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Ziryab in the Aghlabid Court

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Ziryab in the Aghlabid Court Chapter 8 Ziryab in the Aghlabid Court Dwight Reynolds Did the famous singer Ziryab reside and perform in the Aghlabid court in be- tween his sojourns in Baghdad and Cordoba? Did an unfortunate faux pas dur- ing a performance before the Aghlabid ruler Ziyadat Allah I (r. 817–38) lead to his expulsion from Ifriqiya and force him to travel westward to al-Andalus and seek refuge and patronage from the Umayyads? Only one author, Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih (860–940), places Ziryab in the court of Ziyadat Allah and gives an ac- count of the ill-fated performance during which that prince supposedly took such grievous offense that he had Ziryab beaten and expelled from his realm. But Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih’s characterization of Ziryab is so different in tone from that of later authors that several modern Western scholars have cast doubt or the trustworthiness of his narrative. This essay evaluates the historical plausi- bility of this single narrative about Ziryab in the Aghlabid court by examining the earliest references to Ziryab alongside what is known about artistic life in the court of Ziyadat Allah. Ziryab: The Legendary Account ʿAli b. Nafiʿ, more commonly referred to by his “stage name” of Ziryab (lit. “blackbird”), is one of the most famous musicians in the history of medieval Arab music. Although Ibrahim and Ishaq al-Mawsili (father and son) might be better known among scholars of Islamic history, neither of these figures has a position in the modern popular imagination remotely approaching that of Ziryab. From Morocco to Syria, musicians and their audiences accord unparal- leled status to Ziryab as a symbol of the golden age of medieval al-Andalus, an icon of Umayyad glory. He is variously said to have laid the foundations for the entire Andalusi musical tradition; known the lyrics and melodies to 10,000 songs by heart; added a fifth string to the oud (Arab lute); dictated fash- ions in clothing, food, and coiffure in the ninth-century court of Cordoba; and been paid sums so enormous that they were spoken of even in far-off Baghdad and caused the emir of Cordoba’s own ministers to refuse to release money from the state’s coffers for such extravagant payments. Given Ziryab’s renown in both written and oral tradition, it is astonishing to realize that most of the © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���8 | doi ��.��63/9789004356047_009 Ziryab In The Aghlabid Court 145 information that is so often repeated about Ziryab first appears approximately two centuries after his death and is derived from a single anonymous text. That text, known variously as the Kitab Ziryab or the Kitab akhbar Ziryab, was widely known in the eleventh century and is mentioned by several Andalusi writers including Ibn Hayyan (987–1076),1 Ibn Hazm (994–1064),2 and al-Humaydi (b. before 1029, d. 1095).3 The work has not survived and the only passages to have come down to us are those quoted by Ibn Hayyan in his Kitab al-muqtabis, which were later reworked by Ahmad al-Maqqari (d. 1631/2).4 It is al-Maqqari’s selectively redacted account of Ziryab from the sev- enteenth century, composed nearly eight centuries after his death, that has become the common version of Ziryab’s biography.5 This oft-quoted narrative presents Ziryab as a mawlā (client or servant) of the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–85), who studied singing and composition with Ishaq, son of Ibrahim al-Mawsili (767–850), chief musician in the court of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). One day the caliph is reported to have asked Ishaq to present him with something new and Ishaq decided to bring his student Ziryab to perform before the caliph. Ziryab, it is said, had carefully hidden the extent of his musical talents from his teacher, learned his teacher’s repertory and techniques by “eavesdropping,” and when he had a chance to perform before the caliph, he sang and played with such astonishing skill that Ishaq feared he would be displaced in the caliph’s favor. In a melodra- matic encounter worthy of a Hollywood western, Ishaq is said to have cornered Ziryab and threatened his life if he did not leave Baghdad immediately. Ziryab, knowing his teacher’s power and status, chose to flee, heading west to seek his fortune. Despite his status as a virtually unknown musician who had performed but a single time before the caliph, he was then supposedly invited by the emir, al-Hakam I, to come to Cordoba; but when he reached the shores of al-An- dalus, he was informed that al-Hakam I had recently died and that his son, ʿAbd al-Rahman II, had just ascended the throne. Ziryab was assured, however, that the new ruler was equally eager to have him appear at the Umayyad court and he was promised an enthusiastic welcome. This account, therefore, places Ziryab in Cordoba in 822, the year that ʿAbd al-Rahman II became emir, a date that is found in most of the historical sources on Ziryab. 1 Ibn Hayyan, al-Sifr al-thani, 309–16. 2 Ibn Hazm, Tawq al-hamama, 250. 3 Al-Humaydi, Jadhwat al-muqtabis, 267. 4 See Reynolds, “Al-Maqqarī’s Ziryab,” 155–68. 5 Al-Maqqari, Nafh al-tib, 1:83–92..
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