Kitab Al-Aghani

Kitab al-Aghani (kētäb` äl-ägänē`) [Arab.,=book of songs], collection of poems in many volumes compiled by Abu al-Faraj Ali of Esfahan. It contains poems from the oldest epoch of Arabic literature down to the 9th cent. The poems were put to music, but the musical signs are no longer readable. Because of the accompanying biographical annotations on the authors and composers, the work is an important historical source.

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Kitab Al-Aghani 

(Book of Songs), an Arabic anthology in 20 volumes compiled by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (A.D. 897–967).

The Kitab al-Aghani contains 100 songs of famous poets with the music of Ibrahim al-Mawsili, Ismail ibn-Jami, and Fulaikh ibn al-Awra. These are accompanied by detailed commentary on the poets, composers, and famous singers of the time. The anthology is an invaluable source for the study of Arabic literary and cultural history before the tenth century A.D.

REFERENCES

Krymskii, A. E. Istoriia arabov i arabskoi literatury, vols. 1–3. Moscow, 1911–13.
Wustenfeld, F. Die Geschichtsschreiber der Araber und ihre Werke. Göttingen, 1882.
Brockelmann, C. Geschichte der arabischen Literatur, vol. 1. Weimar, 1898.

I. R. BABAIANTS