Never gave up, while still on stage, Oriental-magpie-robin calmed down. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, slowly, and after finding herself again, smiled as she said, "O my brothers and sisters! Would you like to listen to my next story?" Shama,' who had been seriously watching, encouraged, "Go on sis! Please! Cheer up, cheer up!" Then, she delivered, "There was a story, about a man, whom, the media in his day, called Diego. But, just like a virus developed into a new variant, I'd like to call him, Cassano. Surely, you already familiar with this new name, if not, doesn't matter, because not everyone is a K-Drama fan.
So, this story of Cassano, not Cassanova, is a remake. The Cassano you knew, came from the Land of Ginseng, but the Cassano in the short story of mine, from the Land of Andalus. About Al-Andalus, first of all, let me tell you an interesting qisa.
One day, in the early ninth century, a young musician arrived with his family at al-Jazeera al-Khadra,’ the modern Algeciras, on the Iberian coast, in search of patronage at the court of al-Hakam I, the Umayyad Amir of Cordova. The traveller, Abul Hasan Ali ibn Nafi, better known as Ziryab—learned upon his arrival that while he was travelling, the Amir had passed away. Fortunately, he was met by an envoy from the court in Cordova, another musician named al-Mansur the Jew. Al-Mansur reassured Ziryab that, like his father, the New Amir, Abd al-Rahman II, was a great lover of music as well. In the end, Ziryab was indeed welcomed in Cordova by the new prince around the beginning of the month of Muharram 207 AH.
Thus, began the career of the most illustrious musician and composer in the history of Islamic Spain. Ziryab is believed to have arrived from Baghdad, the centre of the Abbasid Empire, and brought about dramatic changes in the musical culture of Umayyad Spain. His teaching methods, repertory and musical philosophy appear to have influenced musicians for several succeeding generations afterwards and created, almost at a stroke, a sophisticated courtly musical tradition in Cordova. His importance with regard to the courtly culture of al-Andalus could perhaps be gauged by the many innovations attributed to him, two centuries later.
In essence, the standard biography of Ziryab deriving from al Maqqari involves two stages, Baghdad and Cordova. His full name is given by several authors, and Ibn Hayyan gives two explanations of his nickname: the most commonly cited version—the one that appears in Nafh al-tib—holds that Ziryab means ‘‘Blackbird’,’ from the Persian word "Jaybird," or "Mirlo" in Spain. He was called this, because his skin colour, beautiful voice, and demeanour reminded people of a black songbird. The other, less commonly cited explanation, offered by Ibn Hayyan is that, Ziryab means ‘‘golden,’’ attributed to the singer because of his skin colour.
Ziryab appears first in Baghdad at the court of the famous Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid, as a young apprentice to the caliph’s most illustrious composermusician, Ishaq al-Mawsili. The story goes that the Caliph Harun, asked Ishaq for a performance by the young musician, and was impressed by Ziryab’s courtly manners and musical talent. During the session, he asked Ziryab for a song and offered him Ishaq’s oud—a short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument, usually with 11 strings grouped in 6 courses, but some models have 5 or 7 courses, with 10 or 13 strings respectively. The oud is very similar to modern lutes, and also to Western lutes—to perform with. Ziryab demurred, asking instead for his own instrument—to which he said he had made modifications to make it suitable for playing his own special songs that no one else knew. It was these special songs that Ziryab wanted to play for the caliph. Harun of course agreed, and was much pleased with what he heard.
After this impressive debut before the Caliph, Ishaq in a fit of pique offered Ziryab a choice: he could stay in Baghdad and face Ishaq’s wrath, or leave Baghdad—with Ishaq’s help—and never return. As his teacher was also the most influential musician at Harun’s court, Ziryab chose to leave at once for al-Andalus.
He was forgotten in Baghdad, and instead was invited to Cordova by al-Hakam I. As already mentioned, on arrival in Iberia he discovered that al-Hakam had died and been replaced by his son, Abd al-Rahman, who proved to be a generous and enthusiastic patron. Abd al-Rahman showered Ziryab with gifts, including a monthly stipend 20 times greater than the other musicians at court, and control of the produce from several farms; indeed, in general he made Ziryab his favourite. In Cordova, Ziryab left a lasting impression on the musical culture at the Umayyad court. In addition to his improved oud, he is said to have introduced elements of Greek musical philosophy which linked the strings of the oud, and their associated modes, with the bodily humours. He also established a school for training musicians, using techniques that master musicians are said to have employed for centuries afterwards. In addition, Ziryab is said to have known ten thousand songs, which formed the basis for music in Cordova for generations.
The biography of Ziryab, as it is generally known today—especially among aficionados of the North African Andalusian music traditions—presents this famous artist as a towering figure with an impressive list of accomplishments and innovations. Altogether, there are about a dozen surviving works that refer to Ziryab in one way or another. More elaborate versions of Ziryab's modern biography note that in addition to his musical contributions, Ziryab also brought innovations in other areas of courtly culture.
Baghdad was the source for the latest news in the feld of fashion, as Paris and New York are now the centers of fashion. And the father of fashion was the Blackbird. He introduced the wearing of short hair in Córdoba. According to Al-Maqqari, Andalusia of Spain and Cordoba, carried their hair long, down to the shoulders and parted in the middle. This was for both men and women. Ziryab, however, had cut his hair short and wore a pony-tail to his eyebrows. This hairstyle, used to be, and even today, the hairstyle of Asean actors.
He also popularized shaving among men and was always introducing new hairstyle trends. The nobility used rose water to wash their hair, but Ziryab introduced the use of salt and aromatic oils to improve the condition of the hair.
Ziryab also fabricated deodorant to smell good and toothpaste. He encouraged taking a bath both in the morning and in the evening. He also stressed the importance of physical maintenance and personal hygiene. In Europe it was not customary to take a bath, sometimes not even once a month.
He also introduced seasonal clothing. Depending on the weather, season or time of day, he dressed in various styles and garments. He used various colored and striped fabrics and transparent material. Even now his style can be found in Morocco.
Muslim Writers al-Saqati and Ibn Abdun described in detail how soles made of cork should be fabricated for shoes. They described the work of a mysterious sandalmaker Abdullah. The use of corksoles was a legacy of the Romans, but was polished and refned by Muslims in Andalusia. The springy soles were worn by all classes of society.
Upon hearing the word “three-course meal”, our mindset automatically goes to Europe. A three-course meal consists of three parts that are served after the other. There is a lot of thought and planning involved in preparing a three-course meal. A three-course meal primarily consists of an appetizer, main course, and dessert. You can choose to stick to a standard fare or choose a more elaborate meal if you are feeling adventurous. It provides a special culinary experience since you can always select from a different combination of courses. However, the three-course meal was introduced in the 9th century by a man Ziryab the Blackbird. He came from Iraq to Andalusia and suggested that a meal should start with a light soup followed by a main meal consisting of fish, meat or poultry and fnished off with fruit and nuts. Also, the use of a table cloth and cutlery was introduced by him.
Queen Christina of Denmark, Sweden and Norway ate her food in the Muslim way. Crystal was made of sand and stone by the Muslim genius Abbas ibn Firnas, who died in 887 CE, whilst Ziryab switched to using much lighter crystal glasses while eating, instead of the heavy metals—like copper, bronze, silver and gold—cups which were common in the 9th century. Muslim potters introduced dining in style by producing plates and glasses made from ceramic and polished glass.
Some of the well-known modern musical instruments are designed by 9th century Muslims. Al-Kindi started with the use of musical script, this is a system that was used to write music down. They did not use letters but syllables, namely Dal – Meem – Ra – Fa – Sad – Lam – Seen, which are similar to today's do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti.
One hundred and ten centuries ago, Al-Kindi discussed in detail the design and sounds for the lute. The word lute, comes from the Arabic 'al-oud,' which simply means 'wood’. This is also the predecessor of the guitar.
Al-Kindi had discovered the therapeutic value of music in a very early stage. Once a father with his crippled son came to visit him. With therapeutic music Al-Kindi treated the boy and had a brief conversation with the father. Music was also played at some Bimartistans (hospitals).
Al-Farabi created the rababah, a predecessor of today's violin. He also wrote several books, but his masterpiece was "The Big Book of Music", a book in which the theory of music was written. Present-day, musical instruments owe their names to the Arabic language. The lute is derived from al-oud, rebec (violin instrument) from rababah, guitar from qitarah and naker (drums) comes from naqarrah.
The Ottoman Caliphate was the frst state to have a military musical band, called "Mehterhane Militarty" Band. Wherever the Caliph went, he was accompanied by the orchestra. They also would arrive and play in the middle of battles to rouse the spirit of their soldiers.
Ziryab played a crucial role in the distribution of music. He was chief entertainer in the court of Caliph Abd al-Rahman II and earned 200 gold dinars a month.
Ziryab, a singer, oud player, composer, poet, also known as a polymath, with knowledge in astronomy, geography, meteorology, botanics, cosmetics, culinary art and fashion, and teacher who lived and worked in Iraq, Northern Africa, and Andalusia of the medieval Islamic period, was a trendsetter for clothing, food, etiquette and music. But the various marvels and innovations attributed to Ziryab are not entirely incredible: he had moved in the courtly circles of Baghdad and would have been exposed to the fashions and manners of the Abbasid caliphate. At least, If there is any truth to the story of his introduction to the Caliph Harun, Ziryab was well acquainted with courteous conduct. The philosophical ideas about music attributed to him in the modern biography would have been current in Baghdad at the time as well, since the man who committed them to writing, Ya'qub al-Kindi, was a contemporary of Ziryab’s. From the perspective of the emergent Andalusian Umayyad culture, Ziryab would have seemed very much the model zarif—the man of consummate refinement and taste: the courtly manners, clothing, hair and musical styles of Abbasid Baghdad, all had left their mark on him. Yet a reading of modern biography, scarcely gives a complete and human picture of Ziryab. Instead, there is the sense of a semi-legendary personage whose life story has come to function as a kind of rhetorical figure, manifested both as musician and zarif. The significance of Ziryab as a rhetorical figure in modern versions of the history of the Andalusian musical heritage has already been noted, but the symbolic power of the name Ziryab extends beyond somewhat arcane uses in historical literature. In Morocco, you will encountered both an Ensemble Ziryab and an Andalusian orchestra called Abna' Ziryab, the sons of Ziryab.
As for the Cassano of Andalus, even a Zarif model, or a Rhetorical Figure, this very man, was simply, a Rhetorical Failure. He was known as a former-soldier, a hippy, and mafia. Friends who knew him, called him "a man behind the shadows." As a former soldier, he was marked as "an unsung soldier," not because of merit, but because of cawordice. When he took part in a troops, to thwart an assault, all the soldiers in his unit, bravely against the foe, while he was busy seeking refuge behind a truck. All soldiers died, except this scoundrel-rotten man, found shaking and peeing under the truck.
