''Kitāb al-Aghānī'' (), is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer Abū al-Farāj al-Isfahānī (also known as al-Isbahānī).

Content

Abū al-Farāj 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 ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...

. It can be seen as having three distinct sections: the first deals with the '100 Best Songs' chosen for the caliph Harūn al-Rashīd, 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 Kitāb al-Aghānī. Due to the accompanying biographical annotations on the personages, the work is an important historical and historiographical source; it is also useful for those interested in the sociology of

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / 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 (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

Reception

The 14th-century historian

Ibn Khaldūn Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

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".

Manuscripts

The earliest known manuscript dates to 1131, and is located in the Feyzullah Library, Istanbul. It is without miniatures.

Illustrated manuscript (1217–1219)

The second known manuscript is dated to the 13th century, with some of the volumes inscribed to the year 1217. The manuscript comprises 20 volumes, four of them now being in the Egyptian National Library in Cairo (II, IV, XI, XIII), and two more in the Feyzullah Library, Istanbul (XVII, XIX). It had several miniatures, only six of which have remained. This edition was made in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

in around 1218–19 for the

Zengid dynasty The Zengid or Zangid dynasty, also referred to as the Atabegate of Mosul, Aleppo and Damascus (Arabic: أتابكة الموصل وحلب ودمشق), or the Zengid State (Old Anatolian Turkish: , Modern Turkish: ; ) was initially an '' Atabegat ...

Governor Badr al-Dīn Lū'lū', who appears prominently in several of the miniatures. Six of the twenty volumes have frontispieces, with no other illustrations. File:Kitab al-Aghani, 1219, Volume II miniature.jpg, Female attendants, dancing and bathing at the court. ''Kitāb al-aghānī'', Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol II. Cairo, Egyptian National Library, Ms Farsi 579 File:Kitāb al-aghānī (“The Book of Songs”) by Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī.jpg, ''Kitāb al-aghānī'', Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol IV. Cairo, Egyptian National Library, Ms Farsi 579 File:Frontispiece Vol XI. Cairo, Egyptian National Library, Ms Farsi 579.jpg, ''Kitāb al-aghānī'', Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol XI. Cairo, Egyptian National Library, Ms Farsi 579 File:Kitab_al-Aghani_01_(cropped).jpg, ''Kitāb al-aghānī'', Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol XVII. Istanbul, Millet Library, Ms Feyzullah Efendi 1566. File:Badr al-Din Lulu frontispiece.jpg, ''Kitāb al-aghānī'', Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol XIX. Istanbul, Millet Library, Ms Feyzullah Efendi 1565 File:Equestrian Portrait of Badr al-Din Lu'lu from Kitab al-Aghani (Book of Songs) of Abu-l-Farraj al-Isfahani, Mosul 1217-19, David Collection.jpg, ''Kitāb al-aghānī'', Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol XX. David Collection, Copenhagen, Denmark

Modern editions

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References