The Great Book of Music

Page 9

...which the author followed, so that it became comprehensive of all branches of this craft craft: "al-sina'a," a term used by medieval scholars like Al-Farabi to denote a systematic art or science that combines both theoretical principles and practical application..

This work has remained among the ancient Arabic manuscripts until our present time due to its massive size, the antiquity of its terminology, the depth of its meanings, the difficulty of reading it, and the lack of complete copies in public libraries. Furthermore, simply performing a scholarly verification original: "tahqiq," the philological process of comparing various manuscript witnesses to establish a text as close to the author's original as possible. might be of limited benefit; explaining its meanings and its obscure passages is a matter that requires specific knowledge and experience in such research. It also demands investigating meanings across various references, which requires total specialization and a long period of dedicated work. For these combined reasons, those interested in this work were limited to either consulting it when necessary or taking excerpts from it on topics of interest to them.

However, the care shown by the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance in publishing and reviving the Arab Heritage original: "al-Turath al-'Arabi," referring to the vast body of scientific, literary, and philosophical works produced during the Islamic Golden Age. in the sciences, arts, and literature had a clear impact on encouraging specialists to study, verify, explain, and comment on manuscripts. Thus, the production of this great monument in the science of music served as tangible evidence of that utmost care. Presenting it in this explained manner allows the reader to follow the meanings and grasp the principles of this science, its classifications, and its occurrences, making it truly the greatest complete reference in this craft.

This text was reviewed against three verified copies produced via photographic reproduction original: "taswir shamsi," literally "solar imaging," an early term for photocopying or microfilming manuscripts. of the handwritten manuscripts which the editor noted in his introduction.

It became clear from the author's words in the opening of this book that it was accompanied by a second book that examined the opinions of the ancient thinkers in this craft and corrected the errors of those who fell...