The Great Book of Music

...the arrangement of words according to their meanings in a rhythmic meter, while observing the rules of grammar in the language. As for music, it specializes in the shifting shifting: "muzahafa," a term borrowed from Arabic prosody referring to the shortening or alteration of rhythmic units to fit a musical flow. of the components of rhythmic speech, releasing them as sounds according to harmonious proportions of quantity and quality through methods that govern the style of composition.

Thus, when the beauty of meaning in poetry is paired with the excellence of craftsmanship in a complete, rhythmically sound melody—following a splendid style and delivery from a voice with a pleasant tone original: "naghma," referring to a specific musical note or the quality of a sound.—the soul is instinctively drawn to it. It listens intently, and at that moment, various emotional factors are awakened within it.

It is evident that the craft of poetry and rhythmic or rhymed speech is, in some way, older in existence than the craft of melodies. These melodies were first composed as human vocalizations paired with speech to achieve their purpose more quickly. Likewise, the craft of melodies is also, in some way, older than the craft of notes original: "al-naghama," here referring specifically to tones produced by instruments. heard from instruments. These instruments were only joined to human melodies to make them more excellent, splendid, and beautiful to hear.

The science of music differs from the start from all other sciences and arts because of the absence of a physical form in its subject matter. Sounds are neither visible nor tangible, as they are in the arts of painting and sculpture, where the eye or the hand plays a major role in easily perceiving them and grasping their principles. For this reason, it was natural for hearing and sight to work together with sensation and will in the analysis of sound structures. When these sounds strike the hearing, the brain is alerted, and a feeling of their various qualities is produced. At that point, the mind becomes certain whether they are harmonious in this manner or discordant—in which case the soul recoils upon hearing them.

Just as hearing is the direct path that connects sounds with the center of...

(2) The Great Book of Music