Author
diagrams
Publication Date
13 Ramaḍān 906 (AH, Hijri qamari)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
220 x 159 mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Or 13019
Record ID
vdc_100084756787.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
13 Ramaḍān 906 (AH, Hijri qamari)
Notes
A musical treatise in verse accompanied by diagrams, tables, and lyrical poems, by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṣaydāwī al-Dhahabī al-Dimashqī (Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Saydawi al-Dhahabi al-Dimashqī, d. 1506). It was copied by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Kurdī al-Shāfiʿī (Abdul Aziz ibn Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Din al-Kurdi al-Shafi’i) on 13 Ramaḍān 906/2 April 1501 (see
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, below, f. 9r, lines 10-11).
The present copy refers to the text as the
Treatise by al-Ṣaydāwī
(A message originated by Al-Sidawi); The text is known by various titles
Kitāb al-anʿām bi-maʿrifat al-anghām
(The Book of In'am with the Knowledge of Melodies)
Kitāb fī maʿrifat al-anghām wa-sharḥuhā
(A book on knowing melodies and explaining them),
Kitāb yustakhraj minhu al-anghām
(A book from which melodies are extracted),
Kanz al-ṭarab wa-ghāyat al-arab
(The treasure of rapture and the goal of love)
Risālah fī al-mūsīqī
(A treatise on music) and
Risālah fī ʿilm al-mūsīqī
(A treatise on musicology).
A unique and innovative visual notation system is employed, in which colour-coded diagrams represent a stave of eight notes. Instructions for melodic development and performance are indicated using a system of abbreviations and symbols in these colours. The range of notes is also expanded to higher and lower pitches using a combination of colors and abjad notation.
The treatise is followed by a poem attributed to al-Ṣaydāwī, with interlinear rubrication indicating the modes in which it is to be sung (f. 18v), followed by another anonymous poem (ff. 19r-19v).
The copy is defective, apparently lacking a folio between the present folios 11 and 12.
Divisions of the text:
Introduction (ff. 1v-2v);
On the root, derived, and secondary modes (ff. 2v-6r);
On the degrees of the scale (seas, sail; ff. 6r-7r);
On the notation in colors and symbols employed in the diagrams (ff. 7r-9r);
On the transposition of scales (ff. 12v-13r);
On finding the modes from any position on the
sāz
(f. 14r).
Diagrams and tables:
Diagram of the first of the root modes,
Rāst
(Rast), and of two of its derived modes (f. 9v);
Diagram of the second of the root modes,
ʿIrāq
(Iraq), and of two of its derived modes (f. 10r);
Diagram of the third of the root modes,
Zīrāfkand
(Zirafkand), and of two of its derived modes (f. 10v);
Diagram of the fourth of the root modes,
Iṣfahān
(Isfahan), and of two of its derived modes (f. 11r);
Diagram of three of the six secondary modes (f. 11v);
Diagram of four of the seven degrees of the scale (f. 12r);
Summary diagram showing the relationship between notes, modes, and the signs of the zodiac (f. 12v);
Tabulation of the transposition of scales (Table of Layers, f. 13v);
Two errors diagrams demonstrating [transposition] followed by a tabulation (f.14v-15v);
Unlabelled diagram (f. 16r);
Table of modal endings (f. 16v);
Unlabelled diagram (f. 17r);
Table of modal endings (f. 17v);
Unlabelled diagram (f. 18r).
Begins (f. 1v, lines 1-4):
...and in Him is the help and in Him you can trust
Praise be to God, who has blessed me with the knowledge of melody
I thank God for His gifts with abundant gratitude that pleases Him
Then pray always with satisfaction upon the Hashemite Prophet, Al-Murtada
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 9r, lines 9-11):
In the handwriting of the weakest of servants and those most in need of God’s mercy, the Generous One who hopes is Forgiving
Al-Aziz [?] the poor Abdul Aziz Ibn Omar Ibn Muhammad Ibn Nasser Al-Din Al-Kurdi Al-Shafi’i, may God forgive [him] and his parents
This is on the date of the thirteenth of the holy month of Ramadan, the month of the year nine hundred and six
Ends (f. 19v, lines 1-6):
Give him a sign, you are worthy of that
And take control, for goodness has been given to you
The matter is yours, so judge as you decide
Beauty is dead to me
Avoid if there is a coalition
By you he hastened, I was made a sacrifice
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Bulma Yardımcıları
Shiloah, Amnon,
The Theory of Music in Arabic Writings (c. 900-1900): Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in Libraries of Europe and the U.S.A
. (Munich: G. Henle Verlag, 1979), pp. 82-86.
Edinme Kaynağı
Acquired 14 June 1966
Köken
al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Ḥabbāk al-Ṣūrī (الشيخ عبد الرحمن الحباك الصوري): his pencil inscription, without date (f. 1r);
Reading inscription, name erased, with date Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1175/June-July 1762 (f. 1r);
ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥamawī al-Dimashqī (عبد الرحمن بن محمد الحموي الدمشقي): his inscription recording that he borrowed the manuscript from al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Khaṭīb (الشيخ عبد الخطيب) and returned it, with date 1123/1711-12 (f. 1r);
'al-Haqīr'(الحقير) name erased: ownership inscription, with date 12 (Dhū al-Ḥijjah?) 1048/1638-9 (f. 1r);
Walī al-Dīn (ولي الدين) [name element erased]: his inscription recording that he read it and borrowed it, and possibly sold or bought it (السوم; f. 1r);
The singer ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad (المغني علي بن محمد): his inscription, without date (f. 1r).
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Studies:
Antar, Thérèse B. (translation and commentary),
Exploitation de la couleur en musique: Livre de la connaissance des tons et leur explication. Mouhammad Chams al-Din al-Saydawi al-Dimachqi
(Beirut: Presse Chemaly and Chemaly, 2001).
Ghrab, Anas, 'Livre de la générosite dans la connaisance des modes: Edition et traduction' (Unpublished thesis submitted for the Diplôme d'études approfondies, Université Lumiere-Lyon, 2002).
Shiloah, A. and A. Berthier, 'A propos d’un "petit livre arabe de musique"', in
Revue de musicologie
71.1 (1985), pp. 164-77.
