The Music of The Arabian Nights

Henry George Farmer

doi:10.1017/S0035869X00099299

The Music of The Arabian Nights

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011

Henry George Farmer

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In the Nights the instrument of music is generally referred to as the ālat al-ṭarab or ālat al-malāhī. The types mentioned are fairly considerable, although in most instances the mere name occurs. In the case of the 'ūd (lute), however, certain subsidiary details occur incidentally which are of value.

Type: Articles
Information: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 77 , Issue 1-2 , April 1945 , pp. 39 - 60

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00099299 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1945

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References

^{page 39 note 1} i, 27 (i, 83).

^{page 39 note 2} i, 67.

^{page 39 note 3} i, 55.

^{page 39 note 4} Al-Mas'ūdī, op. cit., viii, 93.

^{page 39 note 5} Delhi edit., ii, 198.

^{page 39 note 6} i, 372 (i, 395).

^{page 40 note 1} Aghānī, xvi, 15.

^{page 40 note 2} ii, 259 (iii, 105).

^{page 40 note 3} JAOS., 50, 253.

^{page 40 note 4} ii, 163 (iii, 16).

^{page 40 note 5} ii, 83 (ii, 459).

^{page 40 note 6} Ency. of Islām, iv, 985.

^{page 40 note 7} ii, 536 (iii, 325).

^{page 40 note 8} iv, 326 (v, 294).

^{page 40 note 9} iv, 522 (vi, 10).

^{page 40 note 10} i, 305 (i, 337).

^{page 40 note 11} ii, 437; xix, 136.

^{page 40 note 12} Burton, iii, 240.

^{page 40 note 13} ii, 536 (iii, 325).

^{page 41 note 1} iv, 326 (v, 294).

^{page 41 note 2} Ikhwān al-Ṣafā', i, 85.

^{page 41 note 3} Ibid., i, 98.

^{page 41 note 4} Kanz al-tuḥaf, B.M. MS., Or. 2361, fol. 261v.

^{page 41 note 5} This bellicose phrase reminds us of a story of al-Mauṣīlī, Isḥāq who, passing a man carving a lute, said, “For whom are you whetting this sword?” Al-'iqd al-farīd, iii, 206Google Scholar.

^{page 41 note 6} We often see the enticement of numbers, but the three hundred and sixty female slaves (the number of days in the Coptic year) of 'Umar ibn al-Nu'mān disarms all criticism, i, 353 (i, 377).

^{page 42 note 1} Al'iqd al-farīd, iii, 186.

^{page 42 note 2} ii, 536 (iii, 325).

^{page 42 note 3} i, 69 (i, 85).

^{page 42 note 4} iv, 173 (v, 191).

^{page 42 note 5} iv, 263 (v, 295).

^{page 42 note 6} Farmer, , Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments, ii, 45Google Scholar; An Old Moorish Lute Tutor, 25.

^{page 42 note 7} i, 429.

^{page 42 note 8} i, 421.

^{page 42 note 9} ii, 434.

^{apge 42 note 10} i, 130.

^{page 42 note 11} 361.

^{page 42 note 12} Lane, ii, 343; Burton, iii, 16.

^{page 42 note 13} ii, 163.

^{page 42 note 14} iv, 264.

^{page 43 note 1} p. 362.

^{page 43 note 2} For the two methods respectively see Arnold, Legacy of Islām, fig. 89, and Farmer, Sources, pl. 2.

^{page 43 note 3} ii, 179 (iii, 30).

^{page 43 note 4} iii, 364.

^{page 43 note 5} Frontispiece.

^{page 44 note 1} Kashf al-humūm, Cairo MS., fol. 145.

^{page 44 note 2} i, 372 (i, 395).

^{page 44 note 3} i, 67 (i, 83).

^{page 44 note 4} Cf. Al-Mas'ūdī, viii, 91.

^{page 44 note 5} ii, 654 (iii, 428). The “harps” mentioned by Burton (i, 469) is not traceable in any of the texts. The 'ūd is mentioned in the Būlāq text (i, 180).

^{page 44 note 6} i, 127.

^{page 44 note 7} i, 204–5.

^{page 45 note 1} A variation of Burton's translation.

^{page 45 note 2} i, 326.

^{page 45 note 3} ii, 46.

^{page 45 note 4} ii, 306.

^{page 45 note 5} i, 810.

^{page 45 note 6} See my Studies in Oriental Musical Instruments, i, 9.

^{page 45 note 7} i, 372 (i, 395); i, 375 (i, 398).

^{page 45 note 8} ii, 67.

^{page 45 note 9} i, 360; ii, 69.

^{page 45 note 10} 360.

^{page 45 note 11} Bronze bowl (thirteenth century), Victoria and Albert Museum.

^{page 45 note 12} Kashf al-humūm. See my Sources of Arabian Music, pl. 5.

^{page 46 note 1} Riaño, , Notes on Early Spanish Music, 117Google Scholar.

^{page 46 note 2} Kashf al-humūm.

^{page 46 note 3} Niebuhr, , Voyage en Arabie, 143Google Scholar.

^{page 46 note 4} Russell, , History of Aleppo, (1794), i, 152Google Scholar.

^{page 46 note 5} v, 334.

^{page 46 note 6} Ency. of Islām, iii, 530.

^{page 46 note 7} ii, 654 (iii, 428).

^{page 46 note 8} Farmer, , Studies, i, 65Google Scholar; Ency. of Islām, iii, 539.

^{page 46 note 9} ii, 448 (iii, 251).

^{page 46 note 10} ii, 179 (iii, 30).

^{page 46 note 11} Burton, as usual, has his own spelling of shibāba.

^{page 46 note 12} iv, 172 (v, 191). Cf. Robson, , Tracts on Listening to Music, 99Google Scholar.

^{page 46 note 13} i, 372 (i, 395).

^{page 47 note 1} i, 690 (ii, 196).

^{page 47 note 2} ii, 656 (iii, 430).

^{page 47 note 3} i, 357 (i, 382).

^{page 47 note 4} ii, 656 (iii, 430).

^{page 47 note 5} al-Ṭiqṭaqa, Ibn, Al-Faḥrī, 30Google Scholar.

^{page 47 note 6} ii, 656 (iii, 430).

^{page 47 note 7} Chap. vi.

^{page 47 note 8} i, 383 (i, 396).

^{page 48 note 1} Burton admits the Heron derivation of the novelty although his reference to “the motive force of steam” cannot be accepted. See Farmer, , The Organ of the Ancients, 79Google Scholar.

^{page 48 note 2} Ency. of Islām, v, 73.

^{page 48 note 3} i, 165 (i, 191); i, 225 (i, 252); i, 353 (i, 378).

^{page 48 note 4} i, 165 (i, 191).

^{page 48 note 5} i, 27 (i, 83).

^{page 48 note 6} i, 67.

^{page 48 note 7} i, 55.

^{page 48 note 8} i, 165 (i, 191–2).

^{page 48 note 9} Lane, , Arab. Nights, i, 317Google Scholar.

^{page 48 note 10} iv, 172 (v, 190–1).

^{page 48 note 11} Lane, , Arab. Nights, i, 227, 291, 296, 306Google Scholar.

^{page 48 note 12} Lane, op. cit., i, 296.

^{page 48 note 13} Lane, 366.

^{page 49 note 1} i, 700.

^{page 49 note 2} iii, 150, 274, 282.

^{page 49 note 3} iii, 364.

^{page 49 note 4} Ikhhwān al-Ṣafā', i, 91.

^{page 49 note 5} ii, 57, 96.

^{page 49 note 6} i, 650, 700.

^{page 49 note 7} v, 57. See Lane, , Modern Egyptians, 164Google Scholar, for a design.

^{page 49 note 8} iv, 14 (v, 57); iv, 22 (v, 65).

^{page 49 note 9} See my Sa'adyah Gaon on the Influence of Music, chap. i.

^{page 49 note 10} Lane, op. cit., 365.

^{page 50 note 1} Calcutta edit., i, 244; Beyrout edit., i, 200.

^{page 50 note 2} Burton, i, 274.

^{page 50 note 3} See J.R.A.S. (1944), p. 176. See Ency. of Islām, v, 196. Legacy of Islām, fig., 91.

^{page 50 note 4} iii. 293 (iv, 238).

^{page 50 note 5} Al-Maqrīzī, i. 2, 106.

^{page 50 note 6} iii, 450 (iv 379).

^{page 50 note 7} iii, 461 (iv, 389).

^{page 50 note 8} iii, 293 (iv 238).

^{page 51 note 1} iii, 404 (iv, 337).

^{page 51 note 2} i, 661 (ii, 169).

^{page 51 note 3} iv, 313 (v, 334–5).

^{page 51 note 4} Ency. of Islām, v, 197.

^{page 51 note 5} ii, 163 (iii, 16).

^{page 51 note 6} ii, 343, 356.

^{page 51 note 7} iii, 16.

^{page 51 note 8} Berlin MS., 5517, fol. 19v.

^{page 52 note 1} i, 360.

^{page 52 note 2} p. 358.

^{page 52 note 3} Farmer, , Studies, i, 101Google Scholar.

^{page 52 note 4} Ibid., i, 102.

^{page 52 note 5} i, 204.

^{page 52 note 6} 354.

^{page 52 note 7} Description de l'Égypte (De l'état actuel de l'art musical moderne), i, 613.

^{page 52 note 8} Histoire génerate de la musique, ii, 170.

^{page 52 note 9} See Encyclopædia of Islam, iii, 749, and Recueil des travaux du Congrés de Musique arabe (Cairo, 1934), 652Google Scholar.

^{page 53 note 1} ii, 493 (iii, 281).

^{page 53 note 2} This was the opinion of Isḥāq ibn Sulaimān (d. c. 932), better known as Isaac Israeli.

^{page 53 note 3} v, 376.

^{page 53 note 4} This is inconsiderable. Most of the technical musical terms occur in tales of Arabic origin.

^{page 54 note 1} ii, 450 (iii, 253).

^{page 54 note 2} ii, 450 (iii, 252).

^{page 54 note 3} ii, 149 (iii, 16).

^{page 54 note 4} ii, 438 (iii, 240).

^{page 54 note 5} iv, 266 (v, 297).

^{page 54 note 6} ii, 149 (iii, 8).

^{page 54 note 7} Throughout.

^{page 54 note 8} i, 809 (ii, 305).

^{page 54 note 9} i, 69 (i, 85).

^{page 54 note 10} ii, 54 (ii, 434).

^{page 54 note 11} ii, 37 (ii, 419).

^{page 54 note 12} ii, 87 (ii, 462).

^{page 54 note 13} ii, 163 (iii, 16).

^{page 54 note 14} i, 809 (ii, 305).

^{page 54 note 15} i, 762 (ii, 263).

^{page 55 note 1} iv, 262 (v, 294); iv, 265 (v, 296).

^{page 55 note 2} Lexicon, 1849.

^{page 55 note 3} Introduction. Yet this really depends on the date of the Introduction, which might be later than the time of Abu'l-Faraj (tenth century).

^{page 55 note 4} Al-Ghazālī, Iḥyā' 'ulūm al-dīn, ii, 188.

^{page 55 note 5} ii, 163 (iii, 16); ii, 259 (iii, 105).

^{page 55 note 6} ii, 436 (iii, 239).

^{page 55 note 7} ii, 267 (iii, 111); iv, 362 (v, 294).

^{page 55 note 8} ii, 140 (ii, 513).

^{page 56 note 1} ii, 403 (iii, 208).

^{page 56 note 2} ii, 427 (iii, 240).

^{page 56 note 3} Cf. my Historical Facts for the Arabian Musical Influence (London, 1930), 238Google Scholar.

^{page 56 note 4} i, 372 (i, 395).

^{page 56 note 5} ii, 437 (iii, 240).

^{page 56 note 6} iv, 266 (v, 297).

^{page 56 note 7} Muḥammad, Darwīsh, Ṣafā' al-awqāt (1910), pp. 10, 20Google Scholar.

^{page 57 note 1} See my History of Arabian Music, pp. 71–2, 179, 20–5, and Sa'adydh Goon on the Influence of Music, p. 21.

^{page 57 note 2} iv, 172 (v, 190).

^{page 57 note 3} Ṭar. Burton says: “Ho thou o' the tabret.”

^{page 57 note 4} Encyclopædia of Islām, iii, 885.

^{page 57 note 5} Kitāb al-aghānī, iii, 177.

^{page 57 note 6} ii, 439 (iii, 242).

^{page 57 note 7} iv, 173 (v, 191).

^{page 57 note 8} ii, 300 (iii, 125).

^{page 58 note 1} ii, 98 (ii, 471).

^{page 58 note 2} ii, 54 (ii, 434).

^{page 58 note 3} ii, 87 (ii, 462).

^{page 58 note 4} iv, 361 (v, 376).

^{page 59 note 1} p. 239.

^{page 59 note 2} iii, 389.

^{page 59 note 3} iv, 322.

^{page 59 note 4} iii, 410.

^{page 59 note 5} iv, 343. “Turned” is possibly a printer's slip for “tuned”.

^{page 59 note 6} i, 70.

^{page 59 note 7} i, 86.

^{page 59 note 8} p. 2794.

^{page 59 note 9} Burckhardt, , Arab. Prov., 115Google Scholar. The reference is to the skin used for the face (wajh) of the pandore (tunbūra). Burckhardt calls this instrument the drum, being misled apparently by the French word tambour.

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