Kitab al-adwar fi 'l-musiqi

In his younger years, the famous musician and theorist of music Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (d. 683/1294) seemed destined for an administrative career. Having moved to Baghdad as an adolescent, he had received a first-class education, excelling in Arabic, calligraphy, and Shafi?i and comparative law especially. For a time he was a copyist in the library of the caliph al-Musta?sim (reg. 640-56/1242-58) and a teacher of calligraphy. His talents as a lute-player and musician then led to a brilliant career at al-Musta?sim's court. Under al-Musta?sim he also held juridical office, while under the Mongols he was head of the chancery of Baghdad and supervisor of the religious endowments of Iraq. Administrative talents notwithstanding, it was in musical theory that Urmawi secured himself eternal fame. Innovative and concise, yet complete, his Kitab al-adwar fi 'l-musiqi became the most popular textbook in music for centuries. An undated, anonymous Persian translation is published here, together with the Arabic original.