Mut'at al-asma' fi 'ilm al-sama' = : The ears' pleasure and the science of listening to music / / by Ahmad b. Yusuf Al-tifashi l-qafsi (580-651/1184-1253) ; [translated] by George Sawa.

• VerfasserIn: Tīfāshī, Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf, -1253 or 1254,
• TeilnehmendeR: Sawa, George, 1947-
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

The Eminence of Listening to Music above All Else, and the Superiority of Melodies and the Wonderful Effects They Have on the Human Body -- The Importance of Listening to Singing While Drinking and the Exclusive Usefulness of Listening While Drinking over Other Activities -- When It Is Appropriate to Listen and Drink -- The Order of Singing in a Drinking Majlis -- The Poetical Qualities That Complete the Pleasure of the Listener When Added to Music -- How the Strings Wondrously Affect the Four Humors That Make Up the Human Body -- About the Divine Secret Causing the Effects of Melodies on the Souls of Humans and Animals -- The Singer's Excellent Qualities -- How to Listen to Singing in the Musical Majlis -- The Singing Styles of People of Different Regions and the Repertoire of the People of the Maghrib -- Andalusian Musical Laws : [The Composers and] Their Instruments -- 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 -- Mention of the Memorized Repertoire among the Common Singers in Our Era in the Eastern Empire and Their Poems -- 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 -- Melodies That Resemble the Meanings and Suit the Poems -- The Definition of Singing -- The Origin of Arabic Singing, Its Source and Birth Place -- Favoring Older Singing over the Modern -- The Process of Composition -- The Amount of Ṭarab That Affects the Person Knowledgeable in the Art of Singing --

What Songs the Singer Should Start with at the Beginning of His Performance in the Majlis -- The Necessary Conditions of the Excellent Singer and His Good Standing with Listeners -- Good and Bad, Stated or Implied Song Themes -- On the Proper Behavior to Praise Men and Women Singers -- The Conditions Required to Be a Skilled Singer, and the Necessity of Combining Theoretical and Practical Knowledge -- How to Choose Would-Be Singers (Girls and Boys) in order to Teach Them Singing -- Which Singer Is Pleasant to Listen to -- Singing and the Requirements of Dignified Hearing and Respectful Listening -- The Relation between the Prosodic Meters and the Rhythmic Modes -- Behavior in front of Kings and Their Subjects -- The First to Invent and Devise Rhythm -- The Rhythmic Modes (Ṭarīqa), Their Numbers, Their Basic (Aṣl) and Ornamented Forms (Far') -- Which Particular Genuses of Modes Should Be Used in Which Types of Melodies -- The Characteristics of the Urghānīn Copied from Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥān's Treatise -- The Characteristics of the Rabāb from the Book of Ibn al-Ṭaḥḥān -- The Characteristics of the Lute from the Rasā'il (Epistles) of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā' -- The Resemblance of the Laws of Music to the Laws of Prosody -- The Durations of the Attacks, the Durations of the Rhythmic Modes, Their Harmony and Disharmony That Are Called Being in Rhythm and off Rhythm -- The Reason for Calling the 'Ūd the Barbaṭ; the First to Create It and Play It; the Reason for Bringing It into Existence; 'Ūd Strings and Their Relations with the Four Basic Elements and the Four Humors of the Human Being -- The Rhythmic Modes -- How Compactly Twisted Strings and Less Dense Strings Affect the Human Humors -- At What Time Should the Singing Slave Girls Be Invited to Sing -- Wonderful and Beautiful Poems about the Description of Singing, Singers [and Their Instruments] -- Poems about Musical Instruments -- Good Satires Mentioned about Mediocre Singers and Wind Players (Zamara) -- Dance and 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 -- Marvelous and Pure Poems Composed by Eastern and Western Poets about All Types of Dances and Shadow Dances -- Appendix. the Qualities Required of Dancers according to al-Mas'ūdī