Page 11 - Pakistan Link - August 21, 2020

OPINION
n By Dr Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
Ali ibn Nafi, better known as Ziryab
(Black Bird), is a fascinating figure
from the Middle Ages. Shrouded in
some mystery, he continues to exert a pow-
erful and enduring influence
on many facets of our lives.
He revolutionized instru-
mental music, dress codes,
culinary habits, the use of the
tableware and eating practices
that have outlived him, even
though most of us are not aware of his con-
tributions made long ago.
Ziryab lived in the eighth century, more
than 12 hundred years ago, at a time when
the Islamic civilization was at its zenith. Both
Abbasid Bagdad and Omayyad Cordoba had
evolved into great centers of culture and civi-
lization, ushering in a golden age that saw
fluorescence of hard sciences as well as fine
arts. Baghdad was ruled by the storied Caliph
Haroon Al-Rashid from 786 to 809 AD, while
Cordoba, capital of Islamic Spain, blossomed
under Amir Abdur Rehman II. Interestingly,
the two capitals were seats of adversarial dy-
nasties that competed to draw to their courts
most talented, gifted musicians, artists and
learned luminaries.
Nicknamed black bird because of his
dark complexion and ability to sing beauti-
fully, details of Ziryab’s early life are scant and Mawsili that he demanded that his pupil ei-
somewhat murky, as much of the original in-
formation has not survived. Mostly unknown
to European scholars, some Western authors
have lately been researching his life and con-
tributions. According to Dwight Reynolds,
a professor of Religious Studies at the Uni-
versity of California, Santa Barbara, all the
available information about him is believed
to have been drawn from a single source,
Kitab Ziryab, appearing some two-hundred
years after his death. The original text has not
survived, only brief extracts cited by later au-
thors are accessible to us today.
The Black Bird of Cordoba
It remains uncertain where Ziryab was
born. His birthplace has been identified vari-
ously as Iraq, Persia, or North Africa, and
he is believed to have been born in 789 AD.
Haroon al-Rashid, was a great connoisseur of
music and poetry, and his court in Baghdad
had become a dazzling hub to which a gal-
axy of most talented artists from around the
world were drawn. Ibrahim Ishaq al-Mawsi-
li (766-889) was the chief musician at the
courts of Haroon al-Rashid and later his son,
Mamun (786-833), as was his father Ibrahim
al-Mawsili before him. Ziryab seems to have
found a niche for himself at the Abbasid court
and became one of many pupils of Ishaq al-
Mawsili. He learnt his music lessons so well
that he soon started to outshine his celebrated
teacher.
A bizarre story is told about the relation-
ship of the teacher with his student. Ziryab
mastered some of the signature masterpieces
in the repertoire of his teacher, Mawsili, with-
out his knowledge or permission. By that
time, Ziryab’s reputation for brilliance had
reached the Caliph who asked that the artist
be invited to perform for him. Ziryab sang
a song that he had composed himself, using
a lute that he had built. The ethereal quality
of his presentation stunned the Caliph and
his courtiers. He had excelled even his iconic
teacher, al-Mawsili, par excellence. Eventu-
ally, the situation became so threatening to
ther leave Baghdad for some far-off land or
be destroyed.
Aware of the power and influence of al-
Mawsili, Ziryab followed the prudent course
and left the capital in the middle of the night,
setting out toward North Africa. However,
the accounts of his precipitous departure
from Baghdad differ. Another version sug-
gests that, in fact, he outlived the reign of
Haroon al-Rashid and left during the rule of
his son, Mamoon. There is also disagreement
whether Ziryab spent some time serving at
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the court of the Aghlabid Emir, Ziyadat Al-
The famed British orientalist,
Stanley Lane-Pool, in his book
The Story of the Moors in Spain,
noted that “Ziryab knew more
than a thousand songs by heart,
each with its separate tune. He
added a fifth string to the lute
and his style of playing was so
unique that people who heard
him would bear to hear no one
else afterwards”
lah, in North Africa. The region, comprising Ziryab associated with his court. He became
AUGUST 21, 2020 – PAKISTAN LINK – P11
Tunis and Algeria was at the time ruled by an
Arab dynasty (800-909) that had conquered
Sicily and Southern Italy. There is agreement,
however, that Ziryab arrived at Cordoba, the
fast-growing capital of Andalusia, in 822 dur-
ing the reign of Emir Abdur Rehman II (792–
852), the fourth Umayyad ruler of Cordoba.
The city was soon to become the envy of
E u r o p e .The Emir himself was an exqui-
sitely cul- tured and cultivated man. He had
adorned his capital with palaces, gardens, and
mosques, making it a colorful cosmopolitan
city.
The Emir was also a great admirer of
fine arts, music, poetry and is reputed to have
been a poet himself and was delighted to have
so enamored of the music maestro that he
would often invite him to share his meals. He
loved to hear the exotic stories Ziryab told
him from his days in the Baghdad of the “Ara-
bian Nights.”
The famed British orientalist, Stanley
Lane-Pool, in his book The Story of the Moors
in Spain, noted that “Ziryab knew more than
a thousand songs by heart, each with its sepa-
rate tune. He added a fifth string to the lute
and his style of playing was so unique that
people who heard him would bear to hear
no one else afterwards.”
Ziryab, perhaps the most talented artist
of classic Arabic music in a millennium, ex-
celled in many other disciplines besides com-
position of music and songs. He transformed
the artistic and intellectual landscape of the
Muslim Spain, founding the first music school
in Cordoba that trained sons and daughter of
the rich as well as the poor. It is difficult to
capture in this brief article the innovations
that Ziryab instituted during his tenure at
Cordoba. He introduced a novel fifth pair of
strings to the lute (barbet in Persian, oud in
Arabic) that evolved into modern-day guitar,
making it more melodious. He popularized
sophisticated, refined dining practices to re-
place rather coarse, dull customs in vogue.
CORDOBA, P7