUiqd d-farid (BulSq edit., 1887-8,), iii, 198.
* ii, 439 (iii, 242). 3 iii, 412 (iv, 344). * iv, 360 (v, 375).
8 ii, 88 (ii, 402). i, 793 (ii, 291). * iv, 262 (v, 294).
THE MINSTEELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 13
Or as it says elsewhere, "[The lute] moaned and resounded, and
after its older home yearned ; and it remembered the waters which
gave it drink and the earth whence it sprang and whence it grew."
The very names given to the various parts of the lute expose this
anthropomorphic confidence, as we see in Al-Mas'udl's Muruj
al-dhahab (Les Prairies d'Or, viii, 89). The sound-chest of the
lute was the sadr (upper part of the human trunk), the " belly "
was the wa/jh (face), the convex part was the zahr (back), the neck-
fingerboard was the 'unq (neck), the " nut " was the anf (nose),
the sound-holes were the 'uyun (eyes), the strings were the mahabid
(media of pulsation), being likened to the throbbing veins ('uruq),
whilst the tuning-pegs (maldwl) were often called the adhan (ears).
It was similar with the tunbur or pandore in which the above
nomenclature obtained with the addition of the term zubaida
(penis) being given to the lower peg to which the strings were fastened
at the base of the instrument.
Music being part of the macrocosmic system of the Arabic
scientists and philosophers, the strings of the lute were linked up
with that entertaining conceit known as " the four-fold things ",
of which the singing-girl chants in the tale of 'Ati Nur al-IKn
and Maryam the Girdle Girl.
" Seest not how four-fold things conjoin in one ? "
The notion was hoary with antiquity, but in Islamic times it
was developed into a comprehensive system by Al-Kindl (d. 874). 1
It is merely hinted at in the Nights, but there is sufficient material
in the story of Abu'l-Hu&n and his slave-girl TuwaMud to enable
us to draw up the conspectus on p. 14 which shows how music
was irrevocably bound up with cosmic things. The classification
of the constellations is inconsistent in the Nights, which is rather
amusing in view of Tuwaddud's vaunted knowledge of the
subject. 2
Out of this conceit an ethoidal system was developed and every
melodic and rhythmic mode had its particular ethos. It also governed
the musico-medical practice already mentioned, but from the
many contradictory tables which have come down to us the number
of failures in treatment must have been high.
1 Farmer, The Influence of Music, 12 : Sa'adyah Goon, 8-9.
* ii, 493, 623, 526 (iii, 281, 312, 316).
THE MUSIC OP TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS
THE FOURFOLD THINGS
[STBINaS OF THE LtTTE
Bcwnm
Ma&lath
Mat&na
Zfr]
ELEMENTS
Water
Earth
Air
Fire
EUMOUBS
Cold-moist
Cold-dry
Hot-moist
Hot-dry
PLANETS
Moon
Saturn
.
Sun
CONSTELLATIONS
Cancer
Scorpio
Pisces
Taurus
Virgo
Capricornus
Gemini
Libra
Aquarius
Aries
Leo
Sagittarius
PEBFUMES
Roso
Myrtle
Chapter III
The Makers of the Music
Chapter III
The Makers of the Music
" Live with him who prays and you pray ; live with
him who sings and you sing." An Arabic Proverb.
This placing of prayer and music in juxtaposition is due, obviously,
to the professionally pious of Islam. Because of this, saint and
sinner, for that is the implication, are placed poles asunder so as
to better the instruction. Yet the lands of Islam were full of the
purveyors of the mdldhl or " forbidden pleasures ", including
singing.
The practitioners of music, as found in the Nights, are usually
professionals, and these may be divided into four classes the male
minstrel, the instrumentalist, the songstress, and the singing-girl.
At court they attended at specified hours known as their nauba
or turn, 1 and generally played behind a curtain in a special apart-
ment as described by Lane. 2 One of these curtains mentioned in
the Nights was of brocade with tassels of silk and rings of gold. 8
The minstrel (muqhanm) of the Nights was a highly skilled singer
and instrumentalist who, like the Medieval European minstrel,
was also expected to have other accomplishments, including all
that was desired of a " boon companion" (naMm). Most, if not all
of those introduced into the Nights held positions as court minstrels,
which brought them not only a regular stipend but the usual
largesse which was often a small fortune in itself.
The instrumentalist (mutrib, aloft) was so named in Arabic because
he performed on an " instrument of emotion " (Slat al-tardb), or
" instrument of diversion " (Slat al-lahw), these particular terms
being often used so as to distinguish the musician who was primarily
an instrumentalist. 4 He also was to be found at the courts and the
1 ii, 439 (iii, 242). I have shown in the Ency. of Islam, iii, 886, how the Arabian
art form known as the nauba (suite) had its origin in this system of the court
minstrels taking their " turn " at court.
a i, 203. This apartment (mughannd) was still to be found hi Egypt in the time
of Lane ( Modern Egyptians [1860], 355), but there was lattice work as a screen
instead of a curtain.
* iv, 559 (vi, 47).
* ii, 654 (iii, 428).
18 THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
palaces of the nobility, but the name was also applied to the humbler
type, whether urban or strolling, who supplied outdoor music with
drum (tabl) and reed-pipe (zamr) at festival time.
The songstress (mughanmya) was frequently a matron or other
freed-woman who had acquired her art as a singing-girl or had
picked it up otherwise. She was the mainstay of private and public
rejoicings, whether social or religious, when her tambourine was
invariably in evidence.
The singing-girl (qaina) was also a songstress, but she was a slave.
Rarely is she called a qaina in the Nights, 1 the more frequent terms
being mughanmya or jariya. She was usually specially trained for
her profession and found her way, either by private barter or the
slave market, into the families of the nobility and wealthy class,
the price demanded for her being usually determined by her
accomplishments and physical charms, although one recalls a
saying of Sa'dl that " a sweet voice is better than a beautiful
face ". a
Fabulous sums were often paid for some of these singing-girls
as is testified by both the Aghani and the Nights. They were also
held in high esteem, especially those who did not come as full-
fledged artistes from the slave market but had been reared in the
owner's household. 3 It is asserted in the Nights 4 and elsewhere 5
that portraits of these girls adorned the houses of their masters,
in spite of the ban of Islam.
The lives of some of these professional musicians are of extreme
interest, since they reveal the intimate part which they played in
the domestic and social life of the Arabian East. For that reason
a few details from their lives as recorded in the Nights have been
culled for insertion here. All the male musicians mentioned in the
Nights were historic characters when the stories were compiled.
Yunus al-Katib (d. c. 765) is the subject of the story of Yuniis
the Scribe and Al-WaUd ibn Sahl 6 in which he and his singing-girl,
who was his pupil, sing before the Prince Al-Walid. Yunus asks
fifty thousand silver pieces for this girl and receives it together
1 ii, 439 (iii, 242) ; iv, 172 (v, 191).
Qulitl&n, iii, 28.
ii, 402 (iii, 208).
iii, 142 (iv, 97).
S. L. Poole, History of Egypt, v, 74.
Burton writes : " Khalif Al-Walid," although the story distinctly states
that the incident took place in the Khalifate of Hisjjam.
THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN NIQHTS 19
with a substantial tip. 1 When the Prince became Khalif in the year
743 Yunus sang at his court at Damascus.
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Mauili (d. 804) was at the courts of Al-HadI
and Harun, and appears in the Nights in the story of Ibrahim
al-Mausill and the Demi. The latter, who is called Abu Murra
(Father of Myrrh), 2 visits Ibrahim and plays and sings to him so
wondrously that it seemed as if " the doors and the walls and all
that was in the house answered and sang with him, for the beauty
of his voice ". Ibrahim went to the palace immediately and repeated
the music which he had heard to Khalif Harun. 3 In the Aghdm,
where the story is also told, the uncanny visitor is given his proper
name Iblis. 4 We read of Ibrahim elsewhere, notably as the author
of the story of The Lovers ofAl-Medina* in the story of Nur al-Dm
'All and the Damsel Ams al-Jalis* and as Khalif Harun's emissary
in the story of 'Abdalldh ibn Fddil and His Brothers? which reveals
how highly this court minstrel was esteemed.
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (d. 839) was the younger
brother of Khalif Harun. In spite of the fact that it was not con-
sidered good form for a Muslim of such high standing to indulge
seriously in music, Prince Ibrahim had been specially trained in
the art. We read of his adventures in the story of Ibrahim ibn
al-Mahdi and the Merchant's Sister where, lute in hand, he demon-
strates how faultily a singing-girl performs a particular mode
(tariqa). 8 The story of his arrest and pardon for his attempt to
seize the Khalif ate is contained in Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi and the
Barber-Surgeon. 9 Here, however, Ibrahim al-Mausili is wrongly
credited with the arrest of the Prince in 825-6, since the great
minstrel had been dead for twenty years. 10
Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Mausili (d. 850) was the greatest musician
that the Golden Age produced, and even the Nights aver that " he
was excelling in this art ". u He is featured in the story of Ishaq
al-Mausill which tells us of an escapade with Khadlja, a singing-girl
1 iii, 379 (iv, 315).
2 The author of the Taj al-'arus tells us with all seriousness that this name
given to the Devil, was due to the fact that his daughter's name was Murra.
3 iii, 388 (iv, 321). 4 v, 36. See also Al-GhuzulI, Maf&U' Mudur, i, 241.
5 iii, 411 (iv, 344). 8 i, 305 (i, 337) 7 iv, C35 (vi, 108).
8 ii, 298 (iii, 123). 9 ii, 138 (ii, 511).
10 The Nights, however, may be correct and history may be wrong.
11 ii, 149 (iii, 8). Burton (iii, 6) says that Isljaq was " the first who reduced Arab
harmony [sic] to systematic rules ". See Farmer, History of Arabian Music, 105.
20 THE MINSTRELSY OP THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
of Al-Hasan ibn Sahl, and the famous basket episode. 1 The same
story is related of his father Ibrahim in the Aghani 2 and the
Matdli' al-budur* although Ishaq retains the credit in Ibn Badrun. 4
Another adventure, with Ishaq and a singing-girl as the principal
characters, is told in the story of Ishaq al-Mausili and the Merchant*
Finally there is the story of Ishaq al-Mausili and his Mistress and
the Demi, which is another musical interlude with Iblls. 6
Other famous musicians mentioned are 'Ubaidallah ibn Suraij
(d. c. 726) and Ma'bad ibn Wahb (d. 743), both being noticed as
composers of songs. 7 Two minstrels of lesser import also appear
in the Nights, but only incidentally. They are Sadaqa ibn Sadaqa
and Zurzur al-Saghir. The former is named in the story of Abu'l-
Hasan of Khurasan where adaqa is said to have been with Khalif
Al-Mutawakkil and his wazir Al-Fath ibn Khaqan when the former
was murdered in 861. 8 His name does not occur in the Aghani
or similar books, but he was probably a grandson of Abu adaqa
Miskrn, a minstrel at the court of Harun, and brother of Ahmad
ibn Sadaqa who was a minstrel favoured by Al-Mutawakkil. 9
Zurzur al-Saghir is also not registered in the Aghani, but since
there is a Zurzur al-Kabir mentioned at the court of Khalif
Al-Mu'tasim (d. 843) 10 there is some justification for accepting
the historicity of Zurzur Minor, who is only recognized in the Nights
as the composer of a melody. 11
The female musicians in the Nights, with one exception, are not
credited in history. Yet there is no reason why they should not
be mentioned here, especially as they furnish a fair picture of the
varied accomplishments of these artistes .and what was expected
of them in these days. Indeed, it enables one to appreciate how the
epithet 'alima (pi. 'awalim), i.e. " learned female ", came to be
given to the singing-girl as in modern Egypt. 12 Here are the more
outstanding of these female musicians of the Nights.
Nu'm (Blessing) was purchased as a babe with her mother in
the slave market by a man of Al-Kufa named Al-Rabi'a, who
1 ii, 147 (iii, 6). v, 41. ' Al- huzull, i, 243.
4 Dozy edit., 272. 5 ii, 435 (iii, 238).
iii, 408 (iv, 341). Cf. JEncy. Islam, ii, 439.
7 ii, 460 (iii, 252). Burton, in his usual froward way, writes Ma'abid.
8 iv, 573 (vi, 60). Burton wrongly identifies this wazir with the one mentioned
by Ibn IfeaUikan (ii, 455).
8 Farmer, Hist., 158. 10 Farmer, Hist., 96. u ii, 453 (iii, 255).
11 Cf. Lane, Modem Egyptians (London, 1860), 355.
THE MINSTRELSY OP THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 21
reared her with his own son Ni'mat Allah (Boon of Allah). She
was carefully educated, " read (qard') the Qur'dn and the sciences,
knew all kinds of games (lu'ab) and devices (aldt), and surpassed
in singing (maghna) and in instruments of music (malaKi)"
Eventually she was espoused to NTmat Allah. Yet her exquisite
"beauty and inimitable talents led Al-Hajjaj, the crafty Governor
of 'Iraq 'Arabi, to secure her by guile for Khalif 'Abd al-Malik
{d. 705). Fortunately for her husband there is a happy ending. 1
Al-Badr al-Kabir (The Incomparable Full Moon) was another
reading, but, in this case, had been brought up in the palace of
Ja c far the son of Khalif Musa al-Hadl (d. 786). She was " perfect
in beauty " and there was not in her time anyone " more accom-
plished in the art of singing (ghinc?) and the playing of [instruments
of] strings (awtdr "). Being enamoured of her, Muhammad al-Amin
(d. 813), who later became Khalif, abducted her under the very
nose of Ja'far, who forgave his erring kinsman and sacrificed his
beautiful qaina y accepting a boatload of gold, silver, and jewels as
a solatium. 2
Qut al-Qulub (Sustenance of Hearts), on the contrary, was
acquired in the slave-market by a certain Ibn al-Qirnas for five
thousand gold pieces, although he sold her to Khalif Harun for
twice that sum. She knew " all the arts and sciences, could string
poetry, and play upon all kinds of instruments of music (tardb) ". 3
Anis al-Jalis (Companionable Companion) was a singing-girl
who cost a notional King of Al-Basra ten thousand gold pieces.
She was probably worth every penny of it since we are assured
that she was acquainted with "calligraphy, syntax, and lexico-
graphy, exegesis [of the Qur'ari], principles of jurisprudence and
religion, [canons of] medicine, [computation of] the calendar, and
playing instruments of music (aldt al-mutriba) ". Above all, she was
the possessor of " dewy lips sweeter than syrup ". 4
Tawaddud (Showing Affection), the last to be mentioned, out-
shone all others in her accomplishments, if we are to believe the
Nights. She was the singing-girl of Abu'1-Husn of Baghdad and her
prodigious talents and marvellous erudition flabbergasted Khalif
Harun. She claimed that she was versed in syntax, poetry, juris-
1 ii, 38 (ii, 419).
1 ii, 402 (ill, 208).
8 iv, 163 (v, 183).
* ii, 489 (iii, 277).
22 THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN NIOBTS
prudence, exegesis [of the Qur'ari], lexicography, theory of music, 1
law of inheritance, arithmetic, division, geodesy, fables of the
ancients, the Sublime Qur'an, the Holy Traditions, arts of govern-
ment, 2 geometry, philosophy, alchemy, 3 logic, and rhetoric. She
could also " play on the 'fid (lute), and knew the construction of
the melodic modes (mawadi' d-nagham) on it, and the rhythms
(mawaqi') of the beatings of its strings, and their caesura (sakandt) ",
as well as being proficient in singing and dancing. 4
Mahbuba (Beloved), the one historical character among the
songstresses and singing-girls of the Nights, belonged to Al-Basra.
According to this source she was gifted to Khalif Al-Mutawakkil
(d. 861) by 'Ubaidallah [ibn 'Abdallah] ibn Tahir (d. c. 912),
himself a first-rate musician. 5 It is more probable that it was
'Abdallah ibn Tahir (d. 844) who made the present, as the Aghanl
states. 6 In the Nights we are told that she was of " surpassing
beauty and loveliness . . . played well upon the lute and was skilled
in singing and making verses and wrote a beautiful hand ", 7 an
appraisement which is confirmed by the Aghani*
1 ii, 493 (iii, 281). The text has JL-^ll /^ which is obviously a slip for
JL-^I ^ as in the Bulaq text (ii, 239). "
2 The text has oljl fjJt which can scarcely be correct, since the 'ulum
al-riycufiya, which included arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, are
already dealt with. The Bulaq text has 'ulurn oL-riyasa, which is more likely.
3 'Urn cd-bikma.
4 ii, 493 (iii, 281).
5 Farmer, Hi*t., 169.
xix, 132.
7 ii, 310 (iii, 135).
8 Fanner, Hist., 162.
Chapter IV
The Instruments of the Music
Chapter IV
The Instruments of the Music
" The nay (flute) is in my sleeve and the breath in my mouth "
[i.e. " I am ready for anything "]
An Arabic Proverb.
In the Nights the instrument of music is generally referred to
as the Slat al-tarab or Slat al-maldJn. The types mentioned are
fairly considerable, although in most instances the mere name occurs.
In the case of the e ud (lute), however, certain subsidiary details
occur incidentally which are of value.
These instruments of the Nights can be grouped as follows :
Stringed Instruments : ( ud, tunbur, jank, qanun, and sinfir.
Wind Instruments : nay, shabbaba, nay tatarl, zamr or mizmdr, buq,
nafir, and Slat al-zamr.
Vibrating Membranes : duff, tar, darbuTcka, tabl, and kus.
Sonorous Substances : Meat (ku'us),jalajil, ajras, qalaqil, khaldJchll,
naqus, and qadib.
The *ud (pi. 'zdan) or lute was, and always has been, the
instrument par excellence amongst the Arabs. Three kinds are
mentioned in the Nights the 'ud 'iraqi, the 'ud jilliqi, and the
'ud min san ( al-hunud. Yet it is doubtful whether these names
refer to distinctive types. It is more likely that they are fanciful
additions made by rawl or kdtib to embellish the story. Indeed
the nisba which betokens the provenance of the instrument only
occurs in the Bulaq text, 1 and not in that of Calcutta 2 or Beyrout. 3
The c ud 'iraqi (Iraqian lute) may have a raison d'etre since Al-'Iraq
was considered the home of the Arabian lute, 4 and even in the
fourteenth century the Persian poet NizamI said in his SiJcandar
nama, when praising the craftsmen of the world, " Al-'Iraq sends
the sweetest lutes." 5
The c ud jilliql 6 (Damascus lute) is an uncertainty. Since even
the identification of Jilliq with Damascus is doubtful, and at best
is only a poetic licence, we cannot place much reliance on the
1 i, 27 (i, 83), i, 67.
i, 55. * Al-Mas'udl, op. oit., viii, 93.
5 Delhi edit., ii, 198. a i, 372 (i, 395).
26 THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS
( ud jilliql,, unless the name preserves the old barbiton or mandore
called the barbat which was used by the old Ghassanids of this
region. 1
As for the e ud min san' al-hunud 2 (Lute of Indian make), the
incertitude of its existence is strengthened by the fact that the
lute had long fallen into desuetude in India. 3 Of course it might
have been an instrument made in Baghdad by Indian artisans,
as one reference reads, 4 but other passages, such as " a lute of the
handicraft of the land of the Indians ", 5 seem to point to India
itself. One can only suppose that the nisba of provenance was due
to the needs of the rdwl who frequently had a cosmopolitan audience
to entertain, and also to the circumstance that in his recitals the
comparative and superlative were part of his stock in trade, since
it was by such means that he could stretch the imagination of his
auditors, and later ease their pockets also.
I have already dealt with the history of the Arabian lute else-
where, 6 but the Nights supply us with additional information which
deserves attention. As with most stringed instruments, age improves
the timbre of the lute, and when we read in the Nights about a
"well-worn lute" ('ud maWcuk} 1 or an "abraded lute" ('ud
majrud),* we can be fairly sure that an old but well-mellowed
instrument is meant.
On another occasion we find a rather ornately garnished lute inlaid
with pearls and hyacinths, and fitted with tuning-pegs (maldm)
made of gold. 9 It must have been an instrument of this class
that Abu Ishaq [Ibrahim al-Mausili] al-Nadnn used, since it had
features which made it easily recognizable at a distance. 10 Malawi
(sing, milwd) is the recognized Arabic name for the tuning-pegs,
but we find the phrase ^^ CoX n (" screwed up its sides " :
Burton) 12 also used, but this last word seems to be a copyist's error
for \ j^. They are sometimes called adhan (ears), but this is rare.
We also have a lute with verses carved or painted (manqush)
thereon, 18 a fashion of which we read in the Agham.
One story deserves special attention because of its utter
1 Agfoni, xvi, 15. ii, 259 (iii, 105).
8 JAO&. 50. 253. * ii, 163 (iii, 16).
8 ii, 83 (ii, 459). Ency. of Islam, iv, 985.
7 ii, 636 (iii, 325). a iv> 32 6 ( v , 294).
iv, 522 (vi, 10). w i, 305 (i, 337).
" ii, 437 ; X 136. Burton, iii, 240.
18 ii, 636 (iii, 325).
THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN N1GSTS 27
impossibility, although within it is enshrined one of those precious
conceits in which the Arabs delight to indulge. It occurs in the
story of 'Ati Nur al-Dm and Maryam the Girdle Girl, where a slave-
girl opens a lute bag and shakes therefrom thirty-two pieces of wood
(Jchitskb) which, when fitted (rakJcab) together, became a lute ready
for use. 1 We read of a similar, but much simpler, performance
elsewhere, 2 where one piece of wood (Jchashaba) has strings mounted
upon it and is played forthwith, a proceeding which is quite possible,
whereas the two and thirty pieces mentioned in the Nights is rather
a long bow to draw. Yet perhaps the circumstance is explicable.
The Arabs were firm believers in the " theory of numbers "
and thirty-two had a special significance in their scheme of " the
four-fold things ". Indeed the verses which follow the episode
of the thirty-two pieces specifically mention "the four-fold
things ". In the series of continued geometrical proportions
2 : 4 : 8 : 16 : 32 : 64, we see what these particular numbers meant
in the system, and lute makers themselves held strong views on
what they termed " the most excellent proportions ". 3 If the depth
of the lute was 4, then the breadth was 8 and the length 16. Even
the makers of lute strings were influenced by the magic of numbers
when they made the four strings, from low to high, of 64, 32, 24,
and 16 strands respectively. 4 We can therefore appreciate why
the lute in the Nights was constructed of thirty-two pieces of wood,
although we can scarcely be expected to believe that these were
detachable and capable of being fitted together presto so as to
produce an instrument " ready armed " (musallah) as one some-
times hears an Arab lutenist say. 6 Yet the story illustrates the
argument that the ram, knowing of the occult value of thirty-two,
gave this number to the pieces of the lute so as to create wonder-
ment in his audience by verbal jugglery. 6
The bag in which this wonderful lute was kept also deserves
attention because we read so little about the encasement of instru-
iv, 326 (v, 294).
Ikhw&n aJ-9afr, i, 85.
Ibid., i, 98.
Kam al-tubaf, B.M. MS., Or. 2361, foL 261v.
This bellicose phraae remincU us of a story of Is^^aq al-Mausill who, passing
a man carving a lute, said, " For whom are you whetting this sword ? " Al-'iqd
dl-farid, iii, 206.
6 We often see the enticement of numbers, but the three hundred and sixty
female slaves (the number of days in the Coptic year) of 'Umar ibn al-Nu*man
disarms all criticism, i, 353 (i, 377).
28 THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
ments from Arabic sources, although one recalls that Tuwais, the
earliest minstrel of Islamic days, kept his tambourine (duff) in
a bag. 1 The bag alluded to in the preceding story was made of
green silk-satin with golden brocade, but we also read of other
designs. One of these was of red satin with tassels of saffron-coloured
silk, 2 whilst another, also of satin, had green fringes and tassels
of gold stuff. 3
The strings (awtdr) of the lute are frequently spoken of in the
Nights, but nowhere is the actual number mentioned. Once there
is an allusion to the " Persian string ", 4 which, we may presume,
refers to the zlr or highest string, the word, which is Persian,
signifying " high, shrill ". Yet four strings are congenial to the
conceit of the " four-fold things " dealt with in the story of 'AU
Nur al-Din and Maryam the Girdle-girl*
As I have frequently shown 6 the strings of the lute in the early
days of Islam, i.e. from the eighth to the tenth century, were four
in number. Later, five and six strings were the rule, the latter
being introduced not earlier than the fifteenth century. That being
so, the period of the stories in the Nights ought to determine the
string mounting of the instrument. This has not been taken into
consideration by Lane's pictorial artists. The best design of the
lute by the latter is the tailpiece to the Story of Nur al-Dm and
Ams al-jalis where a six- or seven-stringed instrument is depicted. 7
Elsewhere in the same story an eight-stringed instrument is shown. 8
In the Story oflbn Mansur and the Lady Budur it is delineated with
five strings, * whilst in the Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies
of Baghdad it has six strings. 10 As all these stories are set in scenes
which belong to the eighth to tenth centuries, the lute ought to
have been shown with four or, at most, five strings. Of course the
very structure of the lutes drawn by Lane's artists reveals that they
were all based on the design given in his Modem Egyptians. 11
Another question worthy of consideration is the method of
holding the lute. Both Lane and Burton say that the instrument
was placed in the lap, 12 whereas the Nights say quite definitely
that it was placed in the bosom (hijr, 1 * hidn 14 ), which, as I shall show,
1 AViqd al-fand, iii, 186. * ii, 536 (iii, 325).
8 i, 69 (i, 85). * iv, 173 (v, 191). iv, 263 (v, 295).
8 Farmer, Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments, ii, 45 ; An Old Moorish
Lute Tutor, 25.
7 i, 429. a if 421. 9 ^ 434. 10 ^ 130 . n 361.
11 Lane, ii, 343 ; Burton, iii, 16. 1S ii, 163. u iv, 264.
THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS 29
was the conventional position. It was held horizontally or with
the sound-chest higher than the peg-box, the latter position only
being conveniently possible when the sound-chest was in the bosom.
This latter method also enabled the performer to see the fingers of
the left hand in performance.
Lane's artists depict the lute with the sound-chest in the lap of
the player, and the neck in an oblique direction at the performer's
shoulder, in precisely the same position as we see it in his Modem
Egyptians. 1 We have the fairly reliable evidence of iconography
that it was only in Egypt and Spain that this latter method of
holding the lute was practised, whereas in Al-'Iraq, Al-Yaman,
and Syria it was the former method which obtained, and it is the
way in which the instrument was held in the stories in the Nights
which we have mentioned. 2 Indeed we are told that the performer
" leaned over it as a mother would lean over her child J) , a positipn
scarcely in keeping with that shown by Lane's artists, but quite
compatible with the 'Iraqi method and an 'Iraqi story.
The turibur (pi. tandbir) or pandore, was a sort of long-necked
lute, but with a smaller sound-chest. It was not generally favoured
by the Arabs and was actually more popular in Persia, Al-Kaiy,
Tabaristan, and Al-Dailam. The above circumstance may account
for the fact that the turibur is only mentioned once in the Nights
and even then in connection with a Persian. It is one of the many
whimsical things which the amusing 'All claims to have had in his
comprehensive bag as told in the Story of 'All the Persian*
Lane does not depict the normal pandore. What he shows
in the scene of the bridal festivities in the Story ofMa'ruf 4 is a very
large instrument, somewhat of the dimensions of the modern
turibur buzurk. For the normal pandore of the period see my Sources
of Arabian Music.*
TlbQJanJc (pi. junuk) or sanj (pi. sunuj) was a harp with an upper
sound-chest. In the Nights it is twice called the jarik 'ajami (Persian
harp), probably because of its original provenance. Actually the
name jarik is but an Arabicized version of the Persian chang. On
the other hand, the name may have arisen from the necessity of
1 p. 362.
2 For the two methods respectively see Arnold, Legacy of Islam, fig. 89, and
Farmer, Sources, pi. 2.
8 ii, 179 (iii, 30).
4 iii, 364.
5 Frontispiece.
30 THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
distinguishing it from the janJc misri (Egyptian harp) which differed
from the former in having a wooden face at the side of the strings
as a resonator. Both types and their names were used in
Egypt in the fifteenth century, and the above qualifying nisbas
are not traceable earlier than this. 1
In the Tale of King 'Umar ibn al-Nu'mdn and his Sons* who is
claimed to have ruled " the City of Peace [Baghdad] before the
Khalifate of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan " ! the jank 'ajami occurs
with the 'tid jilligl (Damascus lute), the nay tatarl (Tartar flute),
and the qdnun misri (Egyptian psaltery), a combination which
would certainly place the story later than the thirteenth century.
Again in the story of The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad s
it is found with the *ud and the duff (tambourine). This story deals
with the days of Khalif Harun (d. 809) and the introduction of the
jank at such a period is an anachronism. Even its appearance in
the story of Abu'l-Hasan of Khurasan, the scene of which is set in
the time of Khalif Al-Mu'taqlid (d. 902), is suspect, although, being
a Khurasanian, Abu'l-Hasan may have had a special fondness for
such an instrument. 4 The jank again displays itself, with the
sintw (dulcimer or psaltery), in the Persian tinted Story ofJanshah,
which is certainly of late date. 6
Lane furnishes a fairly good design of the instrument in one of
the illustrations to the second of the tales mentioned. 6 He also
includes two cuts taken from [Persian ?] manuscripts of the mid-
fiffceenth and early sixteenth centuries supplied by Sir Gore Ouseley,
the latter saying that the strings on the jank vary in number from
twenty to twenty-seven, 7 a statement which does -not conform
with Arabic or Persian theorists of music.
The qdnun (pi. qawanm), or psaltery, has a history with the
Arabs as far back as the tenth century, although it was not generally
accepted until much later, and certainly not with this name. It
presents itself several times in the Nights. In the Tale of 'AH ibn
Bakkdr and Shams al-Nahar, a ninth century scene, we are told
1 Zahfdl-humti,m t Cairo MS., fol. 145.
8 i, 372 (i, 395).
i, 67 (i, 83).
4 Cf. Al-Mas'udi, viii, 91.
5 ii, 654 (iii, 428). The term " harps " mentioned by Burton (i, 469) is not
traceable in any of the texts. The 'tid is mentioned in the Bulaq text (i, 180).
6 i, 127.
7 1,204-5.
THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 31
that the Commander of the Faithful was so grieved at the death
of Shams al-Nahar that he commanded the destruction of "all
vessels and psalteries (qawdmn) and other instruments of diversion
(malaM) and music (tarab) which were in the room "- 1 In the Bulaq
text the word is certainly qawanm? and it is the early edition of
this which has been followed by Lane, 3 and Burton. 4 Yet the
Calcutta text has 'loan (lutes), 5 which is the more likely word.
Throughout the story it is the 'ud (lute) only that is mentioned,
and there seems to be no reason therefore why, at the last moment,
the qanun should be introduced in this way. The most acceptable
explanation of the use of the word qawdnm in the Bulaq text is
that it was a copyist's slip due to his eye being momentarily
impressed by the form of the preceding word in the phrase <jl jVl
jlJuJl j. There is certainly little evidence of the use of a musical
instrument called the qanun in the ninth century. 6
Its appearance in the Tale of King 'Umar ibn al-Nu'mdn and his
Sons, 1 who is claimed to have lived even earlier, is undoubtedly an
anachronism. Here it is called, when first mentioned, the qanun
misn (Egyptian psaltery), but when we observe that it is accom-
panied by the 'ud jilliqi (Damascus lute), the jarik 'ajarm (Persian
harp), and the nay tatarl (Tartar flute), we can, perhaps, appreciate
the reason for the adjective of provenance in the qanun misrl.
Lane has supplied a note on the qanun* and his artists have
limned it, 9 both contributions being based on the Egyptian
instrument so fully described and shown by Lane himself in his
ModernEgyptians, 10 which scarcely helps us to discern the instrument
of the period of the Nights. Again it has to be objected that the
method of playing the instrument, as shown by his artists, does
not comport with history and iconography. The practice of holding
the qanun in a horizontal position in playing with the strings
uppermost, as delineated by Lane's artists, is quite a modern
departure. From the twelfth 11 to the fifteenth century u we know
positively that the psaltery of the Arabs was held vertically with
the back (zahr) of the instrument resting against the player's chest,
1 A variation of Burton's translation.
2 i, 326. 8 ii, 46. * ii, 306. 5 i, 810.
6 See my Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments, i, 9.
7 i, 372 (i, 395) ; i, 375 (i, 398).
8 ii, 67. i, 360 ; ii, 69. 10 360.
11 Bronze bowl (thirteenth century), Victoria and Albert Museum.
18 Of. Kasfal~hum&m. See my Sources of Arabian Jftwic, pL 5.
32 THE MINSTRELSY OF TBS ARABIAN NIGHTS
and it was played with one hand. This was the position which
Europe adopted from the Arabs when it borrowed the qdnun from
them as the canon.' 1
The sintw (pi. sanatira) was generally a dulcimer but sometimes
a psaltery. This we know in the fifteenth century, when what was
known in Egypt as the qanun was called in Syria the sinfir. 2 Indeed
the sintlr was but a kind of psaltery played horizontally with
beating rods instead of vertically with a plectrum. 8 Even in the
eighteenth century both words were used for the same instrument. 4
Yet that they were generally quite distinct from each other is
shown by their mention in Egypt in 1520 when both the qdnun
and sintir (sic) are quoted together by Ibn lyas. 5 The history of
the instrument has been dealt with elsewhere. 6
The sinfir only shows itself once in the Nights where, with the
jank and other instruments, it is used to entertain the love-sick
Prince in the Story of Jdnshah. 7
The nay (pi. ndydt) was a flute, and the name, which is Persian,
came into use in the early days of Islam when it superseded the
older Arabic name of qussaba* It manifests itself but twice in the
Nights, once in The Loves of Abu 'Isa and Qurrat al-'Ain in company
with the 'ud? and again in the amusing wallet of the funster in the
Story of 'AU the Persian, where the tunbur is its companion. 10
The shabbaba u (pi. shqbbdbdt) was a fife or small flute. It is given
prominence in the story of KhaMfa the Fisherman of Baghdad,
where that delectable singing-girl Qut al-Qulub performs successively
on the duff, shabbdba, and 'ud for the Lady Zubaida, giving the rdwi
of the story the occasion to liken the finger-holes of the shabbdba
to its " eyes }5 . 12
The nay tatan (Tartar flute) has no existence in Arabian music
save in the Tale of King 'Umar ibn d-Nu'mdn and his Sons. 1 * Its
1 Riafto, Notes on Early Spanish Music, 117.
* Kasjtf al'hutnum.
8 Niebuhr, Voyage en Arabie, 143.
Russell, History of Aleppo, (1794), i, 152.
5 v, 334.
6 Ency. of Islam, iii, 530.
7 ii, 654 (iii, 428).
8 Farmer, Studies, i, 65 ; Ency. of Islam, iii, 539.
ii, 448 (iii, 251). " ii, 179 (iii, 30).
11 Burton, as usual, has his own spelling of shibaba.
18 iv, 172 (v, 191). Of. Robson, Tracts on Listening to Music, 99.
18 i, 372 (i, 395).
THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS 33
identity therefore escapes us, although it may have been a recorder
(beaked flute) similar to the Tartar tutiL Yet since we see it in
the midst of the 'udjilliql (Damascus lute), thejank 'ajami (Persian
harp) and the qdnun misri (Egyptian psaltery), the special provenance
given this nay may have been a mere literary flourish.
The zamr (pi. zumur) or mizmdr (pi. mazdmir) was a reed-pipe in
its specific sense. Sometimes it was used with the 'ud in indoor
music, but more often with the duff (tambourine) or tabl (drum)
in outdoor music. It is prominent in the scenes of public rejoicings
as in the Tale of King 'Umar ibn al-Nu ( mdn and his Sons where
the citizens greet his son Kanmakan, 1 and in the Story of Jdnshdh
where the army of King Taghmus marches out to martial
strains. 2
The buq (pi. buqdt) was the generic name for any instrument of
the horn or trumpet family, but specifically it referred to the
conical tube group. Like the zamr, its place is in the warlike and
procession scenes displayed in the Tale of King 'Umar ibn al-Nu'mdn
and his Sons,* the Story of Jdnshah,* and other episodes.
The naflr (pi. anfdr) was the cylindrical trumpet. It was unknown
by this name until the eleventh century. 5 Only once is it referred
to in the Nights where a solitary nafw plays with buqdt (horns),
kdsdt (cymbals), zumur (reed-pipes), and tubul (drums) at the
head of the army of King Taghmus as he sets out to give battle
to the hosts of Hind. 6
One other wind instrument deserves notice here although it
seems to be a mechanical contrivance of the automatic type
described in my Organ of the Ancients as the dlat al-zamr. 1 The
instrument is not named, but the description given in the Tale of
King 'Umar ibn al-Nu'mdn and his Sons leaves little doubt as to its
identity. 8 We are told in the story that Prince Sharrkan entered
a spacious saloon where he saw human figures, " in the interior of
which instruments were set in motion by air pressure," so that the
Prince thought that the figures were talking. No "talking
appliances are mentioned by Arabic writers, but " piping
appliances " were certainly known to them, the specifications for
1 i, 690 (ii, 196). * ii, 656 (iii, 430).
8 i, 357 (i, 382). 4 ii, 656 (iii, 430).
Ibn al-Tiqtaqa, Al-Fabrt, 30. fl ii, 656 (iii, 430).
7 Chap. vi. 8 i, 383 (i, 396).
34 THE MINSTBELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
which were made known to the Arabs by means of translations
from the Greek of Archimedes, Apollonius, and Heron. 1
The duff (pi. dufuf), in the specific sense, is the rectangular
tambourine with a membrane on both sides of the frame. The
term was also a generic one applied to any type of tambourine. 2
It was essentially an instrument of the folk and in the Nights is
constantly in the hands of the songstresses and singing-girls, 8
although we cannot always be sure whether it is the rectangular
instrument which is meant, save in one place where the tar or round
tambourine is mentioned with it. 4
The duff mausili (Mosul tambourine) is spoken of in one place
in the Nights, but this special name is not known elsewhere. The
nisba or adjective of provenance occurs in the Bulaq text, 6 but it
is missing from the Calcutta 6 and Beyrout 7 texts, and it is probable
therefore that it is simply an adornment by a Jcdtib or ram so as to
harmonize with the 'fid 'iraqi ('Iraqian lute) and jarik 'ajaml
(Persian harp) mentioned with it.
The tar (pi. twari) is the round tambourine with one membrane
and with metal plates in the frame of the instrument. It is found
in the hands of the songstresses and singing-girls in the Nights*
with whom it served also as a collecting box for gifts as already
mentioned. It was placed on the ground or floor with the membrane
downwards so that money could be thrown into it. 9 With the
professional minstrel the tar was the most important instrument
of rhythm as the charming apostrophe in the Nights shows. 10
Lane's artists give several delineations of the tambourine known
as the ar, u although in the stories themselves it is simply the duff
or duff mausiR that is mentioned. The best design is that which
serves as a tailpiece to the Story of the Humpback** the model being
the instrument given in Lane's Modem Egyptians. 1S
The tall (pi. tubul) was often the ordinary cylindrical drum, but
in the generic sense the term was applied to any type of drum.
It is therefore difficult to determine in the Nights, where its mention
1 Burton admits the Heron derivation of the novelty although his reference to
" the motive force of steam *' cannot be accepted. See Farmer, The Organ of the
Ancient*, 79.
* Ency. of Islam, v, 73.
8 i, 165 (i, 191) ; i, 225 (i, 252) ; i, 353 ft 378).
4 i, 165 (i, 191). i, 27 (i, 83). i, 67. 7 i, 55.
8 i, 165 (i, 191-2). Lane, Arab. Nights, i, 317.
10 iv, 172 (v, 190-1). Lane, Arab. Nights, i, 227, 291, 296, 306.
ia Lane, op. cit., i, 296. " Lane, 366.
THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARA31AN NIGSTS 35
is legion, to which type the word refers, although the scene of the
story and the percussive verb may help sometimes to hazard a guess
whether it is the ordinary drum or the kettledrum that is meant.
If at a private festival or public rejoicing the former is more likely, 1
whereas in a martial or processional setting the latter seems more
proper. 2 One of Lane's artists has shown the former, the ordinary
cylindrical drum, where it appears in the Story of Ma'ruf*
The Jcus (pi. kusdt) was the largest kettledrum used by the Arabs 4
until the Mughals introduced the kurga. In the Nights it occurs
with other martial instruments in the nauba or military band,
although the kusdt of the Beyrout text 5 is sometimes changed to
kdsdt (cymbals) in the Calcutta 6 and Bulaq texts.
The tabli bdz was a very small kettledrum of metal played by
means of a leathern or fabric strap. It is not actually mentioned
in the Nights by name, but there can be little doubt, as the
perspicuous Burton has guessed, that the tabl mentioned in the
story of Hasan al-Basn was a bdz, to use the modern truncated
name. 7 In this tale we read of " a tabl (drum) of copper and a zakhma
(beater) of silk worked in gold with talismans ", 8 Lane translated
zakhma by " plectrum " which annoyed Burton because it was
misleading. This is true enough if we merely consider the modern
usage of the term plectrum for the implement with which the strings
of a lute or similar instrument are plucked. Yet in its older Greek
and Latin meaning the word stood for any striking implement,
just as zakhma does in Arabic, since the latter is used for the plectrum
of a lute, the bow of a viol, one of the beating rods of a dulcimer,
or one of the sticks or beaters of a drum. On the whole, Lane had
good reasons for using the word plectrum, although the present
writer has avoided it.
This magic drum, with its talismanic zakhma, is just one further
example of the close connection between magic and music, a notion
so deeply cherished by the Semites. 9 Even to-day the bdz is the
favoured instrument of the musahhar (enchanted one) when he is
collecting alms. 10
The darbukka (pi. darbukkdt) is a goblet-shaped drum with a
1 i, 700. 2 iii, 150, 274, 282. 8 iii, 364.
* Itawan al-afa', i, 91. 5 ii, 57, 96. i, 650, 700.
7 v, 57. See Lane, Modern Egyptians, 164, for a design.
8 iv, 14 (v, 57) ; iv, 22 (v, 65).
9 See my Sa'adyah Gtaon on the Influence of Music, chap. i.
10 Lane, op. cit., 365.
36 THE MINSTRELSY Otf TH3 A&A&1AN
single membrane. It is only quoted once in the Nights, and even
then the scribe has written J> j,* instead of ^joja. 1 It has long
been a favoured instrument of the Arabian folk, although here
and there the professional minstrel uses it as a rhythmic accompani-
ment. In the Tale of the Tailor 2 it is the bath-keeper who sings to
its notes, but since the name darbukka is quite a modern one, the
date of the facture of the story cannot be very old, unless it is
a copyist's slip for the Persian danbala iXo.
The remaining instruments, those classed as sonorous substances,
are, with the exception of the Jcdsdt (cymbals), scarcely to be
included among instruments of music as implied by the scope of
this inquiry. Yet they are sound-producing instruments and as
most of them are to be found among the impedimenta of modern
European percussionists their inclusion here may not be considered
out of place.
The kasdt (sing, kds, kdsa) or ku'us (sing, ka's) were the large
bowl-shaped cymbals, as distinct from the sunuj (sing, sanj) or
plate-shaped cymbals. They figure in most of the martial scenes
in the Nights as already noted. 3
The jaldjil (sing, juljul) and ajrds (sing, jaras) were bells, the
former being usually the small spherical grelots, whilst the latter
were large conoid or square bells with an interior oscillating striker.
Both kinds were used as an adornment to the caparison of camels
and horses, 4 and, during the Mamluk period in Egypt, grelots
were placed on criminals. 5 This latter practice reminds us that,
in the Nights, when Mercury c Ali, the artful one who " could steal
kohl from the eye ", became a reformed man, he wore bells on his
coat, although it is not too apparent that this was done as a proof
of his honesty. 6 Of course there is the old Arabic proverb that
a man who wears a juljul needlessly imperils himself. Mercury c Ali
even went so far as to string bells on the wallet which contained his
well-gotten gains. 7
The qaldqil (sing, qalqal) appear to have been what we would term
jingles. Together with grelots and bells they were hung on mules
and camels in the Nights so as to create fright and consternation
in the enemy. 8
1 Calcutta edit., i, 244 ; Beyrout edit., i, 200. * Burton, i, 274.
8 See J.R.A.S. (1944), p. 176. See Ency. of lal&m, v, 196. Legacy of Islam,
%., 91.
- iii, 293 (iv, 238). Al-Maqrizi, i, 2, 106. iii, 460 (iv, 379).
7 iii, 461 (iv, 389). iii, 293 (iv, 238),
THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN XlQHTS 37
The Jch^ldJcM (sing. JchalJchal) and ahjdl (sing, hijl) were the metal
rings or anklets worn by women, the sound of which is often
commented on. In the Nights there is an allusion to the delightful
rhythmical gait of a slave-girl which even hushed the sound of
her anklets. 1 There is also the advice that when a youth arrives
at puberty he must no longer frequent the quarter [the hanm]
where the anklets (ahjdl) tinkle. 2
The ndqus (pi. nawacfis) is the wooden or metal percussion slab
or plate used like a gong by Christians in Arabic-speaking lands.
In the Nights it occurs in the story of 'All Nur al-Dln and Maryam
the Girdle-girl where it is sounded on the roof of the Chapel of the
Lady Maryam [the B.V.M.], the Mother of Light, to call the
Christians to their devotions. 8
Lastly comes the qadib (pi. qudbdn), a wand which, beaten on
any sonorous substance, often supplied the rhythm in the music
of early Arabia. It is one of the oldest Arabian percussive instru-
ments. 4 The word occurs in the Nights but not actually in this
connection. In the story of The Mock Khalif a mudawwara is struck
with a qadib so as to summon a servant. 5 Lane says that the
mudawwara was " a round cushion ", 6 but Burton replies that
" one does not strike a cushion for a signal ", and reverts to the
original meaning of the word which, he says, is " ' something
round ', as a circular plate of wood or metal, a gong ". 7 Yet the
gong of metal, as we know the instrument, does not appear to
have been used by the Arabs except in the Christian ndqus. It is
true that in the chronicle of the Crusader Geoffiroy de Vinsauf
(Bk. i, chap. 23) we read of the gongs of the Saracens, but when
we turn to the original Latin the word is cymbala. It would seem,
however, that the beating of a cushion with a qadZb, as suggested
by Lane, is actually within the bounds of probability, since such
a proceeding did certainly obtain with the Arabs. We read of it
in the Kaffd-ra'tf of Ibn Hajar al-Haithainl (d. 1565), in the section
entitled, " Concerning beating (darb) with the qad^b upon cushions
(wasd'id)" *
In conclusion I have to mention the Jcamdnja (pi. kamawjdt) or
viol, which is delineated by one of Lane's artists as an adornment
1 iii, 404 (iv, 337). a i, 661 (ii, 169), 3 iv, 313 (v, 334-5).
Ency. of Isl&m, v, 197. 5 ii, 163 (iii, 16). fl ii, 343, 356.
7 iii, 16 8 Berlin MS., 5517, foL 19v.
38 THE MINSTRELSY OE TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS
to the latter's version of The Barber's Tale of Ms Fifth Brother. 1
Yet, truth to tell, the Jcamdnja is not mentioned anywhere in the
Nights. Nor is its cousin the rabdb given recognition. Lane's
coadjutor was obviously influenced by the great Aiabist's Modem
Egyptians, where the instrument is shown. 2 Yet, seeing that the
Arabs knew of the viol as early as the ninth century 8 we can
reasonably suppose that, in spite of it not being mentioned, the
musical auditors in the Nights must have listened to its " drawn
notes", as Al-Farabi would say, 4 especially in those stories of
Egyptian and Syrian facture. Certainly the musical auditors of
the Nights knew of the viol, which has ever been facile princeps
among the instruments of the rawl and sha'ir at the caf6 or camp-
fire, as both Lane and Burton have shown elsewhere.
1 i, 360. a p. 358. 8 Farmer, Studies, i, 101. * Ibid., i, 102.
Chapter V
The Craft of the Music
Chapter V
The Craft of the Music
" In the corners are hidden treasures."
An Arabic Proverb.
Having discussed almost every other phase of the music of the
Nights -we must finally turn to the music per se. In this inquiry there
are two aspects to be viewed, if we are to follow the accepted Arab
procedure, viz. the theoretical (nazari) and the practical ('amall),
which give us, respectively, the science ('ilm) and art (san f ) of music,
both of which have been considerably misunderstood by authoritative
writers on the Nights.
Lane, who was perspicacious in most things, indulged in that
ridiculous, but oft-repeated notion, that the Arabian music scale
consisted of a " division of tones into thirds ",* a statement already
made in his Modern Egyptians. 2 We cannot lay too much blame
on the shoulders of the great Orientalist for this blunder, since
even specialists like Villoteau 8 and F6tis, 4 to mention no others,
had already subscribed to it. What all these writers had in mind
was the theory of the Systematist School, which they did not
comprehend. 5
In the science of music three distinct schools of thought existed
during the period covered by the Nights, and in each case the scale
was basically Pythagorean. The three schools were : (1) the Old
Arabian School (7th-10th cent. A.D.), (2) the Greek Scholiasts
(9th-13th cent.), and (3) the Systematist School (13th~17th cent.).
It was the scale of this last named which Lane and others mistook
for a " division of tones into thirds ", whereas the tone (tanm) was
actually divided into three sequential intervals of 243 : 256,
1 i, 204. * 354.
8 Description de Vllgypte (>e ?&a& actuel de Vart musical moderne), i, 613.
* Eistoire generate de la musique, ii, 170.
* See Encyclopaedia of Islam, iii, 749, Recueil des travaux du Congrea de
Musique arabe (Cairo, 1934), 652, and my Preface to Baron D'Erlanger's La
, Tome iii
42 THE MINSTRELSY OP THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
243 : 245, and 54288 : 531441. Yet there is no mention of these
schools in the Nights, and apart from the mere admission of the
omniscient Tawaddud regarding the theory of music (faun
(d-musiqi), 1 this " most difficult of the mathematical sciences " 2
is ignored in its ample pages. It is not strange, therefore, that
whilst the learned ('ulama') and the legists (fuqaha') question this
boastful singing-girl on- almost all the sciences so as to test her
vaunted knowledge, no attempt is made to catechize her on the
theory of music. Therefore we need not trouble ourselves farther
with this intricate subject because, outside of Lane's notes, it is
not discussed in the Nights, as we have seen.
What is of greater importance than scientific theory is practical
theory, because the technicalities of this aspect of the music of
the Nights disport themselves on so many pages of these tales,
more often than not, to the utter embarrassment of the Arabic
reader. It is true that in the European versions we are not dis-
concerted by any technicalities, for the simple reason that the
translators gloss most of these quite plausibly if not speciously.
On this account it is not too much to say that the whole question
deserves fuller consideration than what has been accorded it, which
is evidenced by Burton's rather immoderate applause for a solitary
note on the subject made by Payne, 8 while Lane has not vouch-
safed a single line of worth to this question which his deserved
fame as a lexicographer ought to have compelled.
Yet it has to be conceded that the technical musical nomenclature
of practical theory, as shown in the Nights, is difficult of apprehension.
Much of the perplexity is due to the use of vague terms, but
generally one can ascribe the following causes for the difficulties
which are encountered: (1) The technical expressions are not
constant in meaning because of the diverse periods and places of
facture of the tales. (2) In those tales translated from other languages
the translator may have been unable to find the appropriate Arabic
word. 4 (3) The ignorance of kdtib or ram, as scribe or storyteller,
would also account for some of the confused terminology.
Since Arabic theorists of music have, from the earliest times,
1 ii, 493 (iii, 281).
* This was the opinion of Isfcaq ibn Sulaiman (d. c. 932), better known as Isaac
Israeli.
8 v, 376.
4 This is inconsiderable. Most of the technical musical terms occur in tales
of Arabic origin.
THE MINSTRELSY OF TEE ARABIAN NIGHTS 43
treated music as consisting of two basic divisions melody (lahri)
and rhythm (lqd ( ), it seems advisable to follow this procedure.
Lahn is the general Arabic term for " melody ", and it is used in
this sense in the Nights, 1 although in two places such words as
ghina' 2 and maghnd ( jji*) 3 are given this meaning. The second
of our divisions is rhythm, generally known as iqd e , although the
term is not used in the Nights. Still, such words as darabdt (beats) 4
and harakdt (pulsations) 5 possibly refer to rhythms.
As elsewhere, music in the Nights was either vocal or instrumental.
The term saut, as used in the Nights, means a " vocal piece ", 6
as it does in the Eitdb al-aqhdni. Ghind' is applied, as in Arabic in
general, to " singing " or " song ". 7 This, however, is a generic
term, whereas specific words like anshuda and tarftl connote
" rhythmic song " and " unrhythmic song " respectively. We read
that a vocalist " sang " (ghanna) 8 or " chanted " (anshada). 9 Of
an instrumentalist it is usually stated that he "played " (daraba), 10
or " performed " (tarraba), u or " executed " ('amila), 12 or
" manipulated " (qalldba) 18 upon an instrument which, in the
Nights, was generally, the *ud (lute).
One must admit, however, that the use of the words anshada
(" chanted ") and ghanna (" sang ") is often confusing, although
I have suggested that the latter is generic and the former specific.
Indeed sometimes it would appear that two distinct types of vocal
music are implied. Take, for example, a passage from the Tale of
'Ati ibn Bakkar and of Shams al-Nahar :
Jji" dXiJl /r 4
" He commanded one of the slave-girls to sing, so she took the
lute, and tuned it, and fingered it, and played on it. Then she
chanted saying poetry." 14 Here it would seem that chanting was
the same as singing. On the other hand we have it stated in the
same story that slave-girls " sang and chanted poetry ", 16 implying,
1 ii, 450 (iii, 253). * ii, 450 (iii, 252).
8 ii, 149 (iii, 16). * ii, 438 (iii, 240).
5 iv, 266 (v, 297). 6 ii, 149 (iii, 8).
7 Throughout. 8 i, 809 (ii, 305).
9 i, 69 (i, 85). 10 ii, 54 (ii, 434).
11 ii, 37 (ii, 419). " ii, 87 (ii, 462).
" ii, 163 (iii, 16). " i, 809 (ii, 306).
18 i, 762 (ii, 263).
44 THE MTNSTBELSY OP THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
seemingly, that chanting and singing were not the same. Once
again this contrariety may be due to the ignorance or carelessness
of kdtib or ram.
Arabian music of the period of the Nights, which stretches over
many centuries, was modal, just as it is to-day. This qualification
covers both melody and rhythm. The general term for a mode,
whether melodic or rhythmic, was tarlqa (pi. tarffiq) or turqa
(pi. turaq). 1 Lane was of opinion that tarlqa in this sense was a
post-classical word, 2 but against this statement is the fact that it is
employed in the Kitdb al-aghdnl 8 and elsewhere, 4 where it is used
of both melodic and rhythmic modes.
We find mention of twenty-one and twenty-four of these tara'iq
or turaq being performed one after another, 5 although we cannot
determine whether the reference is to melodic or rhythmic modes,
except in one place, in the story oflshdq al-Mausiti and the Merchant,
where of a singing-girl we are told that " she sang various turaq
to rare melodies (alhdri) ". 6
Then we have the term used in reference to musical " form ",
i.e. the order in which, or the basis upon which, music was composed
and performed. We are told that an artiste " played (daraba)
upon twenty-one turaq and then returned to the first tarlqa ". 7
A procedure, perhaps, much like our rondo form.
Looking around for clues so as to surmount the obstacles of
identification, one is inclined to classify the mode which is
" performed " (tarrdba) as melodic, and that which is " played "
(daraba) as rhythmic, but there is no certainty in this distinction
because o^ and o^> can so easily be misread by a careless
copyist. Yet here and there we can probably discern where melodic
modes are intended even when the term tarlqa is not present. One
example in the story of Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdl and the Barber-
Surgeon shows that a musician " enlivened with naghamat "
C*|Jl c^^l , 8 Another passage, in the story of Muhammad
1 iv, 262 (v, 294) ; iv, 265 (v, 296).
1 Lexicon, 1849.
s Introduction. Yet this really depends on the date of the Introduction, which
might be later than the time of Abu'l-Faraj (tenth century).
4 Al-Qhazall, Ibya* l ufam al-din, ii, 188.
8 ii, 163 (iii, 16) ; ii, 259 (iii, 105).
e ii, 436 (iii, 239).
7 ii, 267 (iii, 111) ; hr, 362 (v, 294).
8 ii, 140 (ii, 513).
THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 45
al-Amln and the Slave-girl, runs : " She sang with pleasing naghamdt "
C>]f3\ c^J*l Csi A third reference, in Abu'l-Husn and his slave-
girl Tawaddud, is to Tawaddud who " played upon it [the lute] in
twelve nagham " \ ^Ac- ^\ <*k- c^^. 2 All of these tales are
pitched in the " Golden Age " of Islam, at a time when the term
naghamdt (sing, naghma) stood for " notes ", whilst nagham (sing.
naghm) meant " melody ". It was only much later, certainly after
the fourteenth century A.D., that naghamdt came to stand for
" modes ", although we must not forget how closely the two terms
are bound together, as we know from the Greek rovot, which meant
both notes and modes. 3 It seems to me that, in these tales and
others of their kind, the Jcdtib or ram used older material, but touched
it up with more modern terms.
As for the rhythmic modes, it is not improbable that in the
Tale of King 'Umar ibn Nu'mdn and his Sons the reference to the
instrumentalist who "changed the darb" *-?j*^\ ^J^ 4 or
another, in the story of Ishdq al-Mausit/i and the Merchant, who
"consummated the dardbat" Ol^^l c^^l, 5 or the lady, in
'Ati Nur al-Dm and Marydm the Girdle-Girl, who " played upon it
[the lute] with the best of her harakdt " V'O 9 " 0**"!? <^ ^.j~**
applies to rhythmic modes.
The question now arises, " Why the several terms for the same
thing ? " The answer has already been partly indicated, although
it must be insisted that, in spite of Lane's opinion to the contrary,
tara'iq and turaq are early and not late words. These occur in
what may definitely be considered to be early tales, and we know
that the term tarq (pi. turuq) had a similar meaning as early as
Al-Laith ibn al-Muzaffar (eighth century A.D.), and it persisted
until the time of the Taj al-'arus. On the other hand, naghamdt
and darabdt, in the sense of melodic and rhythmic modes, are later,
and are still current in Egypt. 7
All these melodic and rhythmic modes had special names, lists
ii, 403 (iii, 208).
ii, 427 (iii, 240).
Of. my Historical Fads for the Arabian Mveical Influence (London, 1930), 238.
i, 372 (i, 395).
ii, 437 (iii, 240).
iv, 266 (v, 297).
uWmmad, Stf& al-awqat (1910), pp. 10, 20.
46 THE MINSTBELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
of which may be found elsewhere, 1 yet, with the exception of a
passing verse reference to the ihwfil and Jchaftf rhythms in Khalifa
the lisherman of Baghdad, 2 we have no mention of them in the
Nights. Here is what we read :
" Ho thou o s the tambourine, 3 my heart takes flight
And love-smit cries while thy fingers smite.
So say thou word thaqil or Kh
Play whate'er thou please it will charm the sprite
Yet the words may not actually be the names of rhythmic modes,
but may refer to the heavy or light beats in rhythm, or as the
modern Arab tambouriner has it, the tumm or takk beats.
The forms of vocal music in the Nights are not many. It is
generally the qitd' that is used, generally two or three verses, often
designated a nufta, being employed. That two verses were used
may have been due to the fact that two musical phrases were the
rule at this time in vocal music. Of course, longer forms were
occasionally used. With most of the vocaj pieces there was generally
an instrumental prelude (bashrau) as well as a postlude (Maim),
although the Nights do not mention them. This, of course, only
refers to the accompanied song.
In instrumental music, no particular forms are alluded to in
the Nights. The only definite reference to anything of this sort
is in the nauba which is frequently mentioned. This was, and still is,
the classical vocal and instrumental suite (nauba) of the Arabs.
We have already noticed the term being used to signify a Tm'1it.fl.ry
band, because it was this combination which performed the five
daily time signals (naubat). The nauba of chamber music received
its name in much the same way. 4 Under the early 'Abbasid khalifs,
the court musicians had a particular hour and day for their
performances, 5 and this is adverted to in the Nights where a songstress
is appointed to a Thursday nauba.* It was this taking turn (nauba)
that gave rise to the term for the music played on these occasions.
In the Nights we read of a "complete nauba" being sung, 7
and similarly of a " merry nauba ".* These references are taken
1 See my History of Arabian Music, pp. 71-2, 179, 20-6, and Sa'adyah Oaon on
the Influence of Music, p. 21.
1 iv, 172 (v, 190).
8 far. Burton says: " Ho thou o' the tabret."
Encyclopaedia of I*]&m, iii, 886. Xtiab d-agh&n\, iii, 177.
ii, 439 (iii, 242). 7 iv, 173 (v, 191). ii, 300 (iii, 126).
THE MINSTRELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 47
from early tales, Khatifa the Fisherman of Baghdad and Ibrahim
ibn al-Mahdl and the Merchant's Sister, and indeed those references
which follow from the story of 'Aid al-Din Abu'l-Shdmdt and
Ni'mat ibn al-RabVa and Nu'm his Slave-girl, are also early tales.
The word was also used of an instrumental suite, as we have record
of a performer who " executed a nauba " on the lute, 1 whilst in
another story we read of a performer who " played a nauba " on
this instrument. 2 Although it is not specifically mentioned these
references show that the various movements, vocal and/or
instrumental, of the nauba, were given. Yet only once is there
a direct implication of the actual movement performed, and that
is when we are told that a performer " took the lute and executed
a nauba . . . and [afterwards] began the ddrij of the nauba ". 8
This ddrij is apparently one of the movements of the nauba, and it
takes its name from a rhythmic mode with this label which does
not appear to be mentioned earlier than the fifteenth to sixteenth
centuries A.D. The modern naubat of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria
contain a movement named darj, the rhythm of which is identical
with the ddrij rhythmic mode.
A final word concerning two farther technical terms used in
instrumental performance seems desirable. In the story of The
Ruined Man of Baghdad and his Slave-Girl there is a passage in
which the terms turaq and tariqa are used in a sense rather different
from that which has been accepted. Here is the passage in question 4 :
3 jJl. It is quite evident that turaq <3* (sing, turqa)
in this place means " tunings ", or, as musicians would say,
accordatura. Janqa <A^ (pl tard'iq), as we have seen, means
" mode ", but whilst each string could be said to give, by fingering,
a " mode ", or, more strictly speaking, a genre (jins) of a " mode ",
we must, for the sake of clarity, translate the term differently
where it first occurs in this passage, and render it as " note ".
The version would then read : " She took the lute and altered the
accordatura (turaq), note (tariqa) by note (tanqa), and played in
a mode (tariqa) which she had learned from me."
Another word of technical importance isjassa ( j^ which means
1 ii. 98 (ii, 471). * ii, 64 (ii, 434).
8 ii, 87 (ii, 462). iv, 361 <v, 376).
48 THE MINSTBELSY OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
" to finger " or " to tlirum ". According to the Mafafih al-'ulum
(tenth, century), the derivative noun jass specifically means " the
striking (nayr) of the strings [of the lute] with the forefinger and
the thumb underneath the plectrum ". 1 An example in the Nights
runs : " He took the lute and thrummed it " <U?-j ^yJl u>-l. 8
Burton mellifiuently says : " He took the lute and swept the
strings." 3 In another passage we read : " He thrummed the lute "
j^Jl !W> 4 which Burton renders : " He turned it [the lute]." 6
A further, and more pointed, case is : " She took the lute, and
supported it upon her robust bosom, and thrummed it with her
finger-tips (anamil) " IfUll <^->-j lfc^4> Jl <T-U*lj *j*\\ o^l, 8
which Burton shortens into : " She took the lute and swept the
strings with her fingertips." 7
As a frontispiece I give the earliest piece of recorded music from
Arabic sources. It is taken from the Kitab al-adwar of Safi al-Din
'Abd al-Mu'min (d. 1294) and serves as a specimen of the type
of melody and song favoured in the Nights. As the plate shows,
the music is written in an alphabetic and numeric tablature.
These I have transcribed into European notation. The mensural
values of some of the notes in this manuscript are incorrect. The
first mensural figure in line 2 should read V instead of \ Y, and the
last six mensural figures of line 9 should read Y V Y Y \M Y. Here
is a transcription of the melody and vocal piece which are in the
melodic mode Jcuwdsht and the rhythmic mode ramal. The scale
is the Pythagorean and the accidentals marked with plus ( + )
and minus (-) signs indicate the sharpening and flattening of
a note by a limma and comma respectively.
1 p. 239. iii, 389. * w, 322, * iii, 410.
6 iv, 343. " Turned " is possibly a printer's slip for " tuned ".
i, 70. i, 86.
Epilogue
Epilogue
U
" The measure of every mail is [in] what he does well.'*
An Arabic Proverb.
npHERE is a story in the Nights which deserves a place here as
a Ichatima or epilogue to these studies on the music of those
precious nocturnes, more especially because I alluded to the subject
in my earlier remarks. It concerns the hostile attitude of some of
the Islamic legists towards music, a feeling which was particularly
bitter during the period covered by the Nights. We see it in the
story of Abu'l-Hasan the Wag, who was so immoderately addicted
to music and other pleasures that the imam of the mosque and the
shaikhs of the district complained to the waU of his conduct. The
result was that fines were imposed on the offender for having
annoyed his neighbours. Abu'l-Hasan was wroth at this treatment,
and one day he confided to the Khalif Earun al-Raghid, of whose
identity he was completely unaware, that if the power ever came
his way he would have these complainers whipped with a thousand
lashes. It so happened that his wish was granted and, as the
" Mock TThnlif ", he had the imam and the sfaikhs whipped as he
had yearned. After their punishment he dismissed them with these
words : " That is the recompense of those who annoy their
neighbours."
It is an amusing story, and one which doubtless gained the
plaudits of the crowd in cafe or market place. Yet from the story
itself it is clear that in this instance the imam and ^mKhs were right
on legal grounds. Abu'l-Hasan was an obtrusive fellow, and his
indulgence in music and other pleasures was evidently so blatant
that there can be little doubt that he did annoy his neighbours and
that he deserved his punishment. Had he been a good Muslim he
would not have obtruded on the rights of others for verily ^o *li-l
jlcVl " Modesty is a part of Religion ".
To some extent one can appreciate the attitude of the men in
sober habit towards music when they saw it in company with wine
and women. The Jew Isaiah cried : " Woe unto them ... the harp,
the lute, the timbrel, the pipe, and wine, are in their feasts, but they
regard not the word of Yahveh. " It was the same with the Christian
52 EPILOGUE
St. Clement of Alexandria, who thought that " if people occupy
their time with pipes and psalteries, they become immodest and
intractable ". The Muslim Ibn Abil-Dunya' was even more
pointed in his censure when he said that " all dissipation begins
with music and ends with drunkenness ".
Yet music, per se, cannot be evil, although it might accompany
that which is evil. Indeed, one is sometimes compelled to wonder
whether there was not some jealousy of the minstrel's success at the
back of all this protest from the puritans ? Note the attitude of
the Christian St. Chrysostom, who had been preaching for a whole
year against the ludicrae artes, only to see the churches empty
during Holy Week, although the spectacula were packed with dense
crowds. Observe the mien of the Prophet Muhammad, who poured
out the vials of his wrath against the Pagan poets whose ludicrvus
stories were receiving more attention than his revelations. See the
later Muslim divines or fuqafaS gravely shaking their heads in
reproof of those who poured countless gold into the laps of the
mughanni singing and playing at the Khalifate court. t They are
not a whit different from the Christian cleric Langland as he hurled
invective when he saw the English nobility lavishing gifts on the
minstrel class.
Human nature is much the same whether East or West, and we
cannot be sure that righteous indignation was always the urge with
prophets and priests against this indulgence in music. Even so,
it was only the few who could afford to " sin " in this way, a$d
fewer still were the minstrels who reaped dinar y shekel, or gold in
aiding or abetting this i;n'ng. The bulk of the people could not
afford to indulge in " wine, woman, and song ", and the huge
majority of the minstrel class were relatively as poor as the pro-
verbial church mouse. Indeed, the truth is to be found in a line
in the Alf lotto, wa laila which says : j*& otll*a)l Jjl J^,*- Ulj
olyVI ^f, 4|b*\i-"For those who follow the arts, there is little
beyond mere subsistence."
Finally, this puritanical objection to music is quite untenable,
since it would be just as unreasonable to condemn fruit or viands
because of their concomitance with wine or woman, as Maimonides
would have argued. Indeed, music is less deserving of condemna-
tion because, per se, it is neither good nor evil. Music cannot be
categoried nor submitted to predicament. It defies all such resolu-
EPILOGUE 53
tion, and lie who would seek this would have to be, as Glaucon says,
a God. We know not how or why music affects us. Indeed we are
still far distant in knowledge of the real causes of emotion itself.
The great Muslim philosopher, Al-Farabl, very astutely steered
clear of an explanation of the phenomenon, but at least he did
expose the fallacy that music inspired a passion or soul-state. Per
contra, he insisted that music whether in the performer or in the
listener, was itself inspired by a passion or soul-state, although the
logician might reply that this is a distinction without a difference.
Indeed, Schopenhauer, seems to have guessed the riddle when he
said that the world is but realized music. To him, music exists in
the core of things, and subsists on their essence. Perhaps, if we
could only peep behind the veil we might find that music is the key
to existence itself.
PLATE 1
LUTE ('ud). REEDPIPE (Zamr). TAMBOURINE (Tar)
From the Maqamat of Al-Harlri (d. 1122). British Museum MS. (Fourteenth
Century),
PLATE 2
LUTE ('ud)
From a Damascus writing box (A.D. 1281). British Museum.
PLATE 3
PANDOEE (Tunbur)
From a Persian bowl (Fourteenth Century). British Museum.
PLATE 4
.>-
,/Q^:
SV.
^-L^A
/,$?*\
/ rTV<y
4^)
//{&/
/ 4v^ 1
/, H"y.. "/
/ ^-'/
//,.:-.?
/ / v 'v
/!
/ t
, ^
/ ^.xf
// / r
/'^'.i ;<*
IV',? t ! 'I r
i>;?J>lll
-^ .
HABP Ja
From the AW6 al-ndw&r of gafi al-Bin 'Abd al-Mu'miii (d. 1294). National
Library, Cairo (dated A.D. 1326-7).
PLATE 5
HARP (Jank)
From a Mesopotamia!! candle-stick (Thirteenth Century). Victoria and Albert
Museum, London.
PLATE 6
TRAPEZOIDAL PSALTERY (Qanun)
RECTANGULAR PSALTERY (Nuzha)
From the Kanz al-tuhaf (A.D. 1346-1362). British Museum MS. (Seventeenth
Century).
PLATE 7
PLATE 8
g J 1
fc S ~
p :l
S- :~
F 13
H r3-
P feel
PLATE 9
REEDPIPE (Zamr), TAMBOUKINE (Tar)
From a Mausil casket (Thirteenth Century). British Museum.
PLATE 10
REEDPIPE (Zamr) TAMBOURINE (Tar)
From a Mau$il casket (Thirteenth century). Art Galleries, Glasgow.
PLATE J 1
PLATE 12
I B
a
I
o
STEPHEN AUSTIN AN1> SONS, LIMITED
PRINTERS, HERTFORD
CZ
111450
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