Yunus al-Katib al-Mughanni () was a well-known musician and writer on music in the first half of the 2nd/8th century. He was the son of a jurist (''
faqih'') of
Persian origin and a ''
mawla'' (non-Arab, Muslim freedman or client) of the family of
al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...
. Beside music, he was also a famous poet.
Biography
He was born and grown up in
Medina. Since he was a scribe in local
divan, he became known as "al-katib". But soon he became interested in music and took lessons from Ma'bad, Ibn Suraydi, Ibn Muhriz, al-Gharid and Muhammad ibn Abbad al-katib. During a trip to Syria at the time of Caliph
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, هشام بن عبد الملك, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; 691 – 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743.
Early life
Hisham was born in Damascus, the administra ...
(), his fame on music brought him the patronage of Caliph
al-Walid II
Al-Walīd ibn Yazīd (709 – 17 April 744) ( ar, الوليد بن يزيد) usually known simply as Al-Walid II was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 743 until his assassination in the year 744. He succeeded his uncle, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.
...
. This event is mentioned in the book of
One Thousand and One Nights
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
in 684th and 685th nights.
He was still alive in the early years of
Abbasid Caliphate (post 750) and his best pupil was Siyat who in turn was a teacher of
Ibrahim al-Mawsili
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī (; 742–804) was an Arab musician of Persian origin who was among the greatest composers of the early Abbasid period. After Arab and Persian musical training in Ray, Iran, Ray, he was called to the Abbasid ...
.
Works
* Kitab al-Nagham (partly survived)
* Kitab al-Kian
* Kitab al-Mudjarrad Yunus
* Kitab fi 'l-Aghani (also called Diwan Yunus, according to
Ibn Khordadbeh, this book contained 825 song texts by 35 singers)
References
{{authority control
8th-century Iranian people
People from Medina
Poets from the Umayyad Caliphate
Persian-language poets