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''Kitab al-Aghani'' ( ar, كتاب الأغاني, kitāb al-‘aghānī, The Book of Songs), is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani
Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī ( ar, أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (284–356 AH / 897 ...
(also known as al-Isbahani). Abu al-Faraj claimed to have taken 50 years in writing the work, which ran to over 10 000 pages and contains more than 16,000 verses of
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry ( ar, الشعر العربي ''ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabīyyu'') is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that.
Arabic poetry ...
. It can be seen as having three distinct sections: the first dealing with the '100 Best Songs' chosen for the caliph
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
, the second with royal composers and the third with songs chosen by the author himself. It spans the period from
pre-Islamic times to the end of the 9th century CE. Abu al-Faraj importantly included performance directions for many of the songs included in Kitab al-Aghani. Due to the accompanying biographical annotations on the personages', the work is an important historical and historical source; it is also useful for those interested in the sociology of
Arabic literature
Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...
.
Reception
The prominent 14th-century historian
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab
The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...
called ''The Book of Songs'' the register of the Arabs: "It comprises all that they had achieved in past of excellence in every kind of poetry, history, music, etc. So far as I am aware, no other book can be put on a level with it in this respect. It is the final resource of the student of belles lettres and leaves him nothing further to be desired".
Editions
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See also
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Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani
Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī ( ar, أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (284–356 AH / 897 ...
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Hamasah
The Hamasah (; ) is a genre of Arabic poetry that "recounts chivalrous exploits in the context of military glories and victories".
The first work in this genre is Kitab al-Hamasah of Abu Tammam.
Hamasah works
List of popular Hamasah works:
* ''Ha ...
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Imru' al-Qais
Imruʾ al-Qais Junduh bin Hujr al-Kindi ( ar, ٱمْرُؤ ٱلْقَيْس جُنْدُح ٱبْن حُجْر ٱلْكِنْدِيّ, ALA-LC: ''ʾImruʾ al-Qays Junduḥ ibn Ḥujr al-Kindīy'') was an Arab king and poet in the 6th century, an ...
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Maqamat (literature)
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Mu'allaqat
The Muʻallaqāt ( ar, المعلقات, ) is a group of seven long Arabic poems. The name means The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, the traditional explanation being that these poems were hung in the Kaaba in Mecca, while scholars have also ...
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Mufaddaliyat
The ''Mufaddaliyyat'' (Arabic: المفضليات / ALA-LC: ''al-Mufaḍḍaliyāt''), meaning "The Examination of al-Mufaḍḍal", is an anthology of ancient Arabic poems which derives its name from its author Mufaḍḍal al-Ḍabbī,
References
Music of the medieval Islamic world
10th-century Arabic books
10th-century encyclopedias
Arabic non-fiction books
Arabic-language encyclopedias
Arabic anthologies
Biographical dictionaries
Encyclopedias of music
Love in Arabic literature
Medieval Arabic literature
Medieval Arabic poems
Medieval music manuscript sources
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