C o lle c t io n o e oRffiNTAL ١VRITERS ON MUSIC.

—IV
Edited by I jy George Eaemer, Pb.D.) M i .

Ancient Arabian
Musical Instruments
As described by AlMufaddal ibn Salama (9th
century) in tbe unique Istanbul manuscript of tbe
K ita b a l i a l a K x
in tbe handwriting of YdqUt al"Musta‘‫؟‬imi
(d. 1298).

TEXT IX FACSIMILE AND TRANSLATION EDITOD W ITH N O I

JAMES ROBSON, M.A.

(Lecturer ،n Arabic, the University of Glasgow),

INCLUDING NOTES ON THE INSTRUMENTS

HENRY GEORGE FARMER, PhD., M.A.

THE CIVIC JRESS) GLASGOW.

1‫ج‬38.
 PREFACE

‫ﺑﺎﻟﻴﺎ ت‬ ‫إ'ﻛﺎاالﻫﻤﺎل‬
‫ ﺀﺀ‬Works are to be judged by tbeir intention.”
—A l - B u l i

In publishing tbis brief work by Ibn Salama) I wish to

express my gratitiide to Dr. H. Gr. Farmer who suggested
that I should undertake the task of translating and annotating
it, and, when I consulted ...him, on more technical matters
connected with the instruments which are mentioned, very
readily supplied some footnotes regarding them.
The translation of Ibn Salama)s book appeared ‫ ئ‬the
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of April, 1938, and I am
indebted to the Council for granting me permi^ion to
re.publish it. Since its firat publication. Professor Dr. F.
Krenkow■ has very. kindly suggested a few emendations
which I liave incorporated.
My t-hanks are also due to the Carnegie tiustees for tlieir
generosity in enabling me to reproduce the Arabic text,
and so make more generally "available a text which till recently
lias been unknown, and a spechnen of the handwriting of
one of the most famous of Arabic calligraphists.
J ames R obson.
G lasgow .
Translation
and
Notes
The Kitab al-malShi of AbU Talib Al-Mufaddal
ib . Salama

m H E notices of Ibn Salama are short. A l-lw a w l 1 (d. 127.7}

and L l a i n ‫( ﺀ‬d. 1282) make refere^e ٤٠ him
only in the bio^aphy of his son, AbQ 'l-‫ ؟‬aiyib, who died in ٠/'•
920. . '
Ibn Salama was a grammarian of the Ksfan schooL* He
studied nnder his father, Salama ibn ‘^sim, a friend of
Al-Farra’ (d. 822) and teacher of T a'lab (d. 904); bnt
Yaqat sa ^ that he departed from his Other's views. The
Fihrist, followedhy. I b n . l a i n , .saysth at he .m etlbn
al-A'rabi (d. 846) and other l'earned men. Yaqut says that he
studied under 1 al-A'rhbi, l a 'la b , Ibn al-Sihklt (d. 860),
and others.
We are not told the date of his birth, but a n - l a i n *
says that his son. Aba 'I-Taiyib, died .in 920, while still
ghudd abshflbab, which may m'ean in early youth ‫ ل‬but the
prominent place he receives ‫ ئ‬the notices of Al-Yawawi
and Ibn l a i n suggests that he was old enoUgh. to have
made some impression. Supposing that he died at the age of
30, which ‫ ئ‬the . utmost to which one can stretch Ibn
l a l n S phrase, and assuming that. Ibn Salama was 60 .
when his son was bom, this would mean that he was bom ‫ئ‬
830, and so was 13, at the most, when Ibn al-A'rabi died.
But he was probably born later than 830 : so, while he may
have met Ibn al-A'rdbi, it is questionable whether he could
have studied under him.

‫ ﺀ‬Biog. D id. (ed. Wiistenfeld), pi 733.

‫ ﺀ‬De .611 ,‫ ﺳ ﺎة‬, ‫؛؛‬
‫ ا‬B r u t (Cairo ed.)| p. 109; Y aqut, D id. of Learned M m (Gibb le m .
Ser.)٠w , 7 ,p . 170.
٠BfllSq ed. (1275 ‫) ﻣ ﺪ‬, i, 656.
2 THE KITAJB A l- M A l il! OF IBN

The Fihrist and Yaqut say tihat Ibn Salama was ‫ ئ‬the
entourage of AKFath ibn Khaqan (861 .‫)ق‬. There is no
information about the date of his death. I b n | i a n quotes
Abu Bahr a l - S i (d. 946) as saying i t he received tuition
from him in SOS ; so all one can say is that he died not earlier
than that year.
Ibn Salama was noted for his handwriting, and was a fairly
voluminous writer. The Fihrist mentions nineteen of his boohs,
all but one of which are mentioned by Yaqfit. Ibn ^allihan
mentions thirteen, and Hajjl . h f a * 8‫ ئ‬. A l-lw a w l
mentions only one by name, adding that he wrote other boohs
on bek-lettres and others subjects. His worhs deal mainly
with grammatical topics, one of them being a criticism of
some o f A l - M l s statemente in his Kitab cH-'.ain. .He wrote
also on the Qur'an and on more general subjects.
His Kitab al-faMir, which was one -of the sources of
Al-MaidSnls M a jm ' al-ainthfll, has been edited by c. A.
Storey (LCyden, 1915). Brochelmann* states that this and
his Ghayai" al-adab (which worh is not induded in any of the
lists which I have noticed) are his only e^ant worhs. He mahes
no mention of the MS. of the Kitab a lr ila h i which is tians-
lated here.3 Dr. H. G. Barmer obtained a photostet 'of it when
he risitedCairo 1932 ‫ ئ‬., and made reference to it ‫ أل‬JRAS.
(1934), p. 334. I am indebted to him for the loan of this
photostet in preparing tire present worh.
The Fihrist, Yaqut, a n d lb n ٠ llihan all give the longer
title of Kitab d - ‘ud m ’l l (The booh of the lute and the
musical instruments).
§ 1. T h e M a n u s c r ip t
The present worh ‫ ئ‬based on what . e a r s to be a unique
MS. in the library of the I p QapU Sarai ‫ ئ‬Istanbul. It
contains 44 pages, the first being the titie page. The remaining
1 ii, 3 ‫؛ و‬٢٠‫ل‬24, 344 ; ٢٠12‫ة‬٠ISS, 475. In the last of these nujum (stars)
occurs instead of m hw (grammar).
‫ ع‬Gesch. d. arch. I ١ u . ١ r, W i
‫ ا‬Neither is reference made to it in the Supplement, i, 181.
 THE KITAh AlrMALAHI OE IB S SALAMA ‫ة‬
pages have seven lines eaci. Some additions have teen made
to the title ‫ ئ‬another hand. The firat is ungrammatical, as it
adds ‫( أ ر‬concerning) after Tcitabu which ‫ ئ‬TOitten thus with all
the vowels, and so is in the construct state. And their
names " ‫ ئ‬added after (‫ﺀ‬musical instiumente As the word
m lah i means strictly " instruments of amusement ” , the same
hand has added min qibal a k M g a (pertaining to’music).
Below the titie appear the'words, '' The service of the owned
slave Yaqut, and in-his handwriting.'’ The text of the MS.
‫ ئ‬pointed and ‫ ئ‬very beautifully written, being the work of
YAqUt al'Musta'simJ (d. 1238), the famous calligrapher and
protega of Al-Musta'sim, the last 'Abbasid Caliph in,Ba^dad.
On the remainder of the title-page there are notes by various
people saying-that they have read the MS. The whole work is
‫ ئ‬an excellent state o‫ ؛‬preservation. The c o p in g has been
done very carefully, as can be seeh from the small number of
te^ual emendations.
Ibn Salama begins with a modest reference to his attain-
ments. He explains that he will deal first with sanctions given
for the use of mutical instruments. This was a delicate
question, for many people considered all instruments, except
t.he tambourine and the drums used in war or on pil^image,
to be unia^ul. So he-oceupies pages 5 to IS with this subject.
Prom page 16 to page 41 he deals with almost every musical
instrument known to the Arabs, explaining, en passant, a few
technical terms. The work ends with a reference to different
types of singing.
This work, because of its comparatively early date and tbe
standing of its author, ‫ ئ‬important. It belongs to the period
of the famous Ishaq al-Mau?ih (d. 50‫) ؟‬, of the musical amir
Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdr (d. 39‫) ؟‬, and of Mu٠ riq (d. 845), the
" Golden Age" of Arabian music. IndCed, the only other
contemporary work of a like nature which has been preserved
is the Kitab al-khw 1 ,Z - i l t o f l b n K k r d a l i h . (d. c. 912),
and this ‫ ئ‬s'till inaccessible. By bis quotations from early
poetry and his comments on them, Ibn Salama prorides us
 ، THE KITAB AL-MALABI of n SALAI

with, valuable material for ٩ the nature of the

murical instruments used by the Arabs.

§ 2. TbI aTKI

The Boot of Musical Instruments -

?. 1 The composition' of Abu Taiib al-Mufaddal ibn Salama,
the grammarian and philologist,
p. 2 In the name of Allah( the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Braise be to Allah who gives understanding to whom E e i s ‫إ‬
I seet refuge in Allah ٥ om claiming that in which I am not
proficient ‫ ز‬for in former times sUch action has disgraced
those who ventured on it, BOtliat proverbs were made about
them, and they were spoken of by high and low. One such
is the tradition which ‫ ئ‬handed down, .‘ Ee who pretends to
have a plentiful supply of that in which he is hot proficient(!
B. 3 is like him who wears the two garments .!)falsehood." Some
quote it thus : "Of that which he does not posess.” Con-
cerning this the poet says
" If one decks himself with that which is not in him, the proofs
of testing will tiiame him;
And he wifi run among men like,a half-breed whom the pure-
...breeds .have left on the course.”
I was told that one who claims to be learned asserted that
tbe Arabs were ignorant o'f tbe lute, and tbat tbey make no
mention of any of its strings and its appurtenances. So I
B. 4 resolved to clarify matters regarding)the lute and otlier musical
instruments, ‫؛‬and to state] who was the first to make any of
them and wbat the Arabs said about their names and the
designations of their appurtenances, for the perasal of' those
who are interested ‫ ئ‬any of these matters. Then I thobght
that I should first of all mention sanctions which have been
given, in order tbattbose who employany of these instruments
may know that there is no probleni about them (Braise be to
Allah 1), and that tbey are not forbidden.
1 N iB h 107, and Abu D aiu d , Adab 83, both read “ what
be has not been given Another version is given in Lane, Lexicon, J>. 1497.
 XITAB ‫ غ‬1 - ‫ ﻗ ﻠ ﻘ ﺎ ﻋ ﻌ ﻞ‬٠ ‫ ﺀ‬IBN S i A 5

One such, [sanction] is I■what 'Umar ibn ^abba [d. 876] andP. s
Muhammad ibn . d d a d al-Misma'J [d. 910-911], known as
Zuiqan, the scholastic theologian, told US. Muhammad ibn
Shaddad said, I consulted Aba ‘Asim [d. 828]. (Umar ibn
Shabba said. The gifted Abu ‘Asim was consulted about
reciting [the Qur’an] to a chant, and someone• said to him,
Sufyan ibn "Uyaina [d.-813] remarks about the saying of the
Prophet (Allah bless him and keep him Safe !) “ He who does
not chant (yataghanna) the Qur'anisnot one ofuS,” 1 that [the
word] comes from, alistighma’ (to be content). [Abu 'AsimP. 6
replied, “ He is quite wrong."
Ibn Juraij. [d. 7668] informed US as follows: I asked
(A‫؛‬a) [d. 732-3] about reciting [the Qur'an] to a chant, and
he said, "What harm is there in that? " 'Abdallah ibn
'Umair a l- L a i. .told. ..that..D avid, Allah's .prophet (Peace
be upon him !).had a stringed instrument.‫ ؛‬When he recited,
he played on it and wept, and made [othera] weep. Abu
'Asim held that the chanting ccHriaghanm) of the Qur’an
[means] prolonging and beautifying the voice ‫ ئ‬.[reciting]
it. Sufyan held to [the sense of] being independent {istighm’)\'S. 7
in it from every device. How al-iaghannZ ‫ ئ‬used both of poetry
and properfy. [An example ofits use] with reference to poetoy
is the-saying of Sassan [ibn T abit] :‫ذ‬
٠' If you are repeating poetry, chant it (‫؛‬taghanni) ‫ ل‬the chant is
a training.ound {midmar) for this poetry."‫؛‬
Midmar here is a figure of speech, because the midmar for
'horses means [the place for] malring them fit, teaching and
exercising them, so that they may be in proper condition ;
with which he compared toe adaptation of the chant to
the measure of poet.‫؟‬
‫ د‬Lane. p. 2302, inverts the phrases and gives only Suiyan’s interpretation.
Abu ‫ ؟‬slib a l l a k H , Qut al-qulub, i, 90, gives the same form as Lane, but
says it means one who chants w ith a beautiful voice. Cf. A l l s a ’I, S u n , ‫؛؛‬,
180, for a not‫ ؟‬to the same effect.
‫ ئ ﺀ‬Arabic, m i'tafa. In 1 Sam. xvi, 18,23, Cavid is said to play the
kinndr, an instrum ent usually identified with ،he cithara. Seemingly the
‫يﺀ'آة‬٠was a cithara or lyre.
‫ ا‬This verse is not included in ‫ ؟‬assSn’s diwan (Gibb Mem. Ser.).
 6 THE KITAB AX-MAXAh J OF IBN SAXAMA

Regarding alrtaghannl applying to property, another says :

P .8 " Many a rich man have I Been poverty overtaking, and many
a poor man becoming rich (٤‫ ) ة„» ﺀ س‬aftjer [being inj
indigence.” ' ‫ا‬
Ya'qQb ibn ‫ل‬8‫ اوةآل‬known as Ibn abl IsrU'il, told US that
Abu Balm ibn MangUr ibn SaiyUr reported that YUnus
ibn Muhammad [d. 823‫ اذ‬the teacher, said, Abu Uwais told
us on the authority of Husain ibn ‘Abdallah ibp 'Ubaidallah
ibn ‘Abbas on the authority'of ‘Ikrima [d. 723‫ت‬5‫ ذ‬On the
authority of Ibn ‘Abbas [d. 688-9) (All'ah be pleased with
him !) that the Prophet (Allah bless him, etc.) came upon
p. 9 ‫ ؟‬a r ia [ibn T ab it] when he.had sprinkled !the courtyard of
his house. Along with him were his companions in two rows
and a [singing-]girl of his called §‫ ﺋ ﺌ ﺊ‬who had a mizhar 1 rith
which ' s h e ' e i p i c r i r ' t w o r o ^ i l i l h e l a n g to i i
When the Prophet (Peace be upon him ‫)؛‬. came along, haring
e^ressed neither permission nor prohibition, he came up to
her while she was saying
" Have I committed a sin (out upon you both!) if I amuse
myself.‫" ؟‬
He said: Then the Prophet (Allah bless him, ete.) smiled
‫ا‬
p. 10 and said, ٠٠You have committed no sin,' if Allah will.” ٥
This Ya‘‫ ؟‬fib .told US that Ahmad ibn Mansur related that
Abu Salama al-Tabudhala3 [d. 838) said, Hammad ibn
Salama reported on the authority of ‘Air ibn ‫ ؟‬aid on the
authority of YUsuf ibn H a n that Ibn ‘Umar called on
‘Abdallah, son of Ja'far the possessor of rings,* and found'him
rith a Persian lute.5 He said : 0 '‫ ﺀ‬Abu ‘Abd al-RahmUn,
1 T ie mizhar or mazhar of eariy Islamic times was probably a round
tambourine w ithout “ snares” (٠„ ٠ ) or jingling apparatus (‫ﺀ‬٠
‫'وه «ﺀ‬, ‫'و‬٠‫)ىؤئ‬.
See k . of U r n . [El.), Suppl.. vol., p. 74.
٠ Cf. Ibn‘Abd Sabblhi, ٠1‫ اىﺀ‬iv, 91.
‫ ا‬The MS. wrongly gives Al-NabSdaK.
٠ Ja.far is commonly called Al-faiyar (the flier). When he was slain in
battle Muhammad mourned for him, and.said he had seen him flying with
wings in Taradise. '
‫ ﺀ‬The barbal (Persian lute) appeara to have been of different structure
from the ‘iid. The neck and sound-chest were marie in one graduated piece
of wood, hollow throughout. The neck of the ‘vd was solid. See E L , iv,
980 ; Farmer, S t i e s in Or. M us. Instrs., i, 95 f.
 THE KITAB AL-MAtAH! OF IBN SALAMA

if you know wbat this is, you can have such and such.‫ ’؛‬He
said : Then he looked at it for a time, turned it over,! and p. 11
said : " I am Ahs 'Akd al-Rahman. It is a RflmT balance." ‫إ‬
It is related that. Ibrahim ibn Sa'd‫[ ؛‬d. 799-300), the
author of Al-nghazi, said : " Por long I have thought about
how the people-of Al-Traq prohibit singing yet permit
intoxicants. I was once in one of the mosques of the -An?ar
along with my father, when ‫؛‬those present), who were about
ten in'number, discussed singing and said, ‫ ﺀ‬Come on to AI-
Awsi's [singing-)girl.‫؛‬. Then they arose, and I arose ‫؛‬and went)
with them|until we entered, the house of the girl's master, p. 12
He welcomed them and said, ‘ I do not need to ask why you
have come.’ Thereupon he went into one of his rooms for
a short while, and soon his girl whom we had come to hear
brought ou t her lute, saluted US and sat down. ..The first
song I heard .was on that da'y. She sang
‘ Have we not yet questioned the dulling and the spring-camp
which is empty ?
The wind and the dripping ‫؛‬rain) have obliterated it,' and it has p, 13
left no traces of habitation.'”
He said: '' Then every i ، t got up, and in the window-
ledges of the house there were square tambourines.. They
took them, and one of them took a drum ‫ ع‬and hung it on his
neck. Then the hous'e and its’neighhourhood resounded, and
the shaiTdis of the district came in to see US. And we were in
1 'Iqd, 94 ‫؛‬٣٠, saya th a t Ibn Ja'far replied, “ You are r ig h t; this is a
balance in which speech is weighed,” evidently ،hinting the answer clever.
٠The MS. has Ib n Ibrahim ihn Sa'd. “ I h n 11 is om itted follo'ring ,Iqd,
iv, 93.
3 ‫ ؟‬or the duff murabba' see E l., Snppl. voh 73. A l l i t a r m l says the
square tambourine was forbidden although the round one was nor. Tuwals,
one of the earliest minstrels of Islam, played the duff murabba'. He was one
of the despised muM sfmnaiun; 80 probably the legists forbade it because
it was used by people of this Class.
‘ Tabl was the generic term for any dram. See E L , Suppl. vol., S.V.
“ T a h l” . Certain types were forbidden, notably the koba or tabl al٠
mukhannath. which was shaped like an honr-glass. Bnt the m ilita ^ dram
and pilgrimage dram were allowed, ?robably the latter type is referred to
in th e above s to ^ . I t is known nowadays as the tabl garni, a shallow
kettledrum. I t is depicted in'Lane's Modem Egyptians, chap. vi.
 8 THE KITAB AI-MALAHl o f ib n SALAMA

suet a state that ‫ ئ‬AiyGb or Ibn 'Atm [d. 768] bad been
present, they wotild have refrained and been nnable to forbid
it. Then when the crier summoned to prayer, [and] they
f . 14 g .t u p ! to their places, I did not feel that any of them were.
Sony for what they had been doing; yet they were 'all
distinguished people, doctors of law, and men who were held
in fear and dread.” And Ibrahim ibn Sa'd was pla^ng the lute
andsinging.
And this Ya'qUb ibn Ishaq told US that Dawud ibn R١ ٠ id
and Al-Hasan ibn . b i b said that IsmA'Il ibn .Aiyash
reported that ‘Abd. al-'AsIz ibn ‘Abdallah [d. 780] .told [the
p. 15 following] on the authority o f! Muhammad ibn 'Amr [d. 682']
on the a u th o r , of ‘Ata’ ibn abl Salama ibn ‘Abd al-RahmAn
ibn -‘Auf;1—" The tambourine 2 was played and people-sang-
in the time of 'Abd al-RahmAn ibn ‘A ufon the night when
he was married."
This Ya'qUb told US that Al-Qa'nabI [d. 837] said that
. l i d ibn Ilyas reported on the authority of Al-Qasim ibn
Muhammad [d. ٠. 719-30], on the authority of ' A ' . (Allah
be pleased with her!) that Allah's apostle (Allah bless him,
ete.) saidj "Mate a show of a wedding.’' 8 And the Prophet
P .16 (Allah bless him, etc.) used to Ilike to have the tambourine
played to him. ‫ذ‬-
But I intended only to mention musical instruments. Now
as for singing, sanctions regarding it are m any; but if I were
to mention them, the book would be [too] long. My object
is rimply to mention murical inrtrumente and nothing else.
On that [subject] I shall mention what I hope will be sufficient,
if Allah wills.
I Ib n Sa‘d٠Tahaqat, Y, 115, mentions the names of Abu Sslama’s children,
b u t does not include .Ata’. .Abd al-RabmSn (d. 852), hie grandfetber, -was
a Companion of the Prophet.
٠In Arabic, duff. JAsdn al-'arab, e.Y. “ . r b s l ”, calls th e instrum ent
mentioned in this tradition a ghtrbal, a name due to its likeness to a sieve.
The ohirbal seems to have differed from the mizhar in, having '' enaras ''
stretched across the underside of the face or m٠٠l>nns. See E L , Suppl.
voh, 74. I t is now railed the bandair in the Maghrib.
‫ ا‬A similar, b ut longer, tradition is given in T i r m ih , Likah, 6.
 THE KIT^H ‫ﻌ ﺪ‬ ‫ﺳ ﺌ‬ ٠ ‫ ﺀ‬IBH SALVIA

Hisham ‫؛‬bn al-Kalbl [d. 819-21) mentioned tbat tbe fiist

who made tbe lute and played on it was a man of tbe sons of
QabJl, some say Qablu,1 tbe son of IAdam, called Lamb.‫ ؛‬He p. 17
bad a long life ; and as be bad no children be married fifty
wives and took two hundred concubines. Then two girls,
one of whom was called giia' 3and the other Yamm, were bom
to him. Afterwards a boy was bom to him ten years before
be died, and be was extremely pleased. But tbe boy di«l
when be was five yearn old, and (Lamk) grieved sorely for
him. So be took him and bung him on a tree and said :! “ His p. 18
form will not depart froip my eyes untd be falls in pieces,
or I die." Then his fiesb began to fall from bis bones tai
‫؛‬only) tbe thigh remained, with tbe leg, foot, and 'toes. So be
took a piece of wood, split it, made it thin, and began to
arrange one piece on another.. Th‫؟‬n. he- made .a .[sound-)
chest to represent the thigh, a neck to represent the
leg, a peg-box ('ibzim) the same size as the foot, and
pegs (malam) like the toes; and' to it [the instrument)
‫ا‬
he attached string like the sinews. Then he began to P i 19
play on it and weep and lament, until he became blind; and he
was the first who sang a lament. What he made was called an
,ltd (lute) because it was made from a piece of wood (،t7d).
§ila'j One of his two daughtera, was the first who made
stringed instruments and drums.*
He said : And as for the pandores,‫ ؟‬the first who made them
1 The form QSbJn is unusual. Cain and Abel are usually called HSbil
and QSbil, Abel coming first. For other forms of the name QSbil see IT .,
il. 86‫ل‬.
' I t is vocalized thus. He is ،he Lamech of Genesis.
٠Gen. IT, 19, says Lamech married two wives called Adah and.Zillah
(‫ ؟‬illah).
‘ Ibn K h u r d a d H ‫ ئ‬quoted in Mas'SdiS M liruj al-dhfihab, viii, 88 f.,
as saying th a t ‫ آلال ؟‬bint Lamk invented stringed instruments, and Tubal
ibn Lamk invented drums. Cf. Fanner, S k i in O r .k tr s ., i, 55. A tradition
( T i r m i . Fitan as) mentions stringed instalm ents as signs of the end of the
world, so it is not surprising th a t ‫ ألال ؟‬is the name given to the inventor,
as $ i means " error
‫ ؛‬See E l., Suppl. ٢ 0‫ ا‬S.V. “ tu n b d r” and Glasgow Ifniv. Oriental
Society’s Transactions, vol. V, p. 28.
 10 THE K IT iB AL-M AII h ! OT ib n

were Lot's people, l e u a beardless youth appealed to t i l l ,

p. 20 they tried to will him fey playing !to him on t ie paudore.
As for the wood-triud instalments X and all tand instrn-
ments, the Children of Israel made them only on the model of
the throat of David ٤ ^eace be npon him !), except the flute
on which one whistles, for the Kurds were the first who made
it. l e n their flocks scattered from them they whistled to
them and they gathered together.
The first who made tambourines were the "Arabs, and the
first who had a singing-girl was a man of the pure-blooded
P.-25 Arabs..) He had two singing-girls called the Jaradaidn (two
locusts). They are tlie two about whom the proverb was
made whicli goes: "H e became a ta le , (told) by the
Jaradaian.” That (refers to the fact) that when Allah with-
held rain &om'(the people of) 'Ad,'when" they were "'settled'
between A l . h r and Hadramaut, they sen‫ ؛‬their envoys'to
Makka to pray for rain for them. They lodged with Mu'awiya
ibn Baki, beeanse he was related to them by marriage. Then
P.26 they occupied themselves with drinking !wine and listening
to theJ a ra k ta n to the neglect of praying for rain. So when
Mn'awiya saw that, he recited some poetry‫ ا‬and told his
singing-girls to sing it. When they heard it they remembered

‫ ا‬M irnar is ،he generic term for any instram ent ofthe wood-wind family.
1، T O also ,the specific name for the oboe or clarinet, as distinct from the
flute or recorder. See £ / . ٠‫؛؛؛‬, 539 ‫ ؛‬F arm er. ‫قﺀ‬٤‫مﺀ‬،'‫ ألﺀ‬i, 65, 77.
‫ ﺀ‬.According to th e k i a l dbsaja' of Mir Khwand (Trans. ii,.i, 57), no
less than seventy-two notes issned from the “ blessed, throat ” of David.
A voice with such a compass appealed to the imagination and became the
prototype of all wind instruments.
٠pp. 21.4 of the MS. m ust be placed tetw een 36 and 37. 23 is clearly th e
continnation of 20. Further, 24 ends w ith a reference In jw e t^ which is
not quoted on 23. while 37 begins w ith poetry without any reference to its
author. As the instrum ents mentioned in the verses are those one would
expect after 24, 37 m ust follow 24.
i The MS. has bonbon (p lu n d e r). This has been changed to ‫ﺀ‬٠‫ﺋﺂى‬٠«
following Freytag. A r a k in JProverbia, ii, 566 and Ibn Salama, Al-fahhir
(ed. Storey), p. 67. Both say the proverb means th a t Bomeone’B affaire are
poblidy epoken of.
‫ ؛‬See A lfakhir. p. 6fi.
 THE KI t Ab AL-MALAH! of IHN SALAMA ' 11

their people) and arose and prayed for rain. I have mentioned
their story in my book called Al-fakhir.
The Arabs are still devoted to amusement, dalliance, and
love and inclination for listening ‫؛‬to music]. They called the
singing-girl the Jcarina, [ and they called the lute the Tdran, P• 27
the m in k , the barbat, and the muwattar,! and their poems
have mentioned all these names. Among its names -which are-
not mentioned in the poetry, hut only in the Tradition, is the
‘artaba.%
Imru' al-Qais ‫؛‬d. bet. 530 and 5،0] said 3
٠' ٠ en I become troubled in the evening, many a delicate sin^ng
girl have I made to play on a Idran. .
She has a mizkar, of harsh sound when two hands play it, which
raises its voice above the army ( i mis),”
\Khamis here ‫ ئ‬an army,. 1 mis is also the name of an? .2 8
idol; and Ichamis ‫ ئ‬a Itind-of clothing ٥ asw ell. In the
Tradition [the sajting is found], " ‫ ؟‬ring me a ]charms or a
is .”
Labid ibn Babla [d. 660] said ‫ﺀ‬
‫ 'ﺀ‬I pay a dear price for bunting [win‫( ]؟‬al-siba’) in every black
old w in e -s i { ia n ) , or dark flagon (UtMia), which is poured
out (qwLihat), and whose seal is broken.
For a morning draught of pufe wine and tlie attraction of a
sin^ng-girl with a muwaUar which her .,thumb adjusts
(.ta’tdluhu).”
T a lu J iu means ‘‫ ؛‬manages it" , frOm i u ’1-shai’ “ I
adjusted i t ”. Al-siba’ ‫ ئ‬the purchase of'wine. One says
saba’lu , l-Tchamr [meaning] “ I bought it"., i a n |m e a n s P . 29
“ wipe-jar)'; the jauna ‫ ئ‬the large jar, and ‫[ »« ه'و‬means]
‫‘ د‬Iqd, 105 ,‫؛‬٣, gives three of these names, omitting muvxMar. This
latter is also identified with the lute in Lane, Lexicon, i, 126, hut it is
doubtful. The same may he said of th e identification of the mizhar and the
kiran. See E l., Suppl. vol., 74. .
‫ ؛‬The ,arfaba ‫ ئ‬another doubtful identification. In A l-S h alah rs ‫ اﺀ‬٤ ‫ﻫﺔ‬
‫؛ه‬-،'»٤‫( اة‬Madrid MS., No. 603) ‘arfaba, kinnara, barbat, and mizhar are given
as names for the Inte. See Farmer, Studies, ii, 31.
٥See his Eiwan (ed.-De Slane), pp. 30 f.
* Cf. Lane, Lexicon, p. 810'j J S A S . (1935), p. 328.
‫ ؛‬Cfi Al-Tibrizi (ed. Lyall, Bibl. Ind.), pp.. 82 f. '
 12 THE u t I b A L -M A il of h s a ia

both black and white. QudiJwi [means] its sealing-earth is

broken off from it. And his phrase ta’g u h u [means] “ sbe
controls and manages it ” j and iyak is good management of
property.
A 1 -A '. of the Ban. Qais [d. 629], who was a pro-Isldmic
Arab, said:—
‫ ﺀﺀ‬Sitting roand him are the boon-companions, while a mizhar
wiicli is played (tnajduf) does not cease to be brought to bim.”
Majduf means "played o n ”. And there is a reading
p . 30 biinukar,1 a wine-skin [instead, of bilizh ar] ‫! ؛‬and it tas its
ends cut.
He said also
And our barbat is continually urging on, so for which of those
amldespised٤٥٠‫ع‬:‫ ل‬٠! ® ‫ و ل‬-٠ ٠- ‫ د ﻏ ﺪ‬- -
" . i c h of those” means [different] kinds of musical
instruments, because he has mentioned them, ٥
Its strings are called mahabid, sing, mihbad ; and they are
the i i r a ‘, sing, shir'a. Among them ‫ ئ‬the zlr, and that which
comes next it is the m tjm a which some call the ،Mm ‫ ؛‬then
p. 31 [comes] the m th la tj which some call the٠ ٠ ;!the‫ ؟‬the
bamm. ..The .things which the Persians call, the dasatm (frets)
are caHed the ,atab ٠ [by the Arabs]. And all that has b‫؟‬en
mentioned in poetry. Tamim ibn Ubaiy ibn Muqbil [seventh
centu^] said
٠٠There sang (‫ل‬٠‫ ا ب‬to US at the wine-merchants' (tijar) a
slender-necked girl whose leg was tossing (tarkudu) her skirts
(، ijami1 ( d i n y

‫ ا‬Cf. his Diwan (Gibb. H em . Ser)., p. 212, where b k i l a r is the reading.

This gives better sense. Taking m jd u f in its ordinary meaning of “ cnt
i t makes tbe verse say that a wine-skin which is opened is continaally being
bronght to him.
‫ ا‬Bead v im for vaxa.
‫ ا‬In the Diwan, p. 122, this verse follows th a t quoted on p. 24 of the MS.
As it has “ th re e ” instead o f “ those", the rose, the Jasmine, and' the
singing-girls sre meant, not musical instruments. Gf. A g h a n i f i 7 3 .'
.٠Cf. JItA S. (1937), p. 455 where the ‘‫ه‬٤ ‫( 'هﺀه‬pi. *٠٤٠٥, is said to be the
“ nut ” (anf) of the lute.
 THE KITAB ‫ ﻟ ﻤ ﻎ‬- ‫ﺳ ﺌ ﻞ‬ OF IBN 3ALAMA 13

pressed] ‫؛‬٥ a single garment (‫ )؛»ﺗﺠﺄر‬: the maliabid on a light

‫؛‬instrument] ‫ ) ﺳ ﻬ ﺈ ه) إ‬which was neither harsh ($«‫ )ةؤ‬nor
coarse ( m i l ) contending with her trilling.” 8
Sadahat is " she sang ”, and sadh is the raising of the voice.
There ‫ ئ‬a reading '' neither shori^winded (5‫ )' ﻳ ﺄ‬nor coarse".
Tarhidu is '' pushes | ‫ ﺀﺿﺔ'وﻫﺒﻮ‬a la ljc h a l ‫ 'ﺀ ئ‬the placep. 32
where the anldets are collected”, meaning her skirt. The
tijar are the wine-sellers here. The word‫ ة » ﻳ الر‬.means "in a
shabby garment'*. A hadh i is. *.light", meaning a lnte.
Sahl and mishal ‫؛‬mean] that which has nOt a clear sound;
and sahl is hoaraeness ‫ ئ‬the voice.
Ibn Harma fd. c. 757] said
" Perhaps a singing-girl &om whom a second moming-draught is
^ven to her chief, cares for the strings (i ir a *).”
!Al-A'sha said 3 P. 33
*' And he placed the.hand again over [an instrument] ^ th &ets
(‫) ﺳﺄ ﺀ‬, singihg to the accompaniment of [an‫؛‬instalment]
with a hoarse-sounding zir [string].”
Al-§aq'ab ibn Haiyan al-Ta^ibl said:—
*' And he presented his gentle-voiced singing-girl With a lute
which was superior to his [other] lutes.
Lighter when carried and taken ‫ ئ‬the arms than a feather which
is plared in the scales.
You find it dumb when he is eloquent, the honour of the meeting
being ,in its humiliation.
Katih put i t right when it was out Of t i e ""(‘ala ‫ﻟﻤﺄﺀ« ة د‬،),"
Rauh is the name of the singer.‫[ ة ﻓ ﺞ ' ﺣ ﺎ‬means] there isp. 3،
something in the mind which is not being uttered as was
intended.
٠٠TO adjust it after its delation (;zayjh) and its ‫ ئ‬capacity
li'tinamKv
Then he passed the hand to and fto over its heart,”*
‫ د‬Light lutes were favoured. Ziryab (eariy ninth cent.), the famous
minstrel of Muslim Spain, said his lute was superior because it was one-
th irf lighter than the ordinary instrument. See Al-Maqqart AnaZectes, ii, 83.
‫ ﺀ‬These yerse3 occur in the Kitab a l-m 'a n i ' H r of Ihn Qutaiba (MS.
Aya ?sfia), p. 427. I owe this reference to Dr. F. Kronkow.
٥DXwan (Gibb Mem. Ser.), p. 163.
٠A t this point, owing to the comments, the arrangement of the lines is
broken. This haltline would go better with the following. There is an odd
half line in the poem, but that ‫ئ‬allowable, as it is the m sM ur variety of the
rafor metre.
 u THE KITAB AIt MAl I h! of I SAUA

Zaigh [means] deriating, and i'tman that it ‫ ئ‬not at all

in good order.
" As the fire-‫ ؟‬orsliippei goes .to and fro in iis garden. And he
honoured his liftfe finger
With ‫؛‬fie raperiority of a robber over bis neighbours. And the
zlr [string] relied on bis twanging;
And the thanI [string] was attentive to its rivals ; and ,the
. ٠ ،‫ ؤﺀا؛ ة ؤ‬String] was headstrong 'in its racecoarse;
P• 35 And the bamm [string] mumbled (‫؛‬barbara) at its fellows, as an
o'ld man mumbles at bis boys.”
Barbara is a sound containing roughness and speed.
There trouble passed from bis friends, so that you could see
the tipsy one in bis shirts
Marching, haring thrown away his Persian shawl, as the !ring
marches after his queen.” 1
Abu ’1 - l d l said :‫ت‬ "" - - - - - -
" When she adjusts the two zlrs,2 and the mathkth which is near
the place Of the bamm, and the bamm is beirg struck.
You see her right hand feeding on the bamm, and you think
her left hand'is counting over the ftets (‫يﺀ‬-'٠‫)ةﺀ‬.
p. 36 And the rbed-pipe of another [girl], when it is bloim, rises in
answer to the pulsating of the lute, and the lute clamours."
He meant ‫ ةه‬-‫ سﺀﺀ‬, but he omitted a vowel.
Ajnong the muSioal instruments are tile tuniur, which is the
dirrij,3 and .the
٤The king and queen are th e chess pieces.
2 In early Islamic times th e late had four strings, called from high to
low the zir, i ‫؛؛‬n٠, maMath, and bamm. The firet a n d last are Peraian
words. F or their adoption'hy the Arabs see Farmer, A n Old Moorish Lute
Tutor, p. 26, and S I ., iii, 750. As the maAna. ‫ئ‬not mentioned in the verses,
it may sometimes have been called the lower d r and the zlr proper the upper
d r, henee the phrase ‫ أ‬two z ir،". Y et in the ninth c e n tu ^ , as we know
from Al-Klndi, a fifth string was added to the higher strings and called the
d r thani. The “ two drs m ay therefore refer to these two strings.
‫ ا‬The dirrij was not a tu n k r , although the lexicographers Ibn Slda and
Al-FMzfibadl repeat the statem ent. The mistake arises thns. The leiico.
graphers say th a t th e dirrij is “ a thing like th e lunbur ’’٠meaning th a t it is
like the ‫؛‬u n iu rin being a musical instrument. The dirrij was artually a t o l l
with a single face, something like the d arakU a. Ibn Mukarram says th a t
its vocalization is durraij, which is the pronunciation ‫ ئ‬Morocco to-day.
٠The ١٥٠! appeara to have been the harp w ith a lower .sound-chest.
- says i t was played with the fingeri, and- likens it to the ‫ﺀ‬٠«‫'و‬.
This latter was, however, the harp with an upper sound-chest.
 THE KITAb A L - jm iH I OF IBM SALAMA 15 '

Dhu 'l-Rumma [d. 735) said

(' la the morning sJie ias the strung, jo tte d (arqash) finstru-
ment) •witb black back (J٥r5), whicb is singing as tbougb its
strings were uproarious;
One 'of tbe l a i r , it raises (yuzhvj I its voice in intoxication, its
melody containing wbat is foreign ‫ ﺀ‬to tbe dialects of tbe
Arabs.”
Al-qara ‫؛‬means) ‫ ' ا‬tbe back", yuzhi "raises", and al-
arqash "tbe perfume-box ".3‫ ا‬He means tbe locust wbicb?. 21
gives voice in tbe beat and is very bigb-pitebed.
Mother said
'٠And our dirrij is diligentlyurgiug on, tbe tambourine and tbe
mizhar answering it."
‫ ؟ ز ﺑ ال‬said ٠ .٠ j
" And a muitaq sinif a^d a wann and a Persian lute 5 wbicb a ‫ل‬
barp isw ers wbmi it. resopds,”. .. .. - -.. - . /
Al-Kd'1 ‫؛‬early eigbtb century) said.:—
" And a barsb-sounding tunbur, and tbe Odour, of a bundle
(‫ )^ﻫﺪأي‬of m^tle whicb penetrates to tbe lachr۶ atory
ducts (‫ ) „ ة ' »ﻗﺔ‬."
\Al-dightk ‫؛‬means] "’pieces” of myrtle, and tbe i u sun are P.22
tbe bases of tbe seams of tbe skull, •sing, i a ’n .1 But it ‫ ئ‬said
tbat tbey are tbe lachrymatory ducts. So be meant tbat the
fragrance of tbe myrtle reaches there because of its pungency
and'sweetness.
1 Diwan (Macartney), p. 578. gives .‫ل‬,٠‫ةﻋﺔ‬
‫ ؛‬In the “ Golden Age ٠ ’ of tbe ‘AbbSsid dynasty foreign singing-girls
ftom Pereia and l u r a s a n , who were performere on tbe tunbur, vrere
favoured a t Baghdad. We know tb a t the scale of their ' was
different from th a t of tbe Arabs. See Farmer. ‫لﺀﺀ‬،.. pp. 147 f.
٠Lane, isifoon. p. 1135, says a r g a l is applied to a species of locust. Tbe
explanation “ perfome box ” may bs due to the author thinking of the part
of th e instrument which looks like a box.
٠U r t (Gibb Mem. Ser.), p. 201, has m sta q sinin. In a footnote the
reading sini is given, but the editor wrongly suggests changing it to ‫ﺀ‬٠‫آه‬
(boy). The instrument was ٥ Chinese shiny, a real mouth-organ. I t wa3
known in Peraia during the SSsSnid period. See Farm er’s chapter ontausioin
the S u m y of Persian Art. According to the MafatXA d - ' i m (tenth cent.)
the Arabic name wasmttsfag, while th e Persians called it ‫’ﻫﻘﻴﺔ‬-، rrmfda.
‫ ﺀ‬In th e MS. m -m iz k r appears in smaller w riting above this word, either
as ٥ V. !.٠or as an explanation.
 16 T i EITAB i l r l L A H l o p EBN S A L A I

Among the musical instruments are 1 the mizmdr, t ie

m izm r,i t ie za m n ia ‫ او‬tie nayZ tie ‘iron,{ tie gussab, and
tte m i i t q , called also mushtaq S li, which is an araticized
p. 23 Persian word. It ‫ ئ‬called m ugah Islm, i.e. it is taken in t ie
iands. T ie yard‘ is t i e reed-pipe made of cane, to [which
class] the zaribagt 5 and h r k q a ٥belong.
Aha ’!-Baida’ said
٠٠Give me a drink, 0 Zubair, inthe hollow. We have been moved,
and tie z a m i a has vibrated."
Aba 'l-Taiyahan [fl. 8 1 3 3 ‫ ] ؤ‬said?
- " Is there any way to shocking intoxication in the lower part of
Al-Knfa, 0 QabJ?a ?
The vessel is in Abu 'l-Taiyahan's hand, and above 'the head
p. 21 And [there, is] an ‘iran as though it were the pawn in chess,
about .which -talk. is. varied (................. , . ".(‫ل‬,٠‫ﺀ ﺳ ﺒ ﺮ‬
‫ئ‬٠‫ﻟﺊﺀت‬ [means] he u n d e r t a k e s i . e . ٠' kinds‫ أ‬of it.
Al-A'sha said•،;--
‫؛‬- ‫ ؛‬Probably ،Ms passage eb٥iiio ،i:-:'،tl.. “ the mizmar, th e mizmar aJ~'iraqi
(,Iraqis,, reed-pipe) ٠٠٠ Several writer‫ ؛‬spear: ،.•.*' the 'IrAqian reed-pipe
as distinct from the o rd in a l one. The difference is not recorded, Irat cf.
E l., iii, o il, and Farmer, Historical Facts, p. 142.
٥For a design of the modem zammara see F arm e r, ‫ﺀ‬،٠ ‫ اﺀﺀأم‬i, 84. ‫؛؛‬el'
also S I., iii, 641. - . -
‫ أل ا ل؛ﺀ ا‬th e Pereian generic term for a wood-wind .i nstrum ent .and
niizmar the .Arabic. N ay also meant specifically a reed-blown instrum ent,
the Ante being called the «‫زه‬-‫ ﺀ‬M l (p i t & ‫)ﺀﺀال‬. When the Arabs a d o p t s
~ for some instruments, •nay waa used indifferently for the oboe
and flute. The passage abOve Seems to refer to an oboe, gussab standing
for a flute Nowadays the ndy is a flute in most M amio lands. See Farmer,
‫ ة‬،‫ﺀﺋﻰأ‬, i, 65 ٤
، 'Iran m ay be a copyist’s error for kiran. U r i i z a h a d i (d. 1414) Says
the 'b in was a horn, so an instrnm ent of this name may have hean known
in hiB day. I f 80, it m ay have heen honowed from the Crusaders who used
a comet Fairain. The Arabs probably adopted merely'the last word, which
was not an infrequent custem w ith them.
‫ ا‬MS. rdbxq. The early Arabio lexicographers say t h e ‫سﺀ‬٠‫ ل‬was the
zammara. The name comes from the material (‫ ) ﺳﻠ ﺲ ﺀ‬of which it T O .
made.
‫ ا‬This is another rare word. ..La Borde, Essai sur la musique (1780),
i, 198, gives it as h u - and deScrihes it as a kind of Ante.
١cf. Aghani, xviii, 11.٥
٠cf. D M n (Gibb Mem. Ser.), p. 121 ‫ ؛‬A sia n f, Ti, 73.
 t h e KITAB A1-MA1AHI o f IBN SABAMA 17

" And our ^toess is the jull aad tie jasmine and the singing-
girls with their qussab.”
The ‫ ئ ﺻﺄو‬the rose. It is an arabicized Persian word which
Al-A.sha got from the Persians because he-went to [the] Kisra.
waliba ibn al-Hubab said 1
" And a war.., and the sound of a tambourine, and a nay, andaP. 37
mizhar,
And a singer ٥ om whose mouth the pearls are scattered for the
drinhers."
Another said, describing a-nay
" And. if the wind stirs it, it lets fall its Toice, and it vibrates
like the pierced yard'.‫' '؛‬
Al-Mulawwit al-Qurai'i [early eighth century} said
“ And the regions of Syria resounded, so that 'its yoices seemed
to come from a zanbaq in the p.e.ple's dwelling."
Al-Ahwas [d. ٥. 728]- said -
"Her throat answers the pipgs of .'yearning hs a resounding is P.38
abated in hollow (zamjar) m r tk m flutes."'
Zamjar ‫ “ ئ‬hollow .... He means the reed which is pi١)ed.
‫ ئ‬he said:—
" He is not moaning plaintively,‫ ؛‬but producing in his b r e a s t
a continuous sound from the inwards, like a vara, ^ th '
hollow reeds (hanabiq).”
He did not .sing on .account of the rumbling, -but sang only
on account of distress.
Among the musical instruments is the p h i) which is the
habar 3 and the JcubaP Connected with it is the tradition of
(Abdallah ibn ‘Umar [d. 693], who said,!“ Allah’s a(>0stleP.39
(Allah bless him, etc.) forbade wine, aliarnV ,. the kuba,
1 This ends the trans۴ aed passage. See p. 240, n. 3.
‫ ا‬Reading bttghim for naghim, following Lisan d-'am b, li i. 249. There
the Terse is attributed ، 0 K u la iy ir ‫ ﻟ ﻂ؛‬. ' c ٤ Kuthaiyir’s Diwan, 80 ‫؛؛‬٠
.
On th e same authority vara, is read instead of ra| ’٠
‫ ا‬The Icabar seems tO have b ^ n a dram of the darabukka class with a
single face, hut ^ t h a cylindrical or semi-conical body. Nowadays it is
known in the Maghrib as the aqwal. See :Farmer, ‫ه‬،١ ‫لﺀأةﺀ‬٠ii, 29: MI.,
Suppl. Tol., B.T., “ ta b l”.
‘ See p. 237, m 4.
‫ ع ﺀ‬game ‫ ئ‬which the pre-IslSmic Arabs gambled by means of arrows
for portions of a camel.
 18 THE KITAB AJi-MAT.AHT OF I 1 ‫؛‬

the gkubaird’, and every intoxicant.” Backgammon ‫ ئ‬called

hlba ‫ ئ‬the lanpiage of the people of Al-Yaman. Ghubaira’
‫ ئ‬a liquor made from'milletj-aud it Is the su k rk h ‫ ئ‬the
lan^iage of the Abyssinians.
The poet said
" l e a the reed-pipes and the mizhar Ir a te, the saares iaorease
its (the mizkr's) Bouad.
p. 40 And the ٠warbling ’ Hager (‫ )ﻧ ﺴ ﻖ‬sang when the tambourines
and the akbar answered them."
. The ‫ أ ﻗ ﻬ ﺪ‬is the singer, and ٠ ‫ الأيﺀ‬is singing ‫ ؛‬but elsewhere
shfldw means to begin to undertake something.
" The cups rained upon US the 'mixture of happiness,- and cares
and worries were far from US."
And it is said that it fthe d l l is the daff) ‫ ه‬٠ M ٠.and the
Tcinndra 1; but kinndmh said to be one of the names of the lute.
- 'Amr ibn al-!t٥aba said ‫؛‬
" Give m e a second drink, a n d give m y two com panions a second
d rin k , a n d give m e 3'a plentiful supply o f w ine to drink.
p. 41 If I have three morning drinks, I do not care whether you call
me rightly-guided, or erring.
Among-us are the singing-girls, who play to our youths on the
tambourine, and a comfortable life."
As for the mi’zafa, it was n'ot often found among the Arabs.'......
.n ly the people of Al-Yaman, such as the ldngs of gan'a',
Al-Janad, Najran, Tabhla, and Jurash, were playing on it;
on which acoonnt.it has only one name.
The first who is said .to have invented the lute and to have
P.42 sung a lament with it, was Larnk.! And the first who sang
among the Arabs were the ifarUdalStt. Then Ja^fma ibn
Sa'd a l in z a ' i sang, and he had the finest voice of all men.
He was called A llu sta liq i on acco'unt of the beauty of his
‫ ؛‬Sevxral authorities say hinnara was a name for the lute, othera like,
it to the paadore, dram, aod tambourine. I t was more probably a eithara
or lyre, like the Hebrew kinnar. Sei. Farmer, Studies, ii, 31.
‫ا‬ Cf. Aghanx, X, 30 j xvi, 14.
٥ m (us) is written above »‫( آ‬me) as an alternative.
٠ ‫ "وﺀﻟﻞ‬al'anls, S.V. ٠٠,lq ”٠says J . l 'm a received this name beeanse of
the beauty of bis voice, and th a t he was the first of the tribe of Khuza‘a
to sing..
 the IOTAB AlritALAH! OF I SALAMA 19

voice; The first of the people of Al-Yamnn who sang was a

Simyarite called ‘Ana, wbo, OH account of the beauty of his
voice, was called Dhu Jadan.i The first who sang a camel-song
was i d a r ibn l a r . That came about because he fell ftom
one of his camels and his hand was crushed. ‫ ا‬His camels P.43
scattered from him, and he began to say, " Ya y i h , ya y i h
(0 hand, 0 hand !); and his voice was so beautiful that his
-camels gathered again. Then the Arabs sang camel-songs
on that model.
Singing among the Arabs had three forms, the nasb, the
sin g , and the hazaQ. As for the nasb,2 it was the song of
riders, and it is that which is called "traditional'', which
youths, sing. As for the sin g , it is Ithe heavy [rhythm], P.44
halting a refrain, the low-pitched voice, and the glottal
hiatus. As for the iiazaj',- it is the light [rb^bm] ‫ ﺀ‬with which'
pasturing is done at night and amusement is sought, and
which the throat finds easy. 4 The singing of the people of
Al-Yaman was called Alrkanafi.٥ '
The Book of Musical Instrument is ended. And praise be
to Allah alone ‫ إ‬And Allah bless Muhammad, His prophet,
and his family, the pure ones, and keep [them] safe ‫؛‬
I Al-Jauhari, T a j d U u g k s.v. “ jdn " , says ! Jad aa was a king of
Hhnyar. MS. 'Abs.
٥The nasb was a more cultured form of the camel-drivers’ song.
‫ إ‬In a parallel passage ‫*ﺀ‬1‫ﻗﺞ‬٠iv, 104) qaindt (singing-girls) appears iu
place oifilydn (youths). But Al-Ibshihl (Mustatraf, ii, 128), who also includes
it, has fityan. The change from fityan to 5٥i'n٥، is more likely than the r e -
change, so fityan is to be preferred.
'Iqd, loc. cit., and Mustatraf, loo. cit. read “ and it is th a t which excites
'the hearts and reuses the long-suffering.” Both works say th a t the passage
about the t ^ e s of singing is a quotation from Aba ’l-Mundfiir Hirijam ibn
،]-K albi (d. 819).
‫ ﺀ‬MS. bibiqqai. The change of text, which is merely a m atter of dots, is
made on the'authority of MaS’Sdi, M uruj aUdbahab, viii, S3, where it is said
th a t the singing of the people of Al-Yaman was of two kinds, k n a f i and
himyari, the former being the better. See Farmer, 1 „ pp. 3,15, where it
is suggested that the banafCvrns the more recently adopted.
Facsimile
Plate xxi‫؛‬
Plate xviil.
Plate xlv.
ffx' Hina
P la te ‫إ‬:
 ‫‪ #‬؛ ‪' .‬ﺑﻴﺄﺀ‪¥:‬؛ي •‬ ‫؛‬ ‫'‪.-‬ج‪■ : '■:‬‬

‫‪'.!;;٠‬‬ ‫;‪..٠١‬؛‪-,‬ذ';‪%‬‬
‫‪٠‬ﻳ ﺠﺎ‬

‫‪ ٠‬أل ة ﺀ‬

‫‪Facsimile‬‬
‫ﺀ‪ .‬ا ‪ . ; ٠:.;.‬ت ‪..٠- . . . . . . , . . .‬‬