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