al-Durr al-naqī fī fann al-mūsīqī الدرّ النقيّ في الفنّ الموسيقي Mawṣilī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman موصلي، أحمد بن عبد الرحمن

Content

Treatise on music theory relating the musical modes, or maqams (مقامات), to the Prophets, signs of the zodiac, hours of the day, etc. by Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Sayyid Aḥmad al-Rifā‘ī ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān, given the laqab al-Musallam al-Mawṣlī (أبو صالح السيّد الرفاعي الملقّب بالمسلم الموصلي ابن عبد الرحمن, d. 1737; see f. 3r, lines 6-7). The text is a commentary on a Persian treatise on music theory by ‘Abd al-Mu’min al-Balkhī (عبد المؤمن البلخي; see f. 3r, line 9).

Contents:

Introduction (المقدمة; ff. 2v-3v);

Chapter 1 (الباب الأوّل; f. 4r-4v);

Chapter 2 (الباب الثاني; ff. 4v-5v);

Chapter 3 (الباب الثالث; ff. 5v- 7v);

Conclusion (الخاتمة; ff. 7v-9v).

The treatise contains two fold-out diagrams on ff. 6r and 8r.

The treatise is followed by an anonymous poem (f. 10r-10v) relating the modes, or maqams (مقامات), to the hours, planets, days of the week, spheres, signs of the zodiac and the temperaments.

Begins (f. 2v, lines 3-5):

الحمد لله الذي منّ علينا بدين الإسلام وهدانا بنبيه محمد سيّد

الأنام وشرّفنا على كثير ممّن خلق بمريد الكرم والأنعام وكلّفنا

بالعبادة وأقام كلّ فرد منّا بمقام فسبحان من اسمعنا خطاب

Ends (f. 9v, lines 15-19):

... ثمّ ليختم بما ابتدأ ولا

يتنقل إلى غيرها من المقامات فإنّه الزواحلا من الانتقال من

مقام إلى مقام واقهما على هذا الأستاذ الكبير يوسف جامي

وإبراهيم نهاوندي وعلي الزوياني ومولانا جسين چاکیري

وغيرهم

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. v+1+iii+9+xiii

Physical characteristics

Material: Western laid paper with watermark bearing initials 'G F B' visible in gutter on most folios

Dimensions: 205 x 140 mm leaf [150 x 80 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 21 lines per page; vertical spacing 14 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in red

Binding: Red leather case binding with blind tooled medallion and pendants on both boards

Condition: Minor tears and damage to some outer margins repaired

Seals: f. 2r

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Add MS 23494

History of this record

Date(s)

19th century (CE, Gregorian)

Context of creation

Baghdad?

Provenance

Colonel Robert Taylor (1788-1852), Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Baghdad (1828-43): his seal, undated, with legend عبده تيلر (f. 2r)

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Mrs Taylor, widow of Colonel Robert Taylor (1788-1852), Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Baghdad (1828-43), 14 April 1860

Related material

Finding aids

Cureton, William and Charles Rieu, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Museo Britannico asservantur. Pars secunda, codices arabicos amplectens (London: The British Museum, 1846-71), Item 1467, p. 668

Select Bibliography

Edition:

• Mawṣilī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman, al-Durr al-naqī fī ʿilm al-mūsīqī , ed. by Jalāl al-Ḥanafī (Baghdād: Dār al Jumhūrīyah, 1964)

Subjects

Music theory--Early works to 1800

People & organisations

Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman Mawṣilī

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al-Durr al-naqī fī fann al-mūsīqī الدرّ النقيّ في الفنّ الموسيقي Mawṣilī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman موصلي، أحمد بن عبد الرحمن, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 23494, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100026906787.0x000001> [accessed 13 March 2025]

Link to this record

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