flight of the blackbird - saudi aramco world, jul/aug 2003

8/14/2019 Flight of the Blackbird - Saudi Aramco World, Jul/Aug 2003

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Flight of the


2/10Al-Andal

If you eat asparagus, or if

you start your meal with

soup and end with dessert

or if you use toothpaste,

or if you wear your hair in bangs

you owe a lot to one of thegreatest musicians in history.

He was known as Ziryab,

a colloquial Arabic term that

translates as blackbird. He lived

in medieval Spain more than a thou-

sand years ago. He was a freed slave whomade good, charming the royal court at Crdoba wit

his songs. He founded a music school whose fame survive

more than 500 years after his death. Ibn Hayyan of Crdoba,

one of Arab Spains greatest historians, says in his monumenta

Al-Muqtabas (The Citation)that Ziryab knew thousands of

songs by heart and revolutionized the design of the musical

instrument that became the lute. He spread a new musical

style around the Mediterranean, influencing troubadours and

minstrels and affecting the course of European music.

Ziryab is most renowned in the Arab world for his improvements to the ud. He added a second pair of red strings between

the second and third courses, making five pairs of strings in alla change credited with giving the instrument a soul.

BlackbirdW r i t t e n b y R o b e r t W . L e b l i n g , J r . I l l u s t r a t e d b y N o r m a n M a c D o n a l d


3/104 Al-Andalus

He was also his genera-tions arbiter of taste andstyle and manners, andhe exerted enormousinfluence on medieval

European society. How people dressed,what and how they ate, how theygroomed themselves, what music theyenjoyedall were influenced by Ziryab.

If youve never heard of this remark-able artist, its not surprising. With thetwists and turns of history, his namehas dropped from public memory inthe western world. But the changes hebrought to Europe are very much apart of the reality we know today.

One reason Ziryab is unknown to usis that he spoke Arabic, and was partof the royal court of the Arab empire inSpain. Muslims from Arabia and NorthAfrica ruled part of Spain from AD 711until 1492. The last remnant of Arabrule in the Iberian Peninsula, the

Kingdom of Granada, was conqueredby the armies of King Ferdinand andQueen Isabella in the same year thatColumbus sailed for the New World.

The Arabs called their Iberiandomain Al-Andalusa direct referenceto the Vandals, who occupied thepeninsula in the fifth century andwhose legacy was still pervasive whenMuslim forces arrived in the eighthand that name survives today in thename of Spains southern province,Andalusia. At its peak, Al-Andalusexperienced a golden age of civilizationthat was the envy of all Europe, andwhich set the stage for the European

Renaissance that followed. Muslims,Christians and Jews interacted in aconvivencia a living-togetheroftolerance and cooperation unparallelein its time. Influences from Arab Spaispread to France and throughoutEurope, and from there to theAmericas. It was in this context thatthe achievements of Ziryab becamepart of western culture.

Ziryabs achievements were notforgotten in the Arab world, and itis from historians there that we knowof his life and accomplishments. Asthe 17th-century Arab historian al-Maqqari says in his Nafh al-Tib

The musicians dark skin, sweet characterand melodious voice earned him the nickname

Ziryab, a colloquial Arabic nickname fora black-feathered thrush.


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(Fragrant Breeze), Therenever was, either before orafter him, a man of his pro-fession who was more gener-ally beloved and admired.

Blackbird wasactually namedAbu al-Hasan

Ali ibn Nafi,and he was bornin about the year 789 in theland now called Iraq, perhapsin its capital, Baghdad. SomeArab historians say he was afreed slaveapparently apage or personal servantwhose family had served al-Mahdi, the caliph or ruler ofthe Baghdad-based Abbasidempire from 775 until hisdeath in 785. In those days,

many prominent musicianswere slaves or freedmen,some of African origin, others fromEurope or the Middle East (includingKurdistan and Persia). Historiansdiffer over whether Ziryab was African,Persian or Kurdish. According to IbnHayyan, Ali Ibn Nafi was calledBlackbird because of his extremely darkcomplexion, the clarity of his voice andthe sweetness of his character.

Blackbird studied music under thefamous singer and royal court musician

Ishaq al-Mawsili (Isaac of Mosul).Ishaq, his even more celebrated father,Ibrahim, and Ziryab are the three artistsknown as the fathers of Arabic music.

Baghdad was then a world center forculture, art and science. Its most famousruler was Harun al-Rashid, who suc-ceeded al-Mahdi. Harun was a lover ofmusic, and brought many singers andmusicians to the palace for the enter-tainment of his guests. Ishaq, as Harunschief musician, trained a number of stu-dents in the musical arts, among themBlackbird. Ziryab was intelligent andhad a good ear; outside his lessons, hesurreptitiously learned the songs of hismaster, which were said to have beencomplex and difficult even for anexpert. Ishaq did not realize how muchZiryab had learned until Harun himselfasked to hear the young musician.

In Ibn Hayyans account (as relatedby al-Maqqari), Ishaq told the caliph,

Opposite: Blackbird

flourished in the st

ulating atmosphere

of Harun al-Rashid

Baghdad, developi

his musical skills

while implementin

new ideas. Above

and left: Performing

before the caliph,

the young musician

upstaged his teache

Ishaq al-Mawsuli,

who forced him to

choose between

exile and death.

numbers. If Your Majesty permits, Ising for you what human ears havenever heard before.

Harun raised his eyebrows, andordered that master Ishaqs lute behanded to Ziryab. The Arabian lute ud, model of the European lute andrelative of the guitar, was an instru-ment with four courses of strings, abody shaped like half a pear and abent, fretless neck.

Ziryab respectfully declined theinstrument. Ive brought my ownlute, he said, which I made myselstripping the wood and working iand no other instrument satisfiesme. I left it at the palace gate and, w

Yes, Ive heard some nice things fromZiryab, some clear and emotionalmelodiesparticularly some of myown rather unusual renditions. I taughthim those songs because I consideredthem especially suited to his skill.

Ziryab was summoned, and he sangfor Harun al-Rashid. Afterward, whenthe caliph spoke to him, Ziryabanswered gracefully, with real charmof manner. Harun asked him abouthis skill, and Blackbird replied, I cansing what the other singers know, butmost of my repertory is made up ofsongs suitable only to be performedbefore a caliph like Your Majesty.The other singers dont know those


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the middle of the night and summonhis own students, teaching them themelodies he had heard in his dreams.

As Reinhart Dozy notes in Histoirdes Musulmans dEspagne, Noneknew better than Ishaq that there wano insanity in all this: What true artisindeed, whether believing injinn ornot, has not known moments when h

has been under the sway of emotionshard to define, and savoring of thesupernatural?

Ziryab and his family fled fromBaghdad to Egypt and crossed NorthAfrica to Kairouan in present-dayTunisia, seat of the Aghlabid dynastyof Ziyadat Allah I. There he was wel-comed by the royal court. But he hadno intention of staying in Kairouan;his eyes were on Spain. Under theUmayyads, Crdoba was fast becom-ing a cultural jewel to rival Baghdad,and Blackbird thought Crdoba mighbe a fit setting for his talents.

Ziryab wrote to al-Hakam, ruler ofthe emirate of Al-Andalus, and offeredhis musical skills. Al-Hakam, delightedwith the prospect of adding a Baghdadmusician to his court, wrote back

choice: Leave Baghdad, take up resi-dence far from here, and swear thatIll never hear from you again. If youdo this, Ill give you enough money tomeet your needs. But if you choose tostay and spite meI warn you, Ill riskmy life and all I possess to crush you.Make your choice!

Ziryab did not hesitate; he took the

money and left the Abbasid capital.Ishaq explained his protgs absenceby claiming that Ziryab was mentally

unbalanced and had left Baghdad ina rage at not receiving a gift from thecaliph. The young man is possessed,Ishaq told Harun al-Rashid. Hessubject to fits of frenzy that are horri-ble to witness. He believes thejinnspeak with him and inspire his music.Hes so vain he believes his talent isunequaled in the world. I dont knowwhere he is now. Be thankful, YourMajesty, that hes gone.

There was a germ of truth in Ishaqstale: According to Ibn Hayyan andothers, Ziryab did believe that in hisdreams he heard the songs of thejinn,the spirit beings of Islamic and Arablore. He would wake from a dream in

your permission, Ill send for it.Harun sent for the lute. He examined

it. It looked like Ishaq al-Mawsulis.Why wont you play your masters

lute? the caliph asked.If the caliph wants me to sing in

my masters style, Ill use his lute. Butto sing in my own style, I need thisinstrument.

They look alike to me, Harun said.At first glance, yes, said Ziryab,but even though the wood and thesize are the same, theweight is not. My luteweighs about a third lessthan Ishaqs, and my stringsare made of silk that hasnot been spun with hotwaterwhich weakensthem. The bass and thirdstrings are made of liongut, which is softer and

more sonorous than thatof any other animal. Thesestrings are stronger thanany others, and they canbetter withstand the strik-ing of the pick. Ziryabspick was a sharpenedeagles claw, rather than theusual piece of carved wood.He had also, significantly,added a fifth course ofstrings to the instrument.

Harun was satisfied. He

ordered Ziryab to perform, and theyoung man began a song he had com-posed himself. The caliph was quiteimpressed. He turned to al-Mawsuliand said, If I thought you had beenhiding this mans extraordinary ability,Id punish you for not telling me abouthim. Continue his instruction until itscompleted. For my part, I want tocontribute to his development.

Ziryab had apparently concealedhis finest talents from his own teacher.When Ishaq was finally alone with hispupil, he raged about being deceived.He said frankly that he was jealousof Ziryabs skill, and feared the pupilwould soon replace the master in thecaliphs favor.

I could pardon this in no man, noteven my own son, Ishaq said. If Iwerent still somewhat fond of you, Iwouldnt hesitate to kill you, regard-less of the consequences. Here is your

6 Al-Andalus

Under the Umayyads, Crdoba was fastbecoming a cultural jewel to rival Baghdad, and

seemed a fit setting for Blackbirds talents.

Fleeing Baghdad, Ziryab moved west with his family. He stopped in the hills of Kairouan, in modern-day

Tunisia, before gaining an invitation to bring his musical skills to Crdoba.

Baghdad

Constantinople

Damascus

Cairo

Alexandria

KairouanAlgeciras

Crdoba

RedSea

Mediterranean Sea


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Al-Andal

inviting Ziryab to proceed to Crdoba.He offered the musician a handsomesalary. Ziryab and his family packedtheir bags and headed overland to theStrait of Gibraltar. There they embarkedon a ship bound for Algeciras, Spain.

When Ziryab arrived in Spain inthe year 822, he was shocked to learnthat al-Hakam was dead. Devastated,

the young musician prepared to returnto North Africa. But thanks to theglowing recommendation of Abu al-Nasr Mansur, a Jewish musician ofthe Crdoban royal court, al-Hakamsson and successor Abd al-Rahman IIrenewed the invitation to Ziryab.

After meeting with the 33-year-oldwonder from Baghdad, Abd al-Rahmanwho was about the same agemadehim an attractive offer. Ziryab would

receive a handsome salary of 200 goldpieces per month, with bonuses of 500gold pieces at midsummer and the newyear and 1000 on each of the twomajor Islamic holidays. He would begiven 200 bushels of barley and 100bushels of wheat each year. He wouldreceive a modest palace in Crdobaand several villas with productive

farmland in the countryside. Naturally,Ziryab accepted the offer; overnight hebecame a prosperous member of thelanded upper class in Islamic Spain.

Abd al-Rahmans objec-tive in hiring the youngmusician was to bringculture and refinementto the rough-and-ready

country of Al-Andalus, the wild west

of the Arab world and not too longago a barbarian Gothic land farfrom the civilized centers of Damascuand Baghdad. The rulers ownUmayyad family had come as exilesfrom Damascus, where they had rulan Islamic empire for several hundreyears. Now the power rested with thAbbasids in Baghdad, and that city

had become a magnet for scientists,artists and scholars of all descriptioIn fact, Abd al-Rahman offered

Ziryab employment before even askihim to perform. And when he eventually did hear Ziryabs songs, contemraries say the ruler was so captivatedthat he would never again listen toanother singer. From that day forwaAbd al-Rahman and Ziryab were clconfidants, and would often meet to


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prodigious. He was also an excellenpoet, a student of astronomy andgeography, and a dazzling conversa-

tionalist, accordingto Ibn Hayyan and

al-Maqqari. He oftdiscussed the custoand manners ofnations throughou

the known world,

and spoke extensivelyof the high civilizationcentered in Baghdad.As his popularity inAl-Andalus grew, sodid his influence. Hisuggestions and recomendations becamethe popular fashion.Many of his new idegradually migrated

into the land of theFranksto France,Germany, northernItaly and beyond.

Ziryab lowell-prepared foalmost amuch as

did music. He revolutionized tarts of the table in Spain, in ways thsurvive to this day.

Before Ziryab, Spanish dining wasimple, even crude, affair, inherited frthe Visigoths, the successors of theVandals, and from local custom. Platof different foods were piled togetheall at the same time, on bare woodentables. Table manners were nonexiste

A wide array of foods was availain Al-Andalusmeats, fish and fowlvegetables, cheeses, soups and sweet

Opposite: Blackbird

broke social barriers in

Crdoba, teaching new

musical styles to the

children of the wealth

as well as to ordinary

entertainers. Left:

Ziryabs innovations

in Al-Andalus include

appropriate clothing

each of the four seaso

discuss poetry, history and all the artsand sciences.

Ziryab served as a kind of ministerof culture for the Andalusi realm. Oneof his first projects was to found aschool of music, which opened its doorsnot only to the talented sons and daugh-ters of the higher classesbut also to lower-class

court entertainers.Unlike the more rigidconservatories ofBaghdad, Ziryabsschool encouragedexperimentation inmusical styles andinstruments. Whilethe academy taughtthe world-famousstyles and songs ofthe Baghdad court,Ziryab quickly began

introducing his inno-vations and estab-lished his reputationas, in the words ofthe Encyclopaedia ofIslam, the founder ofthe musical traditionsof Muslim Spain.

He created the rulesgoverning the performanceof the nuba (or nauba),an important AndalusianArab music form that

survives today in theclassical music of NorthAfrica, known as malufin Libya, Tunisia andeastern Algeria, and simplyas andalusi music fartherwest. Ziryab created24 nubas, one for each hourof the day, like the classicalragas of India. The nubaform became very popularin the Spanish Christian com-munity and had a pronounced influ-ence on the development of medievalEuropean music.

Adding a fifth pair of strings to thelute gave the instrument greater delicacyof expression and a greater range. Asmusic historian Julian Ribera wrote inthe 1920s, the medieval lutes fourcourses of strings were widely believedto correspond to the four humors ofthe body. The first pair was yellow,

symbolizing bile, the second was red forblood, the third white for phlegm, andthe fourth, the bass pair, was black formelancholy. Ziryab, it was said,gave the lute a soul, addinganother red pair of stringsbetween the secondand third courses.

Ziryab heightened the lutes sensi-tivity by playing the instrument witha flexible eagles talon or quill, ratherthan the traditional wooden pick. Thisinnovation spread quickly, and soonno skilled musician in Crdoba wouldconsider touching wood to the stringsof his lute.

Ziryab reputedly knew the wordsand melodies of 10,000 songs byheart. Though this claim may be exag-gerated, his memory was certainly


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nuts, indicating a lavishmulti-course meal, canbe traced back toZiryabs innovationsat the Andalusi table.

Dressing up the plain woodendinner table, Ziryab taught locacraftsmen how to produce tooleand fitted leather table coveringHe replaced the heavy gold andsilver drinking goblets of theupper classesa holdover from

the Goths and Romanswithdelicate, finely crafted crystal.He redesigned the bulky woodesoupspoon, substituting a trim-mer, lighter-weight model.

Ziryab also turned his atten-tion to personal grooming andfashion. He developed Europesfirst toothpaste (though what

exactly its ingredients were, we cannosay). He popularized shaving amongmen and set new haircut trends.Before Ziryab, royalty and nobles

washed their clothes with rose water;to improve the cleaning process, heintroduced the use of salt.

For women, Blackbird opened abeauty parlor/cosmetology schoolnot far from the Alcazar, the emirspalace. He created hairstyles that werdaring for the time. The women ofSpain traditionally wore their hairparted in the middle, covering theirears, with a long braid down the backZiryab introduced a shorter, shapedcut, with bangs on the forehead andthe ears uncovered. He taught theshaping of eyebrows and the use ofdepilatories for removing body hair.He introduced new perfumes and cos-metics. Some of Ziryabs fashion tipshe borrowed from the elite socialcircles of Baghdad, then the worldsmost cosmopolitan city. Others weretwists on local Andalusi custom. Mosbecame widespread simply because

From chess to coiffure, and

from novel foods like aspara-

gus to tooled leather table

coverings, dinnerware and

table manners, Ziryab pio-

neered customs that were

later carried north, where

they influenced the manners

and customs of Europe.

10 Al-Andalus

soaked in saffron syrupis believedby many Algerians to derive its name

from Ziryabs, a claim impossible toconfirm or refute. An Indian versionofzalabia, thejalebi, can be tracedback to the 15th century within Indiabut no earlier, and could be a borrow-ing from the Arabs and ultimatelyfrom Ziryab.

With the emirs blessing, Ziryabdecreed that palace dinners would beserved in coursesthat is, accordingto a fixed sequence, starting withsoups or broths, continuing with fish,fowl or meats, and concluding withfruits, sweet desserts and bowls of pis-tachios and other nuts. This presenta-tion style, unheard of even in Baghdador Damascus, steadily gained in popu-larity, spreading through the upperand merchant classes, then amongChristians and Jews, and even to thepeasantry. Eventually the custombecame the rule throughout Europe.The English expression from soup to

Ziryab combined them in imaginativerecipes, many originating in Baghdad.

One of these dishes, consisting ofmeatballs and small triangular piecesof dough fried in coriander oil, cameto be known as taqliyat Ziryab, orZiryabs fried dish; many others borehis name as well. He delighted courtdiners by elevating a humble springweed called asparagus to the statusof a dinner vegetable. Ziryab devel-oped a number of delectable desserts,including an unforgettable treat ofwalnuts and honey that is served tothis day in the city of Zaragoza. In hisadopted home, Crdoba, the musician-gourmet is remembered today in anold dish of roasted and salted broadbeans called ziriab.

The staying power of Blackbirdsreputation is such that even today inAlgeria, where Andalusi influence con-tinues to echo, the sweet orange Arabpastry known as zalabiahere it takesthe form of a spiral of fried batter


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Ziryab advocated them: He was acelebrity, and people gained statussimply by emulating him.

As an arbiter of courtly dress, hedecreed Spains first seasonal fashioncalendar. In springtime, men andwomen were to wear bright colorsin their cotton and linen tunics, shirts,blouses and gowns. Ziryab introduced

colorful silk clothing to supplementtraditional fabrics. In summer, whiteclothing was the rule. When the weatherturned cold, Ziryab recommended longcloaks trimmed with fur, which becameall the rage in Al-Andalus.

Ziryab exercised great clout at theemirs court, even in political andadministrative decision-making. Abdal-Rahman II has been credited withorganizing the norms of the statein Al-Andalus, transforming it froma Roman-Visigothic model to one set

up along Abbasid lines, and Ziryab issaid to have played a significant rolein this process.

Ziryab brought in astrologers fromIndia and Jewish doctors from NorthAfrica and Iraq. The astrologers weregrounded in astronomy, and Ziryabencouraged the spread of this knowl-edge. The Indians also knew howto play chess, and Ziryab had themteach the game to members of theroyal court, and from there it spreadthroughout the peninsula.

Not surprisingly, Ziryabsall-encompassing influ-ence incurred the jeal-ousy and resentmentof other courtiers in

Crdoba. Two celebrated poets of theday, Ibn Habib and al-Ghazzal, wrotescathing verses attacking him. Al-Ghazzal, a prominent Andalusi satirist,probably viewed the Baghdadi Ziryabas a high-toned interloper. Ziryabmaintained the friendship and supportof the emir, however, and that was allthat mattered.

But Abd al-Rahman II died inabout 852, and his remarkable inno-vator Ziryab is believed to have fol-lowed about five years later. Ziryabschildren kept alive his musical inven-tions, assuring their spread throughoutEurope. Each of his eight sons andtwo daughters eventually pursued a

musical career, though not all becamecelebrities. The most popular singerwas Ziryabs son Ubayd Allah,though his brother Qasim was said tohave a better voice. Next in talent wasAbd al-Rahman, the first of the chil-dren to take over the music schoolafter their fathers deaththougharrogance was said to be his downfall,for he ended up alienating everyone,according to Ibn Hayyan.

Ziryabs daughters were skilledmusicians. The better artist wasHamduna, whose fame translated intomarriage with the vizier of the realm.The better teacher was her sisterUlaiya, the last surviving of Ziryabschildren, who went on to inherit mostof her fathers musical clients.

As Abd al-Rahman II and Ziryabdeparted the stage, Crdoba was com-ing into its own as a cultural capitaland seat of learning. By the timeanother Abd al-Rahmanthe third

took power in 912, the city hadbecome the intellectual center ofEurope. As historian James Cleughsaid of Crdoba in Spain in theModern World, there was nothinglike it, at that epoch, in the rest ofEurope. The best minds in that conti-nent looked to Spain for everythingwhich most clearly differentiates ahuman being from a tiger.

As the first millennium drew to aclose, students from France, Englandand the rest of Europe flocked toCrdoba to study science, medicineand philosophy and to take advantageof the great municipal library with its600,000 volumes. When they returnedto their home countries, they took withthem not only knowledge, but also art,music, cuisine, fashion and manners.

Europe found itself awash withnew ideas and new customs, andamong the many streams that flowed

Robert W. Lebling, Jr. is head of electronic p

lishing for Saudi Aramco in Dhahran. His aca-

demic background includes studies in the hist

politics and anthropology of Arab North Afric

and Al-Andalus. He is collaborating on a booon natural remedies of Arabia.

Norman MacDonald is a Canadian free-lanc

illustrator who lives in Amsterdam. He has be

sketching the war-crimes trial of former Yugo

president Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague.

northward from the Iberian Peninsumore than one had been channeledby Ziryab.

Desserts like guirlache, an age-old

concoction of walnuts, honey and

sesame that is still popular today in

Zaragoza, Spain, may well reflect the

continuing influence of Ziryab, who

combined arrays of ingredients in

novel ways.

Related articles have appeared in these

past issues ofAramco Worldand Saudi

Aramco World:

Al-Andalus: S/O 92, J/F 93

Tunisian malufmusic: J/A 01

Umayyad Spain:

www.nmhschool.org/tthornton/meh

torydatabase/Umayyad_spain.htm

Arabs in Al-Andalus:

www.artopedia.com/reading.html

Crdoba:

www.islamonline.net/iolenglish/

dowalia/art-2000-may-11/art4.asp

An Andalusian cookbook of the 13th century:

http://daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/

Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian_

contents.htm

The Ornament of the World: How

Muslims, Christians and Jews Creat

a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain.

Mara Rosa Menocal; Harold Bloom, forward.

2002, Little, Brown and Company, 0-316-5668

$27.95 hb.

The Rise and Fall of Paradise: When Arab

and Jews Built a Kingdom in Spain. Elmer

Bendiner. 1990, Hippocrene Books, 0-880-294

flight of the blackbird - saudi aramco world, jul/aug 2003

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