al-Mukhtar min Kitab al-Lahw wa al-Malahi
- Author died
- 280 AH
- Editions
- al-Mukhtar min Kitab al-Lahw wa al-Malahi
al-Mukhtar min Kitab al-Lahw wa al-Malahi (Selections from the Book of Entertainment and Musical Instruments) is a treatise on music and musical instruments by the Abbasid court companion, historian, and geographer Ibn Khurdadhbah (ca. 205–280 AH / ca. 820–893 CE; other reports give his death as ca. 300 AH / 912 CE) .
Background and Authorship
The author, Abu al-Qasim Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Khurdadhbah (also referred to as Abd Allah or Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah), was of Persian descent, settled in Baghdad, and descended from an ancestor who converted to Islam under the patronage of the Barmakids . In addition to his administrative training, he studied the art of music under the prominent musician Ishaq al-Mawsili . Ibn Khurdadhbah served as the head of postal and intelligence services (al-barid wa-al-khabar) in the province of al-Jibal during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Wathiq, and later became an intimate courtier and boon companion (nadim) of Caliph al-Mu'tamid .
His original, unabridged composition, Kitab al-Lahw wa al-Malahi, was recorded by Ibn al-Nadim in al-Fihrist alongside his other works on courtly life, including Adab al-Sama' (The Etiquette of Listening to Music), Kitab al-Sharāb (The Book of Drinks), and Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Cookery) .
Transmission and Manuscript
Of Ibn Khurdadhbah's various writings, only two survive: his geographical work al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik (Routes and Kingdoms) and the abridgment titled al-Mukhtar min Kitab al-Lahw wa al-Malahi . The text was preserved in a manuscript found in the private library of the scholar Habib Zayyat . It remains uncertain whether this abridged selection was prepared by Ibn Khurdadhbah himself or excerpted by a later compiler .
Reception and Publication
Ibn Khurdadhbah's transmissions on musical and courtly lore were not universally praised; Yaqut al-Hamawi recorded that Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani attacked him whenever citing his reports, disparaging him as someone of much confusion and little scholarly precision .
The selected text was published in Baghdad as part of the volume al-Musiqa al-Iraqiyya (Iraqi Music), and was also edited and printed in Beirut across multiple issues of the journal al-Mashriq in 1960, 1964, and 1966 .
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