- Ibrahim Al-Mausili
Ibrahim Al-Mausili (742-804), a singer, was born of Persian parents settled in
Kufa . In his early years his parents died and he was trained by an uncle. Singing, not study, attracted him, and at the age of twenty-three he fled toMosul , where he joined a band of wild youths.After a year he went to Rai (Rei, Rhagae), where he met an ambassador of the
caliph Al-Mansur , who enabled him to come toBasra and take singing lessons. His fame as a singer spread, and the caliphMahdi brought him to the court. There he remained a favorite underHadi , whileHarun al-Rashid kept him always with him until his death, when he ordered his sonAl-Ma'mun to say the prayer over his corpse.Ibrahim, as might be expected, was no strict
Muslim . Two or three times he was knouted and imprisoned for excess in wine-drinking, but was always taken into favor again. His powers of song were far beyond anything else known at the time. Two of his pupils, his sons Isiaq and Muariq, attained celebrity after him.See the Preface to Ahlwardt's "Abu Nowas" (
Greifswald , 1861), pp. 13-18, and the many stories of his life in the "Kitab al-Aghani ", V. 2-49.References
*1911
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