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 rep...

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