Foreword

The Great Book of Music

original: "Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir"

By the Philosopher Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan al-Farabi

He is Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan, from "Farab," which is in the lands of Khorasan Khorasan was a vast historical region in Central Asia and Persia; Farab is located in modern-day Kazakhstan.. He resided in the city of Baghdad and took up the sciences of wisdom and logic under the famous sage Abu Bishr Matta ibn Yunus. He also studied under the Christian sage Yuhanna ibn Haylan in the city of Harran. Then he returned to Baghdad and devoted himself to reading the books of Aristotle original: "Aristotalis" on logic until he excelled in them and explained many of them.

He was highly intelligent, powerful in argument, and proficient in several languages other than Arabic. A mathematician and a complete philosopher, he reached such fame that he was nicknamed the "Second Aristotle" In the Islamic tradition, he is famously known as "The Second Teacher" (al-Mu'allim al-Thani), with Aristotle being the first.. He was truly the most significant of the Muslim philosophers and, moreover, the greatest of the theoretical scientists in the craft of music. It is said that in his youth, he played the lute Oud A short-necked, pear-shaped fretless stringed instrument and sang, but when his beard grew, he said:

Every song that comes from between a mustache and a beard is not considered graceful.

So he abandoned that and turned toward the books of logic, philosophy, and the theoretical and rational sciences. He read them, mastered their contents, and commented on them, reaching the furthest limit of knowledge. It was mentioned that Aristotle's book On the Soul original: "Kitab al-Nafs" was found with Al-Farabi's handwriting on it, saying:

I have read this book a hundred times.

Key terms from the original: Al-Farabi, The Great Book of Music, Mahmoud Ahmad al-Hifni, Aristotle, Logic, Music, Farab, Baghdad, Khorasan