Ḥāwī l-Funūn wa-Salwat al-Maḥzūn, Encompasser of the Arts and Consoler of the Grief-Stricken by Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥān

George Dimitri Sawa, Ph.D. (1983, University of Toronto) is an independent researcher concentrating on medieval Arabic music theory and literature. He was trained in Egypt in qanun and classical Arabic music, and in Toronto in Arabic historical musicology. He taught medieval, modern and sacred music at the University of Toronto and York University. He has published over 50 articles in encyclopaedias and academic journals, and is the author of six books: Music Performance Practice in the Early ʿAbbāsid Era and Rhythmic Theories and Practices in Arabic Writings to 950 CE (Institute of Medieval Music, 2009, 2020); Egyptian Music Appreciation and Practice for Bellydancers (Toronto, 2010); Erotica, Love and Humor in Arabia (McFarland, 2016); An Arabic Musical and Socio-Cultural Glossary of Kitāb al-Aghānī and Musical and Socio-Cultural Anecdotes from Kitāb al-Aghānī l-Kabīr (Brill, 2015, 2019).

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsPart 1: The Theoretical ArtsIntroductionChapter 1: The Preference of Speech over MutenessChapter 2: The Gems of Philosophers’ AphorismsChapter 3: On the Sophistication of MelodiesChapter 4: The Meanings of MelodiesChapter 5: Composing Melodies That Suit the PoemsChapter 6: The Definition of Singing and Its ComponentsChapter 7: The Definition of the Voice and Its ProductionChapter 8: Poetic and Musical DivisionsChapter 9: The Origin of Arabic SingingChapter 10: Favoring Older Poetry over the ModernChapter 11: Favoring Older Singing over the ModernChapter 12: The Character, Effects, and Types of MelodiesChapter 13: The Names of the First Male Singers in the JāhiliyyaChapter 14: The Names of the First Songstresses in the JāhiliyyaChapter 15: The Names of the First Male Singers in Early IslamChapter 16: The Names of the First Songstresses in Early Islam in addition to the Ones I Have Already MentionedChapter 17: The Names of the Effeminates in Early IslamChapter 18: The First to Notate SongsChapter 19: The Grand, Medium, and Smaller CompositionsChapter 20: Ṭarab and Its CausesChapter 21: The Tonalities in Singing, Their Arrangements and TypesChapter 22: Vowels and ConsonantsChapter 23: Testing the Essences of the VoicesChapter 24: Tricks Used to Bring Throats in Tune with the StringsChapter 25: The Names of Voices (ḥalq), Their Good and Bad QualitiesChapter 26: Beautiful (mulaḥ) Vocal Music, Techniques, and QualitiesChapter 27: Tricks Used in Stealing Songs and Precautions to Prevent ThisChapter 28: Food and Drinks That Are Beneficial to the Throats and Those That Are NotChapter 29: Locations That Are Beneficial for Voices and Improve Them, and Those That Diminish and Spoil ThemChapter 30: The Ranks of Boon Companions and SingersChapter 31: Instruments That Overwhelm the Voices and Other FactorsChapter 32: The Care of Throats in General, and before and after PubertyChapter 33: On Knowing the Reasons Musicians Get Off RhythmChapter 34: Approaches to Teaching and How to Apply ThemChapter 35: The Reasons for Poor Intonation and Its CharacteristicsChapter 36: Planning and Determining Where and How Much to BreatheChapter 37: Murāsala, mubāyana, and mumāthalaChapter 38: Syncopation and Guidance to ItChapter 39: Twittering and Its DerivationChapter 40: The Definition of tarkhīmChapter 41: Tarjīʿ and Its CharacteristicsChapter 42: Nashīds and Their TypesChapter 43: What Stimulates the Singer To Be Active and What Makes Him SluggishChapter 44: Opening Songs in the Company of KingsChapter 45: How to Arrange and Order the Songs in the majālisChapter 46: Good Qualities [to Have] While SingingChapter 47: Good and Bad Song ThemesChapter 48: Who Are Better: The Singers of Persia, India, or ByzantiumChapter 49: Mention of the Male Singers in the Umayyad EraChapter 50: Mention of the Songstresses in the Umayyad EraChapter 51: Mention of the Male Singers in the ʿAbbāsid EraChapter 52: Mention of the Songstresses in the ʿAbbāsid EraChapter 53: Mention of the Slave Singers and Songstresses in the ʿAbbāsid EraChapter 54: Mention of the Male Singers and Songstresses in the Ikhshīdid Era in EgyptChapter 55: Mention of the Male Singers in the ʿAlawid Era in EgyptChapter 56: Mention of the Songstresses in the ʿAlawid Era in EgyptChapter 57: Mention of the Male Slave Singers in the ʿAlawid Era in EgyptChapter 58: Mention of the Male Syrian SingersChapter 59: Mention of the Syrian SongstressesChapter 60: Mention of the Umayyad Caliphs Who SangChapter 61: Mention of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphs Who SangChapter 62: Mention of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphs’ Sons Who SangChapter 63: Mention of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphs’ Daughters Who SangChapter 64: Mention of the Viziers, Princes, and Their Sons Who SangChapter 65: Mention of the Male and Female ṭunbūr PlayersChapter 66: On the Proper Behavior to Praise Men and Women When They Reach a State of ṭArabChapter 67: Mention of the One Hundred Chosen SongsChapter 68: The Permissibility of SingingChapter 69: The Qualities of a Skilled SingerChapter 70: Tools to Use to Test the Person Who Pretends to Know the Science of MusicChapter 71: Bad Intonation among Men and WomenChapter 72: Higher and Lower OctavesChapter 73: How to Choose Would-Be Singers [Girls and Boys] in Order to Teach Them SingingChapter 74: Behavior before Kings and Their SubjectsChapter 75: Sayings and Poems of Praise about Male Singers and Songstresses in the PastChapter 76: Satirical Poems about Male Singers and Songstresses in Earlier TimesChapter 77: Poems of Praise about Male Singers in Our EraChapter 78: Satirical Poems about Male Singers [and Songstresses] in Our EraChapter 79: The Compositional Output of Male Singers in Earlier TimesChapter 80: Stories about Male Singers in Earlier Times and Their PedigreePart 2: The Practical ArtsChapter 1: The Meaning of the Word MusicChapter 2: The Inventor of the Lute and Differing Views about ItChapter 3: The Dimensions of the Lute, Its Material, Construction, and Names of Its Various PartsChapter 4: The Frets, Their Names, Placements, Tying Them on the Finger Board, and Their FunctionsChapter 5: The Strings, Their Characters, Names, Choosing Them, and Stringing Them on the LuteChapter 6: The Names of Rhythmic Modes (ṭarīqa), Their Types (jins), Their Cycles, and Number of AttacksChapter 7: The State of the Notes, Their Qualities, Quantities, Numbers, and Placements on the Strings of the LuteChapter 8: The Genuses of Notes Used at the Beginning of a Piece, and Types of Movements through the FretsChapter 9: The Rhythmic Modes in Use, [and the Player’s] Motions and Required MattersChapter 10: The Best Person to Have Played the Persian Lute, and the Number of Persian ModesChapter 11: The Best Person to Have Played the Arabic Lute and to Have Sung Arabic Songs Accompanying HimselfChapter 12: The Description of the Lute, Its Praise, Preferring It to All Other Instruments That Accompany Singing, What It Resembles, and Poems Composed about ItChapter 13: The Reason for Setting the zīr String at the Bottom, and the bamm at the TopChapter 14: Tuning and Detuning the StringsChapter 15: The Beautiful Techniques (mulaḥ) That Affect the Rhythms and Rhythmic Modes, Their Numbers and TypesChapter 16: On Dance, Its Types and Names [Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥān’s Passage Quoted by al-Tīfāshī]Chapter 17: [On the] Disagreement between [Isḥāq b.] Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī and Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī about the Rhythmic ModesChapter 18: The Definitions of al-surayjī, al-mākhūrī, al-mujannab, and al-mukhālifChapter 19: The Definitions of al-khusruwānī, al-ṭarkhānī, al-ḥumayrī, and khafīf hazajChapter 20: On Choosing the Proper Instrument to Fit Various ThroatsChapter 21: Mention of the ṭunbūr, miʿzafa, rabāb, mizmār, ṭabl, urghun, qīthāra, sulyāq, duff, ṣalīkh, and kankalaChapter 22: On Which Particular Genuses of Modes Should be Used in Which Types of Melodies; Modes Used Plainly (sādhij) without Mixing (tamzīj) and without Moving [from One to Another] are Unpleasant and Do Not Cause ṭarabAppendix: Ibn Khurdādhbih’s Passage Quoted by al-Tīfāshī. The Number of Types of Dances, Nations, and Regions That Created ThemArabic-English GlossaryChartBibliographyIndex of People and PlacesIndex of Terms and Subjects