The Kitab al-malahi of Abu Talib Al-Mufaddal

ibn Salama
TRANSLATED BY JAMES ROBSON, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES,
INCLUDING NOTES BY H . G. F A R M E R , ON THE INSTRUMENTS

notices of Ibn Salama are short. Al-Nawawi* (d. 1277)

and Ibn Khallikan2 (d. 1282) make reference to him
only in the biography of his son, Abu '1-Taiyib, who died in
920.
Ibn Salama was a grammarian of the Kufan school.3 He
studied under his father, Salama ibn 'Asim, a friend of
Al-Farra' (d. 822) and teacher of Tha'lab (d. 904); but
Yaqut says that he departed from his father's views. The
Fihrist, followed by Ibn Khallikan, says that he met Ibn
al-A'rabi (d. 846) and other learned men. Yaqut says that he
studied under Ibn al-A'rabi, Tha'lab, Ibn al-Sikklt (d. 860),
and others.
We are not told the date of his birth, but Ibn Khallikan 4
says that his son, Abu '1-Taiyib, died in 920, while still
ghadd al-shabab, which may mean in early youth; but the
prominent place he receives in the notices of Al-Nawawi
and Ibn Khallikan suggests that he was old enough to have
made some impression. Supposing that he died at the age of
30, which is the utmost to which one can stretch Ibn
Khallikan's phrase, and assuming that Ibn Salama was 60
when his son was born, this would mean that he was born in
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'rabi, it is questionable whether he could
have studied under him.
1
Biog. Diet. (ed. Wustenfeld), p. 733.
2
De Slane, ii, 611.
3
Fihrist (Cairo ed.), p. 109 ; Yaqut, Diet, of Learned Men (Gibb Mem.
Ser.), vi, 7, p. 170.
> Bulaq ed. (A.H. 1275), i, 656,
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 232 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OP IBN SALAMA

The Fihrist and Yaqut say that Ibn Salama was in the
entourage of Al-Fath ibn Khaqan (d. 861). There is no
information about the date of his death. Ibn Khallikan quotes
Abu Bakr al-Su.li (d. 946) as saying that he received tuition
from him in 903 ; 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 books,
all but one of which are mentioned by Yaqut. Ibn Khallikan
mentions thirteen, and Hajjl Khalifa * six. Al-Nawawl
mentions only one by name, adding that he wrote other books
on belles-lettres and others subjects. His works deal mainly
with grammatical topics, -one of them being a criticism of
some of Al-Khalil's statements in his Kitab al-'ain. He wrote
also on the Qur'an and on more general subjects.
His Kitab al-fdkhir, which was one of the sources of
Al-Maidanl's Majma' al-amthal, has been edited by C. A.
Storey (Leyden, 1915). BrOckelmann 2 states that this and
his Ghdyat al-adab (which work is not included in any of the
lists which I have noticed) are his only extant works. He makes
no mention of the MS. of the Kitab al-maldhi which is trans-
lated here.3 Dr. H. G. Farmer obtained a photostat of it when
he visited Cairo in 1932, and made reference to it in JRAS. :
(1934), p. 334. I am indebted to him for the loan of this
photostat in preparing the present work. I
The Fihrist, Yaqut, and Ibn Khallikan all give the longer j
title of Kitab al-'Hd wa 'l-malahi (The book of the lute and the ]
musical instruments). j
§ 1. THE MANUSCRIPT
The present work is based on what appears to be a unique j
MS. in the library of the Top Qapii Sarai in Iastnbul. It
contains 44 pages, the first being the title page. The remaining ]
1
ii, 3 ; iv, 124, 344 ; v, 128, 155, 475. In the last of these nujum (stars)
occurs instead of nabw (grammar).
2
Gesch. d. arab. Litt., i, 118.
3
Neither is reference made to it in the Supplement, i, 181.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 233

pages have seven lines each. Some additions have been made
to the title in another hand. The first is ungrammatical, as it
adds/t (concerning) after kitdbu which is written thus with all
the vowels, and so is in the construct state. " And their
names " is added after " musical instruments ". As the word
maldhi means strictly " instruments of amusement ", the same
hand has added win qibal al-musiqd (pertaining to music).
Below the title appear the words, " The service of the owned
slave Yaqtit, and in his handwriting." The text of the MS.
is pointed and is very beautifully written, being the work of
Yaqiit al-Musta'siml (d. 1298), the famous calligrapher and
protege of Al-Musta'sim, the last 'Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad.
On the remainder of the title-page there are notes by various
people saying that they have read the MS. The whole work is
in an excellent state of preservation. The copying has been
done very carefully, as can be seen from the small number of
textual 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 musical instruments. This was a delicate
question, for many people considered all instruments, except
the tambourine and the drums used in war or on pilgrimage,
to be unlawful. So he occupies pages 5 to 16 with this subject.
From 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 the
standing of its author, is important. It belongs to the period
of the famous Ishaq al-Mausili (d. 850), of the musical amir
Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdl (d. 839), and of Mukhariq (d. 845), the
" Golden Age " of Arabian music. Indeed, the only other
contemporary work of a like nature which has been preserved
is the Kitdb al-lahw wa 'l-malahi of IbnKhurdadhbih (d. c. 912),
and this is still inaccessible. By his quotations from early
poetry and his comments on them, Ibn Salama provides us
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 234 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA

with valuable material for understanding the nature of the

musical instruments used by the Arabs.

§ 2. TRANSLATION

The Book of Musical Instruments

P. 1 The composition of Abu Talib al-Mufaddal ibn Salama,
the grammarian and philologist.
P. 2 In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Praise be to Allah who gives understanding to whom He wills !
I seek refuge in Allah from claiming that in which I am not
proficient; for in former times such action has disgraced
those who ventured on it, so that proverbs were made about
them, and they were spoken of by high and low. One such
is the tradition which is handed down, " He who pretends to i
have a plentiful supply of that in which he is not proficient,1 •
P. 3 is like him who wears the two garments of | falsehood." Some i
quote it thus : "Of that which he does not possess." Con-
cerning this the poet says :—
" If one decks himself with, that which is not in him, the proofs i
of testing will shame him ; j
And he will run among men like a half-breed whom the pure- ]
breeds have left on the course." 1
I was told that one who claims to be learned asserted that
the Arabs were ignorant of the lute, and that they make no
mention of any of its strings and its appurtenances. So I
P. 4 resolved to clarify matters regarding|the lute and other musical
instruments, [and to state] who was the first to make any of
them and what the Arabs said about their names and the
designations of their appurtenances, for the perusal of those
who are interested in any of these matters. Then I thought
that I should first of all mention sanctions which have been
given, in order that those who employ any of these instruments
may know that there is no problem about them (Praise be to
Allah !), and that they are not forbidden.
1
Al-Bukhari, Nikah 107, and Abu Dawud, Adab 83, both read " what
he has not been given ". Another version is given in Lane, Lexicon, p, 1497.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 235

One such [sanction] is | what 'Umar ibn Shabba [d. 876] and P. 5
Muhammad ibn Shaddad al-Misma'I [d. 910-911], known as
Zurqan, the scholastic theologian, told us. Muhammad ibn
Shaddad said, I consulted Abu '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'an is not one of us," 1 that [the
word] comes from al-istighnd' (to be content). | Abu 'Asim P. 6
replied, " He is quite wrong."
Ibn Juraij [d. 766-8] informed us as follows: I,asked
'Ata' [d. 732-3] about reciting [the Qur'an] to a chant, and
he said, "What harm is there in that? " 'Abdallah ibn
'Umair al-Laithi told us that David, Allah's prophet (Peace
be upon him !) had a stringed instrument.2 When he recited,
he played on it and wept, and made [others] weep. Abu
'Asim held that the chanting (al-taghanni) of the Qur'an
[means] prolonging and beautifying the voice in [reciting]
it. Sufyan held to [the sense of] being independent (istighnd')\ P 7.
in it from every device. Now al-taghanm is used both of poetry
and property. [An example of its use] with reference to poetry
is the saying of Hassan [ibn Thabit]:—
" If you are repeating poetry, chant it (taghanni); the chant is
a training-ground (midmdr) for this poetry." 3
Midmdr here is a figure of speech, because the midmdr for
horses means [the place for] making them fit, teaching and
exercising them, so that they may be in proper condition;
with which he compared the adaptation of the chant to
the measure of poetry.
1
Lane, p. 2302, inverts the phrases and gives only Sufyan's interpretation.
Abu Talib al-Makkl, Qut al-qulub, i, 90, gives the same form as Lane, but
says it means one who chants with a beautiful voice. Cf. Al-Nasa'I, Sunan, ii,
180, for a note to the same effect.
2
In Arabic, mi'zafa. In 1 Sam. xvi, 16, 23, David is said to play the
kinnor, an instrument usually identified with the cithara. Seemingly the
mi'zafa was a cithara or lyre.
3
This verse is not included in Hassan's diwan (Gibb. Mem. Ser.).
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 236 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA

Regarding al-taghanni applying to property, another says :

P. 8 " Many a rich, man have I seen poverty overtaking, and many
a poor man becoming rich (taghannd) after [being in]
indigence."
Ya'qtib ibn Ishaq, known as Ibn abl Isra'Il, told us that
Abu Bakr ibn Mansur ibn Saiyar reported that Yunus
ibn Muhammad [d. 823], the teacher, said, Abu Uwais told
us on the authority of Husain ibn 'Abdallah ibn 'Ubaidallah
ibn 'Abbas on the authority of 'Ikrima [d. 723-5] on the
authority of Ibn 'Abbas [d. 688-9] (Allah be pleased with
him!) that the Prophet (Allah bless him, etc.) came upon
P. 9 Hassan [ibn Thabit] 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 Shirin who had a mizhar 1 with
which she enraptured the two rows while she sang to them.
When the Prophet (Peace be upon him !) came along, having
expressed 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, etc.) smiled
P. 10 and said, | " You have committed no sin, if Allah will." 2
This Ya'qiib told us that Ahmad ibn Mansiir related that
Abu Salama al-Tabudhaki 3 [d. 838] said, Hammad ibn
Salama reported on the authority of 'All ibn Zaid on the
authority of Yusuf ibn Mihran that Ibn 'Umar called on
'Abdallah, son of Ja'far the possessor of wings,4 and found him
with a Persian lute. 8 He said : " 0 Abu 'Abd al-Rahman,
1
The mizhar or mazhar of early Islamic times was probably a round
tambourine without " snares " (autar) or jingling apparatus (sunuj,jalajil).
See Ena. of Islam (El.), Suppl., vol., p. 74.
2
Cf. Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi, 'Iqd, iv, 91.
3
The MS. wrongly gives Al-NabudakT.
4
Ja'far is commonly called Al-faiydr (the flier). When he was slain in
battle Muhammad mourned for him, and said he had seen him flying with
wings in Paradise.
6
The barbat (Persian lute) appears to have been of different structure
from the 'ud. The neck and sound-chest were made in one graduated piece
of wood, hollow throughout. The neck of the 'ud was solid. See El., iv,
986 ; Farmer, Studies in Or. Mus. Instrs., i, 95 f.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 237

if you know what 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 Abu 'Abd al-Kahman. It is a BumI balance." *
It is related that Ibrahim ibn Sa'd 2 [d. 799-800], the
author of Al-maghazi, said : " For long I have thought about
how the people of Al-'Iraq prohibit singing yet permit
intoxicants. I was once in one of the mosques of the Ansar
along with my father, when [those present], who were about
ten in number, discussed singing and said, ' Come on to Al-
Ausi'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 out her lute, saluted us and sat down. The first
song I heard was on that day. She sang :—
' Have we not yet questioned the dwelling 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 shaikh got up, and in the window-
ledges of the house there were square tambourines. 3 They
took them, and one of them took a drum * and hung it on his
neck. Then the house and its neighbourhood resounded, and
the shaikhs of the district came in to see us. And we were in
1
'Iqd, iv, 94, says that Ibn Ja'far replied, " You are right; this is a
balance in which speech is weighed," evidently thinking the answer clever.
2
The MS. has Ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd. " Ibn " is omitted following 'Iqd,
iv, 93.
3
For the duff murabba' see El., Suppl. vol. 73. Al-Mutarrizi says the
square tambourine was forbidden although the round one was not. Tuwais,
one of the earliest minstrels of Islam, played the duff murabba'. He was one
of the despised mukhannathun ; so probably the legists forbade it because
it was used by people of this class.
4
Tabl was the generic term for any drum. See El., Suppl. vol., s.v.
" Tabl". Certain types were forbidden, notably the kuba or tabl al-
mukhannath, which was shaped like an hour-glass. But the military drum
and pilgrimage drum were allowed. Probably the latter type is referred to
in the above story. It is known nowadays as the tabl shami, a shallow
kettledrum. It is depicted in Lane's Modern Egyptians, chap. vi.
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 238 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OP IBN SALAMA

such a state that if Aiyflb or Ibn 'Aun [d. 768] had been
present, they would have refrained and been unable to forbid
it. Then when the crier summoned to prayer, [and] they
P. 14 got up | to their places, I did not feel that any of them were
sorry 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 playing the lute
and singing.
And this Ya'qub ibn Ishaq told us that Dawud ibn Rushaid
and Al-Hasan ibn Shablb said that Isma'il ibn 'Aiyash
reported that 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abdallah [d. 780] told [the '•.
P. 15 following] on the authority of | Muhammad ibn 'Amr [d. 682] \
on the authority of 'Ata' ibn abi Salama ibn 'Abd al-Rahman j
ibn 'Auf,1—" The tambourine 2 was played and people sang j
in the time of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Auf on the night when ]
he was married." I
This Ya'qub told us that Al-Qa'nabi [d. 837] said that j
Khalid ibn Ilyas reported on the authority of Al-Qasim ibn ;
Muhammad [d. c. 719-30], on the authority of 'A'isha (Allah ]
be pleased with her!) that Allah's apostle (Allah bless him, ]
etc.) said, " Make a show of a wedding." 3 And the Prophet ,
P. 16 (Allah bless him, etc.) used to | like to have the tambourine
played to him.
But I intended only to mention musical instruments. Now \
as for singing, sanctions regarding it are many ; but if I were j
to mention them, the book would be [too] long. My object
is simply to mention musical instruments and nothing else.
On that [subject] I shall mention what I hope will be sufficient,
if Allah wills.
1
Ibn Sa'd, fabaqdt, v, 115, mentions the names of Abu Salama's children,
but does not include 'Ata'. 'Abd al-Rahman (d. 652), his grandfather, was
a Companion of the Prophet.
2
In Arabic, duff. Lisan al-'arab, s.v. " Ghirbal ", calls the instrument
mentioned in this tradition a ghirbal, a name due to its likeness to a sieve.
The ghirbal seems to have differed from the mizhar in having " snares "
stretched across the underside of the face or membrane. See El., Suppl.
vol., 74. It is now called the bandair in the Maghrib.
3
A similar, but longer, tradition is given in TirmidhI, Nikah, 6.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 239

Hisham ibn al-Kalbl [d. 819-21] mentioned that the first

who made the lute and played on it was a man of the sons of
Qabil, some say Qabin,1 the son of | Adam, called Lamk.2 He P. 17
had a long life; and as he had no children he married fifty
wives and took two hundred concubines. Then two girls,
one of whom was called Sila' 3 and the other Yamm, were born
to him. Afterwards a boy was born to him ten years before
he died, and he was extremely pleased. But the boy died
when he was five years old, and [Lamk] grieved sorely for
him. So he took him and hung him on a tree and said : | " His P. 18
form will not depart from my eyes until he falls in pieces,
or I die." Then his flesh began to fall from his bones till
[only] the thigh remained, with the leg, foot, and toes. So he
took a piece of wood, split it, made it thin, and began to
arrange one piece on another. Then 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 (malawl) like the toes; and to it [the instrument]
he attached | strings like the sinews. Then he began to P. 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
'ud (lute) because it was made from a piece of wood ('ud).
Sila', one of his two daughters, was the first who made
stringed instruments and drums.4
He said : And as for the pandores,5 the first who made them
1
The form Qabin is unusual. Cain and Abel are usually called Habil
and Qabil, Abel coming first. For other forms of the name Qabil see El.,
ii, 186.
2
It is vocalized thus. [He is the Lamech of Genesis.
3
Gen. iv, 19, says Lamech married two wives called Adah and Zillah
(Sillah).
4
Ibn Khurdadhbih is quoted in Mas'fldi's Muruj al-dhahab, viii, 88 f.,
as saying that Dilal bint Lamk invented stringed instruments, and Tubal
ibn Lamk invented drums. Cf. Farmer, Stud, in Or. Instrs., i, 55. A tradition
(TinnidhI, Fitan 38) mentions stringed instruments as signs of the end of the
world, so it is not surprising that Dilal is the name given to the inventor,
as 4aldl means " error ".
5
See El., Suppl. vol. s.v. " tunbur" and Glasgow Univ. Oriental
Society's Transactions, vol. v, p. 26.
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 240 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA

were Lot's people. When a beardless youth appealed to them,

P. 20 they tried to win him by playing | to him on the pandore.
As for the wood-wind instruments x and all wind instru-
ments, the Children of Israel made them only on the model of
the throat of David2 (Peace be upon him !), except the flute
on which one whistles, for the Kurds were the first who made
it. When 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.3 | He had two singing-girls called the Jaradatan (two
locusts). They are the two about whom the proverb was
made which goes: "He became a tale 4 [told] by the
Jaradatan." That [refers to the fact] that when Allah with-
held rain from [the people of] 'Ad, when they were settled
between Al-Shihr and Hadramaut, they sent their envoys to
Makka to pray for rain for them. They lodged with Mu'awiya
ibn Bakr, because he was related to them by marriage. Then
P. 26 they occupied themselves with drinking | wine and listening
to the Jaradatan to the neglect of praying for rain. So when
Mu'awiya saw that, he recited some poetry 5 and told his
singing-girls to sing it. When they heard it they remembered

1
Mizmar is the generic term for any instrument of the wood-wind family.
It was also the specific name for the oboe or clarinet, as distinct from the
flute or recorder. See El., iii, 539 ; Farmer, Studies, i, 65, 77.
2
According to the Raudat al-safa' of Mir Khwand (Trans, ii, i, 57), no
less than seventy-two notes issued from the " blessed throat" of David.
A voice with such a compass appealed to the imagination and became the
prototype of all wind instruments.
3
pp. 21-4 of the MS. must be placed between 36 and 37. 25 is clearly the
continuation of 20. Further, 24 ends with a reference to poetry which is
not quoted on 25, while 37 begins with poetry without any reference to its
author. As the instruments mentioned in the verses are those one would
expect after 24, 37 must follow 24,
4
The MS. has bariban (plundered). This has been changed to badithan
following Freytag, Arabum Proverbia, ii, 566 and Ibn Salama, Al-fakhir
(ed. Storey), p. 67. Both say the proverb means that someone's affairs are
publicly spoken of.
6
See Al-fakhir, p. 68.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 241

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 harlna, | and they called the lute the kiran, P. 27
the mizhar, the barbat, and the muwattar,1 and their poems
have mentioned all these names. Among its names which are
not mentioned in the poetry, but only in the Tradition, is the
'artaba.2
Imru' al-Qais [d. bet. 530 and 540] said 3 :—
" When I become troubled in the evening, many a delicate singing
girl have I made to play on a kiran.
She has a mizhar, of harsh sound when two hands play it, which
raises its voice above the army (khamis)."
\Khamis here is an army. Khamis is also the name of an P. 28
idol; and Mamis is a kind of clothing 4 as well. In the
Tradition [the saying is found], " Bring me a khamis or a
hbis."
Labid ibn Rabi'a [d. 660] said 6 :—
" I pay a dear price for buying [wine] (al-sibd') in every black
old wine-skin (adkan), or dark flagon (jauna), which is poured
out (qudihat), and whose seal is broken,
For a morning draught of pure wine and the attraction of a
singing-girl with a muwattar which her thumb adjusts
(ta'taluhu)."
Ta'taluhu means " manages i t " , from ultu 'l-shai' " I
adjusted i t " . Al-sibd' is the purchase of wine. One says
saba'tu 'l-Mamr [meaning] " I bought i t " . Adkan | means P. 29
" wine-jar " ; the jauna is the large jar, and jaun [means]
1
'Igd, iv, 105, gives three of these names, omitting muwattar. This
latter is also identified with the lute in Lane, Lexicon, i, 126, but it is
doubtful. The same may be said of the identification of the mizhar and the
kiran. See El., Suppl. vol., 74.
2
The 'artaba is another doubtful identification. In Al-Shalahl's Kitab
al-imta' (Madrid MS., No. 603) 'artaba, kinnara, barbat, and mizhar are given
as names for the lute. See Farmer, Studies, ii, 31.
3
See his Diwan (ed. De Slane), pp. 30 f.
4
Cf. Lane, Lexicon, p. 810 j JRAS. (1935), p. 328.
• Cf. Al-Tibrizi (ed. Lyall, Bibl. Ind.), pp. 82 f.
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 242 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA

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

broken off from it. And his phrase ta'tdluhu [means] " she
controls and manages i t " ; and iyala is good management of
property.
Al-A'sha, of the Banu Qais [d. 629], who was a pre-Islamic
Arab, said :—
" Sitting round him are the boon-companions, while a mizhar
which is played (majduf) does not cease to be brought to him."
Majduf means " played o n " . And there is a reading
P. 30 bi-miikar,1 a wine-skin [instead of bi-mizhar]; | and it has its
ends cut.
He said also :—
" And our barbat is continually urging on, so for which of those
am I despised ? " 2
"Which of those" means [different] kinds of musical
instruments, because he has mentioned them. 3
Its strings are called mahdbid, sing, mihbad; and they are
the shira', sing, shir'a. Among them is the zir, and that which
comes next it is the mathna which some call the tharii ; then
P. 31 [comes] the mathhth which some call the thdlith; | then the
bamm. The things which the Persians call the dasatin (frets)
are called the 'atab 4 [by the Arabs]. And all that has been
mentioned in poetry. Tamim ibn Ubaiy ibn Muqbil [seventh
century] said:—
" There sang (sadahat) to us at the wine-merchants' (tijar) a
slender-necked girl whose leg was tossing (tarkudu) her skirts
(majdmi' al-khalkhdl),

1
Cf. his Diwan (Gibb. Mem. Ser)., p. 212, where bi-mukar is the reading.
This gives better sense. Taking majduf m its ordinary meaning of " cut ",
it makes the verse say that a wine-skin which is opened is continually being
brought to him.
2
Read uzra for uzza.
3
In the DZwan, p. 122, this verse follows that quoted on p. 24 of the MS.
As it has " three " instead of " those ", the rose, the jasmine, and the
singing-girls are meant, not musical instruments. Cf. Aghani, vi, 73.
1
Cf. JBAS. (1937), p. 4551., where the 'ataba (pi. 'atab) is said to be the
" n u t " (an/) of the lute.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 243

[Dressed] in a single garment (fv4ul); the mahdbid on a light

[instrument] x (afyadhdh) which was neither harsh (§ahl) nor
coarse (mi§l}al) contending with her trilling." z
Sadahat is " she sang ", and sadh is the raising of the voice.
There is a reading " neither short-winded (gut1) nor coarse ".
Tarkvdu is " pushes ". | Majami' al-Jchalkhal is " t h e place P. 32
where the anklets are collected ", meaning her skirt. The
tijdr are the wine-sellers here. The word fudul means " in a
shabby garment ". Ahadhdh is " light", meaning a lute.
Sahl and mishdl [mean] that which has not a clear sound;
and sahl is hoarseness in the voice.
Ibn Harma [d. c. 757] said :—
" Perhaps a singing-girl from whom a second morning-draught is
given to her chief, cares for the strings (gjfira')."
|A1-A'sha said 3 :— P.33
" And he placed the hand again over [an instrument] with frets
('utab), singing to the accompaniment of [an instrument]
with a hoarse-sounding zlr [string]."
Al-Saq'ab ibn Jubban al-Taghlibi said:—
" And he presented his gentle-voiced singing-girl with a lute
which was superior to his [other] lutes,
Lighter when carried and taken in the arms than a feather which
is placed in the scales.
You find it dumb when he is eloquent, the honour of the meeting
being in its humiliation.
Eauh put it right when it was out of tune ('aid ^ighdnih),"
Rauh is the name of the singer. | Dighdn [means] there is P. 34
something in the mind which is not being uttered as was
intended.
" To adjust it after its deviation (zaigh) and its incapacity
(i'tinanih).
Then he passed the hand to and fro over its heart," 4
1
Light lutes were favoured. Ziryab (early ninth cent.), the famous
minstrel of Muslim Spain, said his lute was superior because it was one-
third lighter than the ordinary instrument. See Al-Maqqari, Analectes, ii, 88.
2
These verses occur in the Kitab al-ma'ani 'l-kabir of Ibn Qutaiba (MS.
Aya Sofia), p. 427. I owe this reference to Dr. F. Krenkow.
s
Diwan (Gibb Mem. Ser.), p. 163.
* At this point, owing to the comments, the arrangement of the lines is
broken. This half-line would go better with the following. There is an odd
half-line in the poem, but that is allowable, as it is the mashtiir variety of the
rajaz metre.
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 244 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA

Zaigh [means] deviating, and i'tindn that it is not at all

in good order.
" As the fire-worshipper goes to and fro in his garden. And he
honoured his little finger
With the superiority of a robber over his neighbours. And the
zlr [string] relied on his twanging ;
And the thani [string] was attentive to its rivalry; and the
thdlith [string] was headstrong in its racecourse ;
P. 35 And the bamm [string] mumbled (barbara) at its fellows, as an
old man mumbles at his boys."
Barbara is a sound containing roughness and speed.
" There trouble passed from his friends, so that you could see
the tipsy one in his shirts
Marching, having thrown away his Persian shawl, as the king
marches after his queen." 1
Abu '1-Hindi said :—
" When she adjusts the two zirs,2 and the mathlath which is near
the place of the bamm, and the bamm is being struck,
You see her right hand speeding on the bamm, and you think
her left hand is counting over the frets (al-'atb).
P- 36 And the reed-pipe of another [girl], when it is blown, rises in
answer to the pulsating of the lute, and the lute clamours."
He meant al-'atab, but he omitted a vowel.
Among the musical instruments are the tunbur, which is the
dirrij,3 and the warm.*
1
The king and queen are the chess pieces.
2
In early Islamic times the lute had four strings, called from high to
low the zir, mathna, maMath, and bamm. The first and last are Persian
words. For their adoption by the Arabs see Farmer, An Old Moorish Lute
Tutor, p. 26, and El., iii, 750. As the mathna is not mentioned in the verses,
it may sometimes have been called the lower zir and the zir proper the upper
zlr, hence the phrase " two zirs ". Yet in the ninth century, as we know
from Al-Kindi, a fifth string was added to the higher strings and called the
zlr thani. The " two zirs " may therefore refer to these two strings.
3
The dirrij was not a tunbur, although the lexicographers Ibn Sida and
Al-FIruzabadi repeat the statement. The mistake arises thus. The lexico-
graphers say that the dirrij is " a thing like the punbur ", meaning that it is
like the tunbur in being a musical instrument. The dirrij was actually a drum
with a single face, something like the dardbuhka. Ibn Mukarram says that
its vocalization is durraij, which is the pronunciation in Morocco to-day.
4
The wann appears to have been the harp with a lower sound-chest.
A 1-FIruzabadI says it was played with the fingers, and likens it to the sanj.
This latter was, however, the harp with an upper sound-chest.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 245

D M '1-Kumma [d. 735] said :—

" In the morning she has the strung, spotted (arqash) [instru-
ment] with black back (qard), which is singing as though its
strings were uproarious ;
One of the tanabir, it raises (yuzhi) 1 its voice in intoxication, its
melody containing what is foreign 2 to the dialects of the
Arabs."
Al-qard [means] " the back", yuzhi " raises ", and al-
arqash " t h e perfume-box ". 3 | He means the locust which P. 21
gives voice in the heat and is very high-pitched.
Another said:—
" And our dirrij is diligently urging on, the tambourine and the
mizhar answering it."
Al-A'sha said:—
" And a mushtaq slni,i and a wann and a Persian lute 8 which a
harp answers when it resounds."
Al-Ea'I [early eighth century] said :—
" And a harsh-sounding tunbur, and the odour of a bundle
(dighth) of myrtle which penetrates to the lachrymatory
ducts (shu'uri)."
| Al-dighth [means] " pieces " of myrtle, and the shu'un are P. 22
the bases of the seams of the skull, sing, sha'n. But it is said
that they are the lachrymatory ducts. So he meant that the
fragrance of the myrtle reaches there because of its pungency
and sweetness.
1
Diwan (Macartney), p. 578, gives yazha.
2
In the " Golden Age " of the 'Abbasid dynasty foreign singing-girls
from Persia and Khurasan, who were performers on the tunbur, were
favoured at Baghdad. We know that the scale of their instruments was
different from that of the Arabs. See Farmer, Hist., pp. 147 f.
3
Lane, Lexicon, p. 1135, says arqash is applied to a species of locust. The
explanation " perfume box " may be due to the author thinking of the part
of the instrument which looks like a box.
4
Diwan (Gibb Mem. Ser.), p. 201, has mustaq sinin. In a footnote the
reading sin* is given, but the editor wrongly suggests changing it to sabi
(boy). The instrument was a Chinese shSng, a real mouth-organ. It was
known in Persia during the Sasanid period. See Farmer's chapter on music in
the Survey of Persian Art. According to the Majatib al-'ulum (tenth cent.)
the Arabic name was mustaq, while the Persians called it biska'-i mushta.
5
In the MS. wa-mizhar appears in smaller writing above this word, either
as a v. 1., or as an explanation.
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 246 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA

Among the musical instruments are J the mizmdr, the

mizmar,1 the zammara,2 the nay,3 the 'iran,* the qussab, and
the mishtaq, called also mushtaq sirii, which is an arabicized
.23 Persian word. It is called mushtah \ sini, i.e. it is taken in the
hands. The yard? is the reed-pipe made of cane, to [which
class] the zanbaq 5 and hanbaqa6 belong.
Abu '1-Baida' said :—
" Give me a drink, 0 Zubair, in the hollow. We have been moved,
and the zammara has vibrated."
Abu '1-Tfjan [fl. 813-33] said 7 :—
" Is there any way to shocking intoxication in the lower part of
Al-Kufa, 0 Qabid ?
The vessel is in Abu '1-Tljan's hand, and above the head is a
crown.
P.24 And [there is] an 'iran as though it were the pawn in chess,
about which talk is varied (yaftannu)."
Yaftannu [means] he undertakes funun, i.e. " kinds " of it.
Al-A'sha said 8 :—
1-1
Probably this passage should read, " the mizmar, the mizmar al-'irdqi
('Iraqian reed-pipe) . . ." Several writers speak of the 'Iraqian reed-pipe
as distinct from the ordinary one. The difference is not recorded, but cf.
El., iii, 541, and Farmer, Historical Facts, p. 142.
2
For a design of the modern zammara see Farmer, Studies, i, 84. See
also El., iii, 541.
3
Nay was the Persian generic term for a wood-wind instrument and
mizmar the Arabic. Nay also meant specifically a reed-blown instrument,
the flute being called the nay-i narm (fl4te douce). When the Arabs adopted
Persian names for some instruments, nay was used indifferently for the oboe
and flute. The passage above seems to refer to an oboe, qussab standing
for a flute. Nowadays the nay is a flute in most Islamic lands. See Farmer,
Studies, i, 65 f.
4
'Iran may be a copyist's error for kiran. Al-FIruzabadi (d. 1414) says
the 'iran was a horn, so an instrument of this name may have been known
in his day. If so, it may have been borrowed from the Crusaders who used
a cornet d'airain. The Arabs probably adopted merely the last word, which
was not an infrequent custom with them.
5
MS. rabiq. The early Arabic lexicographers say the zanbaq was the
zammara. The name comes from the material (sambucus) of which it was
made.
6
This is another rare word. La Borde, Essai sur la musique (1780),
i 198, gives it as hunbuqa and describes it as a kind of flute.
7
cf. AghJanl, xviii, 119.
8
cf. Diwan (Gibb Mem. Ser.), p. 121 ; Aghani vi 73.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 247

" And our witness is the jull and the jasmine and the singing-
girls with their qussdb."
The jull is the 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 yard', and the sound of a tambourine, and a nay, and a P. 37
mizhar,
And a singer from whose mouth the pearls are scattered for the
drinkers."
Another said, describing a nay :—
" And if the wind stirs it, it lets fall its voice, and it vibrates
like the pierced yard'."
Al-Mu'lawwit al-Qurai'i [early eighth century] said:—
" And the regions of Syria resounded, so that its voices seemed
to come from a zanbaq in the people's dwelling."
Al-Ahwas [d. c. 728] said :—
" Her throat answers the pipes of yearning as a resounding is P. 38
agitated in hollow (zamjar) sambucus flutes."
Zamjar is " hollow ". He means the reed which is piped.
And he said :—
" He is not moaning plaintively,2 but producing in his breast
a continuous sound from the inwards, like a yard' with
hollow reeds (handbiq)."
He did not sing on account of the rumbling, but sang only
on account of distress.
Among the musical instruments is the tahl, which is the
kabars and the kuba.1 Connected with it is the tradition of
'Abdallah ibn 'Umar [d. 693], who said, | " Allah's apostle P. 39
(Allah bless him, etc.) forbade wine, al-maisir,5 the huba,
1
This ends the transposed passage. See p. 240, n. 3.
2
Beading baghim for naghim, following Lisan al-'amb, xii, 249. There
the verse is attributed to Kufljaiyir 'Azza. Cf. Kuthaiyir's Diwan, ii, 80.
On the same authority yam' is read instead of rugha'.
s
The kabar seems to have been a drum of the darabuhka class with a
single face, but with a cylindrical or semi-conical body. Nowadays it is
known in the Maghrib as the aqwal. See Farmer, Studies, ii, 29; El.,
Suppl. vol., s.v., " tabl ".
4
See p. 237, n. 4.
5
A game in which the pre-Islamic Arabs gambled by means of arrows
for portions of a camel.
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 248 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA

the ghvbaird', and every intoxicant." Backgammon is called

kuba in the language of the people of Al-Yaman. Ghubaird'
is a liquor made from millet, and it is the sukarkah in the
language of the Abyssinians.
The poet said :—
" When the reed-pipes and the mizhar vibrate, the snares increase
its (the mizhar's) sound.
P. 40 And the ' warbling ' singer (shadl) sang when the tambourines
and the akbdr answered them."
The shadi is the singer, and shadw is singing ; but elsewhere
shadw 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 [the drum] is the daff, the duff, and the
kinndra1; but kinndra is said to be one of the names of the lute.
'Amr ibn al-Itnaba said 2 :—
" Give me a second drink, and give my two companions a second
drink, and give me 3 a plentiful supply of wine 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 not often found among the Arabs.
Only the people of Al-Yaman, such as the kings of San'a.',
Al-Janad, Najran, Tabala, and Jurash, were playing on i t ;
on which account 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 Lamk. | And the first who sang
among the Arabs were the Jarddatdn. Then Jadhlma ibn
Sa'd al-Khuza'I sang, and he had the finest voice of all men.
He was called Al-Mustaliq * on account of the beauty of his
1
Several authorities say kinndra was a name for the lute. Others liken
it to the pandore, drum, and tambourine. It was more probably a cithara
or lyre, like the Hebrew kinnor. See Farmer, Studies, ii, 31.
2
Cf. Aghanl, x, 30 ; xvi, 14.
3
Na (us) is written above ni (me) as an alternative.
* Taj al-'arus, s.v. " slq ", says Jadhlma received this name because of
the beauty of his voice, and that he was the first of the tribe of Khuza'a
to sing.
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 THE KITAB AL-MALAHI OF IBN SALAMA 249

voice. The first of the people of Al-Yaman who sang was a

Himyarite called 'Abs, who, on account of the beauty of his
voice, was called Dhu. Jadan.1 Thefirstwho sang a camel-song
was Mudar ibn Nizar. That came about because he fell from
one of his camels and his hand was crushed. | His camels P. 43
scattered from him, and he began to say, " Yd yaddh, yd yaddh
(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
sindd, and the hajaz. As for the nasb,2 it was the song of
riders, and it is that which is called " traditional", which
youths 3 sing. As for the sindd, it is | the heavy [rhythm], P. 44
having a • refrain, the low-pitched voice, and the glottal
hiatus. As for the hajaz, it is the light [rhythm] 4 with 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 Al-hanqfi.5
The Book of Musical Instruments is ended. And praise be
to Allah alone ! And Allah bless Muhammad, His prophet,
and his family, the pure ones, and keep [them] safe !
1
Al-Jauharl, Taj al-lugha, s.v. " jdn ", saya Dhu Jadan was a king of
Himyar.
a
The nasb was a more cultured form of the camel-drivers' song.
3
In a parallel passage ('Iqd, iv, 104) qainat (singing-girls) appears in
place olfityan(youths). But Al-Ibshlhi (Mustatraf, ii, 126), who also includes
it, has fityan. The change from fityan to qainat is more likely than the reverse
change, sofityanis to be preferred.
i i
~ 'Iqd, loo. cit., and Mustatraf, loc. cit. read " and it is that which excites
the hearts and rouses the long-suffering." Both works say that the passage
about the types of singing is a quotation from Abu '1-Mundhir Hisham ibn
al-Kalbi (d. 819).
6
MS. bibiqqai. The change of text, which is merely a matter of dots, is
made on the authority of Mas'udI, Muruj al-dhahab. viii, 93, where it is said
that the singing of the people of Al-Yaman waa of two kinds, banafi and
bimyari, the former being the better. See Farmer, Hist., pp. 3, 15, where it
is suggested that the banafi was the more recently adopted.
353.

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