A MUSICOLOGICAL TREATISE FROM FOURTEENTH/FIFTEENTH-CENTURY HASANKAYF: MUZAFFAR AL-HASKAFI’S WORK Al-KASHSHAF FI ʿILM AL-ANGHAM
This article aims to explore the work al-Kashshaf fi Ilm al-Angham, written by Muzaffar al-Haskafi in fourteenth/fifteenth-century Hasankayf under the Ayyubids, and evaluate its place in the classical musicological literature. Al-Haskafi develops his ideas in relation with those of his predecessors and contemporaries, such as Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (d. 693/1294), Ibn Kurr (d. 759/1357), Shams al-Din al-Saydawi, and Jamal al-Din al-Mardini (d. 809/1406). Al-Haskafi does not write about the concept of rhythm, intervals, ratios between intervals, or concordant and dissonant intervals, which are among the fundamentals of a music theory. Al-Haskafi differs from his predecessors and contemporaries by using an ambiguous concept of bayt to explain the composition of the modes. He also gives examples of the melodic development of the modes. He devotes the last part of his work to the philosophy of music, and there offers a mystical account of music’s influence and affective power.
Muhammet Fatih KILIÇ Muhammed Aydın
