Abd al-Qadir Maraghi

Abd al-Qadir al-Maraghi b. Ghaybi (PerB|عبدالقادر مراغی (born middle of 14th – died 1435 A.D.)), was a poet, musician and artist. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, he was "the greatest of the Persian writers on music". Farmer, H.G. "Abd al- Qadir b. GHaybi al-Hafiz al-Maraghi." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online. ]

Life

Abd al- Qadir b. GHaybi al-Hafiz al-Maraghi was born in Maragha in Iran about the middle of the 14th century. He had become one of the court minstrels of the Jalayirid Sultan al-Husayn around 1379. Under Sultan Ahmad Jalayirid, he was appointed the chief court minstrel. When Timur captured Baghdad in 1393, he was transported to Samarqand, which was the capital of the Timurid dynasty. In 1399, he was in Tabriz at the service of Timur’s wayward son Miranshah. Abdl al-Qadir was blamed for the erratic conducts of Miranshah, and Timur acted swiftly in order to capture him. But Abd al-Qadir, was forewarned and escaped to the Jalayrid court of Sultan Ahmad in Baghdad. Timur again recaptured Baghdad in 1401 and took Abd al-Qadir back to Samarqand. Abd al-Qadir became one of the brilliant men at the court of Timur’s son, Shahrukh . In 1421, he also wrote a musical treatise (see below) for the Ottoman Sultan Murad II. He died in Samarqand in 1435.

Works on music theory

Abd al-Qadir was proficient in music, poetry and painting. This made him to be a highly desired artisan amongst the courts of different dynasties. It was due to his musical talent that he was named by his contemporaries as the "Glory of the past age"..

Abd al-Qadir is known for his four works on music theory. All three surviving works were written in Persian. His most important treatise on music is the Jami al-Ahlan (PerB|جامع الحان) (Persian for Encyclopedia of Music), autographs of which are preserved at the Bodleian Library and the Nuru Othmaniyya Library in Istanbul. The first manuscript of this work was written in 1405 for his Nur al-din Abd al-Rahman was revised by the author in 1413. The second manuscript was written in 1415, carries a dedication to Sultan Sharukh of the Timurid dynasty.

The second major work of Abd al-Qadir is the Persian book Maqasid al-Alhan (Persian for: purports of Music)(PerB|مقاصد الحان). It was dedicated to the Ottoman Sultan Murad II.

A third treatise on music, the Kanz al-Tu.af (Treasury of Music) which contained the author's notated compositions, has not survived.

His last work, the Sharh al-Adwar (Commentary on the [ Kitab al-Adwar] of [safi al-din al-urmawi] )(PerB|شرح الادوار), is to be found in the Nuru Othmaniyya Library.

Linguistic significance

Hamdollah Mustawafi of the 13th century A.D. mentions the language of Maragheh as "Pahlavi Mughayr" (modified Pahlavi): [

"حمدالله مستوفي هم كه در سده‌هاي هفتم و هشتم هجري مي‌زيست، ضمن اشاره به زبان مردم مراغه مي‌نويسد: "زبانشان پهلوي مغير است

مستوفي، حمدالله: "نزهةالقلوب"، به كوشش محمد دبيرسياقي، انتشارات طهوري، 1336Mostawafi, Hamdallah. Nozhat al-Qolub. Edit by Muhammad Dabir Sayyaqi. Tahuri publishers, 1957.]

Interestingly enough, the 17th century A.D. Ottoman Turkish traveler Evliya Chelebi who traveled to Safavid Iran also states:

“The majority of the women in Maragheh converse in Pahlavi”. [Source: Riyahi Khoi, Mohammad Amin. “Molehaazi darbaareyeh Zabaan-I Kohan Azerbaijan”(Some comments on the ancient language of Azerbaijan), ‘Itilia’at Siyasi Magazine, volume 181-182.رياحي خويي، محمدامين، «ملاحظاتي درباره‌ي زبان كهن آذربايجان»: اطلاعات سياسي - اقتصادي، شماره‌ي 182-181Also available at: [http://www.azargoshnasp.net/languages/Azari/26.pdf] ]

Abd al-Qadir Maraghi not only recorded songs in Persian Language, but also in Arabic, Mongolian, Turkish (Khatai, Chagatay) as well as various regional Iranic dialects (Fahlaviyyat) of Hamadan, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Tabriz, and Rayy. Dr. A. A. Sadeqi, "Ash'ar-e mahalli-e Jame' al-alHaann," Majalla-ye zaban-shenasi 9, 1371./1992, pp. 54-64/ [http://www.azargoshnasp.net/languages/Azari/AshrafSadeqiasharmahalimaraqi.pdf] ] Thus his work gives us a better view of the regional Iranian languages dialects of Iran.

Four quatrains titled fahlaviyyat from Khwaja Muhammad Kojjani (d. 677/1278-79); born in Kojjan or Korjan, a village near Tabriz, recorded by Abd-al-Qader Maraghi.Fahlaviyat in Encyclopedia Iranica by Dr. Ahmad Taffazoli [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v9f2/v9f232.html] ] A sample of one of the four quatrains from Khwaja Muhammad KojjaniCquote
همه کیژی نَهَند خُشتی بَخُشتی

بَنا اج چو کَه دستِ گیژی وَنیژه

همه پیغمبران خُو بی و چو کِی

محمدمصطفی کیژی وَنیژه. Two qet'as (poems) quoted by Abd-al-Qader Maraghi in the dialect of Tabrz (d. 838/1434-35; II, p. 142).A sample of one these poemsCquote

رُورُم پَری بجولان

نو کُو بَمَن وُرارده

وی خَد شدیم بدامش

هیزا اَوُو وُرارده

References

ee also

*List of Persian poets and authors
*Persian literature
* Dastgah
* Persian literature
* Persian music
* Persian culture
* Sassanid music
* Persian Symphonic Music
* List of Iranian composers