Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani
| Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani | |
|---|---|
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Illustration from Kitab al-aghani (Book of Songs), 1216-20, by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, a collection of songs by famous musicians and Arab poets.
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| Native name | أبو الفرج الأصفهاني |
| Born | 897 Isfahan |
| Died | 967 (aged 69–70) |
| Fields | History |
| Patrons | Sayf ad-Dawlah |
| Known for | Book of Songs |
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`Ali ibn al-Husayn ul-Isfahānī (Arabic: أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abu-l-Faraj or, in the West, as Abulfaraj (897–967) was an historian of Arab-Quraysh origin[1] who is noted for collecting and preserving ancient Arabic lyrics and poems in his major work, the Kitāb al-Aghānī. [2]
Contents
Biography
Abu al-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī was born in Isfahan, but spent his youth and made his early studies in Baghdad. He was a direct descendant of the last of the Umayyad caliphs, Marwan II, and was thus connected with the Umayyad rulers in Spain, and seems to have kept up a correspondence with them and to have sent them some of his works. He became famous for his knowledge of early Arabian antiquities. [3]
His later life was spent in various parts of the Islamic world, in Aleppo with its governor Sayf ad-Dawlah (to whom he dedicated the Book of Songs), in Ray with the Buwayhid vizier Ibn 'Abbad, and elsewhere. [3]
Although he wrote poetry, also an anthology of verses on the monasteries of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and a genealogical work, his fame rests upon his Book of Songs (Kitab al-Aghani).[3]
Book of Songs
Kitab al-Aghani (Book of Songs), a collection of poems and songs with the stories of the composers and singers in many volumes from the oldest epoch of Arabic literature down to the 9th century.[4] The poems were put to music, but the musical signs are no longer readable. Because of the accompanying biographical annotations on the authors and composers, the work is an important historical source. It contains a mass of information as to the life and customs of the early Arabs, and is the most valuable authority we have for their pre-Islamic and early Islamic days.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ Abu 'l-Faradj al-Isbahani, M. Nallino, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H.A.R.Gibb, J.H.Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal and J. Schacht, (Brill, 1996), 118.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. - ↑ Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 5
- Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
- Articles containing Arabic-language text
- 897 births
- 967 deaths
- Arabic-language poets
- Arab historians
- 10th-century historians
- Arab people of Iranian descent
- 10th-century writers
- People from Isfahan
- Abbasid-period poets
- Iranian Arab people
- 10th-century Arab people
- People of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo
