Mutʿat al-asmāʿ fī ʿilm al-samāʿ, The Ears’ Pleasure and the Science of Listening to Music by Aḥmad b. Yūsuf al-Tīfāshī al-Qafṣī (580-651/1184-1253)

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The manuscript from the thirteenth century deals with musicians’ behaviour at the court; singers'qualities; the eminence of music and its effect on people and animals; the importance of drinking when listening to music; the process of composition; rhythmic and melodic modes, and repertoire in Andalusia, the Maghreb, Persia and the Middle East; Andalusian song lyrics and the appearance of new poetic forms such as the zajal and the muwashshaḥ; Andalusian musical instruments; dances of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, India and China; Andalusian dances and shadow plays and shadow dancers; aesthetics of dance; poems describing the dances.
Copyright Year:
2024
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978-90-04-54278-5
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20 Nov 2023
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978-90-04-54277-8
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21 Nov 2023
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Front Matter
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Mutʿat al-asmāʿ fī ʿilm al-samāʿ The Ears’ Pleasure and the Science of Listening To Music [fol. 1; al-Sillāmī 53–54]
Chapter 1 The Eminence of Listening to Music above All Else, and the Superiority of Melodies and the Wonderful Effects They Have on the Human Body [fols. 6–7; al-Sillāmī 61–62]
Chapter 2 The Importance of Listening to Singing While Drinking and the Exclusive Usefulness of Listening While Drinking over Other Activities [fols. 7–9; al-Sillāmī 63–65]
Chapter 3 When It Is Appropriate to Listen and Drink [fol. 10; al-Sillāmī 67]
Chapter 4 The Order of Singing in a Drinking Majlis [fols. 10–11; al-Sillāmī 69]
Chapter 5 The Poetical Qualities That Complete the Pleasure of the Listener When Added to Music [fols. 11–12; al-Sillāmī 71–72]
Chapter 6 How the Strings Wondrously Affect the Four Humors That Make Up the Human Body [fols. 12–14; al-Sillāmī 73–74]
Chapter 7 About the Divine Secret Causing the Effects of Melodies on the Souls of Humans and Animals [fols. 14–16; al-Sillāmī 75–76]
Chapter 8 The Singer’s Excellent Qualities [fols. 16–17; al-Sillāmī 77]
Chapter 9 How to Listen to Singing in the Musical Majlis [fol. 17; al-Sillāmī 79]
Chapter 10 The Singing Styles of People of Different Regions [and the Repertoire of the People of the Maghrib] [fols. 17–32; al-Sillāmī 81–105]
Chapter 11 Andalusian Musical Laws: [The Composers and] Their Instruments [fols. 32–34, 36a–B, 117–132; al-Sillāmī 107–135]
Chapter 12 The Origin of the Old Singing and the Modes Used in All the Songs of the Arabs and the Persians in the Eastern and Western Empire [fols. 34–40; al-Sillāmī 137–142]
Chapter 13 Mention of the Memorized Repertoire among the Common Singers in Our Era in the Eastern Empire and Their Poems [fols. 40–42; al-Sillāmī 143–145]
Chapter 14 The Difference in Superiority between the Easy and Plain Singing with Few Cycles and Notes, and Its Opposite, the One with Heavier Cycles and Many Notes [fols. 43–45; al-Sillāmī 147–148]
Chapter 15 Melodies That Resemble the Meanings and Suit the Poems [fols. 45–47; al-Sillāmī 149–150]
Chapter 16 The Definition of Singing [fol. 48; al-Sillāmī 151]
Chapter 17 The Origin of Arabic Singing, Its Source and Birth Place [fols. 48–49; al-Sillāmī 153]
Chapter 18 Favoring Older Singing over the Modern [fols. 49–52; al-Sillāmī 155–157]
Chapter 19 The Process of Composition [fols. 52–54; al-Sillāmī 159–161]
Chapter 20 The Amount of Ṭarab That Affects the Person Knowledgeable in the Art of Singing [fols. 54–55; al-Sillāmī 163]
Chapter 21 What Songs the Singer Should Start with at the Beginning of His Performance in the Majlis [fols. 55–56; al-Sillāmī 165–166]
Chapter 22 The Necessary Conditions of the Excellent Singer and His Good Standing with Listeners [fols. 56–58; al-Sillāmī 167–168]
Chapter 23 Good and Bad, Stated or Implied Song Themes [fols. 58–60; al-Sillāmī 169–170]
Chapter 24 On the Proper Behavior to Praise Men and Women Singers [fols. 60–61; al-Sillāmī 171–172]
Chapter 25 The Conditions Required to Be a Skilled Singer, and the Necessity of Combining Theoretical and Practical Knowledge [fols. 61–64; al-Sillāmī 173–175]
Chapter 26 How to Choose Would-Be Singers (Girls and Boys) in order to Teach Them Singing [fols. 64a, 65; al-Sillāmī 177]
Chapter 27 Which Singer Is Pleasant to Listen to [fol. 64b; al-Sillāmī 179]
Chapter 28 Singing and the Requirements of Dignified Hearing and Respectful Listening [fols. 64b–c; al-Sillāmī 181]
Chapter 29 The Relation between the Prosodic Meters and the Rhythmic Modes [fols. 65–66; al-Sillāmī 183]
Chapter 30 Behavior in front of Kings and Their Subjects [fols. 66–68; al-Sillāmī 185–186]
Chapter 31 The First to Invent and Devise Rhythm [fols. 68–69; al-Sillāmī 187]
Chapter 32 The Rhythmic Modes (Ṭarīqa), Their Numbers, Their Basic (Aṣl) and Ornamented Forms (Farʿ) [fols. 69–72; al-Sillāmī 189–192]
Chapter 33 Which Particular Genuses of Modes Should Be Used in Which Types of Melodies [fols. 72–75; al-Sillāmī 193–195]
Chapter 34 The Characteristics of the Urghānīn Copied from Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥān’s Treatise [fols. 75–80; Sillāmī 197–200]
Chapter 35 The Characteristics of the Rabāb from the Book of Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥān [fols. 80–82; al-Sillāmī 201–202]
Chapter 36 The Characteristics of the Lute from the Rasāʾil (Epistles) of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ [fols. 82–88; al-Sillāmī 203–208]
Chapter 37 The Resemblance of the Laws of Music to the Laws of Prosody [fols. 88–91; al-Sillāmī 209–212]
Chapter 38 The Durations of the Attacks, the Durations of the Rhythmic Modes, Their Harmony and Disharmony That Are Called Being in Rhythm and off Rhythm [fols. 91–94; al-Sillāmī 213–215]
94Chapter 39 [The Reason for Calling the ʿŪd the Barbaṭ; the First to Create It and Play It; the Reason for Bringing It into Existence;] ʿŪd Strings and Their Relations with the Four Basic Elements and the Four Humors of the Human Being [fols. 141–144, 95–100; al-Sillāmī 217–225]
Chapter 40 The Rhythmic Modes [fols. 100–103; al-Sillāmī 227–231]
Chapter 41 How Compactly Twisted Strings and Less Dense Strings Affect the Human Humors [fols. 103–106; al-Sillāmī 233–234]
Chapter 42 At What Time Should Singing Slave Girls Be Invited to Sing [fol. 106; al-Sillāmī 235–236]
Chapter 43 Wonderful and Beautiful Poems about the Description of Singing, Singers, and Their Instruments [fols. 107–111; al-Sillāmī 237–250]
111Chapter 44 Poems about Musical Instruments [fols. 111–116, 145; al-Sillāmī 251–265]
Chapter 45 Good Satires Mentioned about Mediocre Singers and Wind Players (Zamara) [fols. 145–146; al-Sillāmī 267–272]
Chapter 46 Dance and the Requirements the Dancer Must Fulfill to Be Free of Mistakes and Imperfections; Mention of Excellent Skills; Mention of the Types Used in Various Regions and Countries [fols. 147–154; al-Sillāmī 273–280]
Chapter 47 Marvelous and Pure Poems Composed by Eastern and Western Poets about All Types of Dances and Shadow Dances [fols. 155–157, 135–140, 158–169; al-Sillāmī 281–304]
Back Matter
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George Dimitri Sawa, Ph.D. (1983), University of Toronto, independent scholar in Arabic music theory, performance and literature. He taught medieval, modern and sacred music at the University of Toronto and York and published eight books and over seventy articles.
This book will be of interest to musicologists, ethnomusicologists, cultural and Arabic historians, academic libraries, undergraduate and graduate students, dance teachers and choreographers.
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