Kit?b Adab Al-Ghin??: The Book for the Completion of Musical Knowledge (Islamic History and Civilization)

The Book for the Completion of Musical Knowledge is one of two unique treatises coming down to us from the 11th century; the other is Encompasser of the Arts of Ibn al- Ṭaḥḥān al-Mūsīqī. Both are written by practicing musicians and composers, and as such provide, a most welcome musical practices supplement to the tenth-century legacy of music theory and literature, namely, the works of al-Fārābī and al-Iṣfahānī. In composition, al-Kātib provides useful details regarding the process to set a poem to music; in education, he advises students on how to choose a good teacher; in performance, he advises students about to breathe properly and how to ornament vocal and instrumental music.

George Dimitri Sawa, Ph.D. (1983), University of Toronto, independent scholar in Arabic music theory, performance and literature. He taught medieval, modern and sacred music at the University of Toronto and York and published nine books and over seventy articles.