1 The concept of ‘submission’ within an Islamic context is complicated and broad. While there is an aspect of the Western understanding of submission as a form of abjectness or subjugation, the full sense of submission in Islam is more closely tied to acceptance, as everything a believer does relates to a deeper understanding that God, not they, is in control. A believer does have free will and the ability to make choices, but God helps focus and define what those choices will be. Thus, to turn such power over to music or sensual pursuits not only turns one away from God temporarily, but can ultimately lead to apostasy. The link between music and apostasy will be discussed further below.

2 For a concise definition of (samā ), see H. Wehr, The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, ed. J. M. Cowan (Urbana, Ill., 1994), pp. 501–2. Samā literature, as found in primary sources and secondary analyses, is a broad area of enquiry. It is generally considered to relate to Sufi studies owing to the influence of early Sufi refutations of arguments against allowing music in Islam. For the definition of samā in the context of music and mysticism, see J. During, ‘Samā ’, in The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, viii (Leiden, 1995), pp. 1018–19, and A. Gribetz, ‘The Samā Controversy: Sufi vs Legalist’, Studia Islamica, 74 (1991), pp. 43–62. Subsequent references to the Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition will be abbreviated EI ².

3 Not unlike the medieval West, there was a period of time when the early Islamic instrumental musician was considered subordinate to the singer or poet. Instrumentalists were viewed as technicians or craftspeople and the definition of a musician was one who theorised or philosophised about music, not one who played. This distinction is emphasised in the labels used for musicians, as they can be traced to the function of their role in the culture. The Arabic term for singing girl, qayna, is one such example. While the origin of the association of the term with singing girls is still debated, the Arabic word (qayn) also means blacksmith, or simply, technician. As singing girls were, on one level, musical technicians and skilled labourers, this use makes sense. For a discussion of the etymology of qayna, see C. Poche, ‘Music in Ancient Arabia from Archaeological and Written Sources’, in V. Danielson et al. (eds.), The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The Middle East (New York, 2002), pp. 357–62. See also C. Pellat, ‘Kayna’, EI ², iv, pp. 820–4, and the Introduction to al-Jahiz, Epistle on the Singing Girls, trans. A. F. L. Beeston (Warminster, 1980), p. 2.

4 I use the terms music discourse and music semiotics here in the following sense. By discourse, I mean the system of referents used in specialist and non-specialist texts to discuss technicalities related to the definition of a musician, sound genres and the relationship between performer and audience. By semiotics, I am referring specifically to the language of literary symbols that came to be used in Arabic literature to discuss the social context of music performance and accounts of actual musical performance, particularly in discussions regarding the effect of music on the individual and the potential cultural impact of music patronage.

5 The term ‘Islamicate’ was proposed by Marshall Hodgson as a more accurate referent for the diverse cultures that became part of the Islamic world. He argued that using ‘Islamic’ or ‘Islamdom’ was too totalising or reductive to religion alone, whereas ‘Islamicate’ was more holistic by including the influence of all aspects and sects of the Islamic religion as well as those cultures which were part of Islamic culture but were not Muslim. See M. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, 3 vols (Chicago, 1974), i, pp. 57–60.

6 The insertion of partial, and sometimes whole, works into a new text was common in medieval Islamic literature. These insertions were often used to build the author's authority, but they were not always included with attribution. Presumably, with more famous works, the reader would recognise the style or text and thus such attribution was unnecessary. In some cases, however, authors were just as likely attempting to imitate or use another's work as their own. Through such borrowings, a number of lost texts and text fragments were subsequently rediscovered.

7 For a concise definition of the differences between musiqa and ghina in Islamic music discourse, see O. Wright, ‘Musiki’, EI ², vii, pp. 681–8 and H. Farmer, ‘Ghina’, EI ², ii, pp. 1072–5.

8 These texts are available in translation and in modern Arabic editions. The editions referenced here are: al-Jahiz, Epistle on the Singing Girls, trans. Beeston; Abu Dūnya, Tracts on Listening to Music: Being the Dhamm al-Malāhī of Ibn Abi Dunya, trans. J. Robson (London, 1937); Ibn Abi’l Dūnya, Dhamm Al-Malāhī, ed. M. 'Abd al Qadir Ata (al-Qahirah, 1987), Ibn al-Washshā, Le Livre de brocart (The Book of Brocade), trans. S. Bouhlal (Paris, 2004); Ibn al-Washshā, al-Muwashsha, ow a-Zarfu wa l-Zarfa (Beirut, 1960). With the exception of citations from the hadith and Mu allaqat, the Arabic for the longer quotes is provided.

9 Abu'l faraj al-Isbahani, Kitāb Al-Aghani, 24 vols. (Beirut, 1955–61); al-Mas'udi, Murūj al-Dhahab wa Ma adin al-Jawhar, 4 vols. (Beirut, 1965–6); al-Masudi, Les Prairies d'or, trans. Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, rev. and corr. C. Pellat (Paris, 1962– ); al-Tabari, The Early Abbasi Empire, i: The Reign of Abu Ja far al-Mansur (AD 754–775), trans. J. A. Williams, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1988); al-Tabari, The Early Abbasi Empire, ii: The Sons and Grandsons of Al-Mansur. The Reigns of al-Mahdi, al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid, trans. J. A. Williams, 2 vols (Cambridge, 1989); al-Muhassin ibn Ali al-Tanukhi, Table Talk of a Mesopotamian Judge, trans. D. S. Margoliouth (London, 1922).

10 Dynastic Egyptian art is rife with images of women playing flutes and various types of stringed instruments. There are also a number of textual references to women playing instruments in a variety of settings. See L. Manniche, Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt (London, 1991). Similar scenes can be found in Sumerian and Assyrian texts and are attested in the Judaic testament of the Bible as well. For example, in 1 Samuel 18:6–7 the women dance and play tambourine to welcome the victorious David home. See also the story of Jephthah and his daughter ‘meeting him with dancing and tambourines’ in Judges 11:34. Greek texts and art works reference the ‘flute girls’ who entertained at symposia and in taverns, and hetaerae (courtesans) were patronised for their musical and literary talent. For a brief survey of sources linking performance practices of women in the modern Middle East to those of the Ancient Near East, see V. Doubleday, ‘The Frame Drum in the Middle East: Women, Musical Instruments and Power’, Ethnomusicology, 43 (1999), pp. 101–34. See also C. Meyers, ‘Of Drums and Damsels: Women's Performance in Ancient Israel’, Biblical Archaeologist, 54 (1991), pp. 16–27.

11 In addition to the slave trade, the regional exchange in male and female musicians, instruments and musical techniques flourished as early as the Ur III period in Sumer, approx. 2,500B bce. See J. Franklin, ‘The Global Economy of Music in the Ancient Near East’, in Sounds of Ancient Music (Jerusalem, 2007), pp. 27–37.

12 The extant performance notations found in poetry and epics from these regions indicate that rituals probably included a complex blend of music, recitation and diverse sound genres.

13 The sistrum in Egypt, dedicated to the goddess Hathor, was used only by noble women and high-ranking priestesses. See Manniche, Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, pp. 85–6. The daughter of Sargon I, Enheduanna (c. 2285–2250 bce), was a priestess of the moon god, Nanna, and also composed hymns to the goddess Inanna. For examples of her extant hymns, see the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), <http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/>.

14 The hieros gamos refers to the sacred marriage between the goddess and her son-god/lover. This marriage symbolised the union of heaven and earth and could be celebrated as an actual marriage, as between rulers, or in annual rituals involving the king and high priestess. In the Ancient Near East, women of the temple might become brides of the god and reside at the temple as hierodules (servants or temple attendants) or priestesses. For a discussion of temple women in Ancient Mesopotamia, see R. Harris, ‘Independent Women in Ancient Mesopotamia?’, in B. Lesko (ed.), Earliest Records: From Ancient Egypt and Western Asia (Brown Judaic Studies Series, 166; Conference on Women in the Ancient Near East, 5–7 November 1987; Providence, RI, 1989), pp. 145–65.

15 It bears mentioning that male and third-gendered musicians existed in cultures with social restrictions against men making their living as musicians as well as those that did not have such strictures. As the majority of third-gendered individuals who have been identified as such were artists, musicians, temple attendants or shamans, the development of a third-gender cross-culturally seems to be linked to ritual, as many share commonalities such as providing music, performance and/or ritual services. In the context of Sumer, see R. Harris, ‘Inanna-Ishtar as Paradox and a Coincidence of Opposites’, History of Religions, 30 (1991), pp. 261–78, and J. Asher-Greve, ‘The Essential Body: Mesopotamian Conceptions of the Gendered Body’, Gender & History, 9 (1997), pp. 432–61.

16 For example, in Inanna's Descent into the Nether World, the god Enki creates two entities, the kur-ĝara and gala-tura, to rescue Inanna. Both entities are non-gendered, enabling them to slip into the nether world and resist temptation. See ETCSL, Inanna's Descent into the nether world, <http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.4.1#>.

17 For studies of the gala, see M. R. Bachvarova, ‘Sumerian Gala Priests and Eastern Mediterranean Returning Gods: Tragic Lamentation in Cross-Cultural Perspective’, in A. Suter (ed.), Lament: Studies in the Ancient Mediterranean and Beyond (Oxford, 2008), pp. 18–52; U. Gabbay, ‘The Akkadian Word For “Third Gender”: The Kalu (Gala) Once Again’, in R. D. Biggs et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (Chicago, 2008), pp. 49–56; I. J. Gelb, ‘Homo Ludens in Mesopotamia’, Studia Orientalia, 46 (1975), pp. 43–75; S. N. Kramer, ‘BM 29616: The Fashioning of the Gala’, Acta Sumerologica, 3 (1981), pp. 1–9; and P. Michalowski, ‘Love or Death? Observations on the Role of the Gala in Ur III Ceremonial Life’, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 58 (2006), pp. 49–61. For gender, iconography and the gala, see J. Asher-Greve, ‘The Essential Body’.

18 For example, see C. A. Faraone, ‘The Masculine Arts of the Ancient Greek Courtesan: Male Fantasy or Female Self-Representation?’, in M. Feldman and B. Gordon (eds.), The Courtesan's Arts: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (New York, 2006), pp. 209–20; W. Roscoe, ‘Priests of the Goddess: Gender Transgression in Ancient Religion’, History of Religions, 35 (1996), pp. 195–230, and Manniche, Music and Musicians in Ancient Egypt, pp. 94–5, 99–100. Some ancient Egyptian musicians are presumed blind not only because of textual references to the existence of blind musicians, but because they are often represented as having deformed or slitted eyes. On the other hand, this might also have been the convention for rendering court musicians. Manniche makes a case for both possibilities. Other examples of the intersection between performance, gender and ritual existed outside the Ancient Near East, such as the hijra of India and the Native American berdache.

19 M. Sells, Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes (Middletown, Conn., 1989), p. 64. See also R. Hoyland, Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam (London, 2001), pp. 134–8 for additional references to musical entertainment by singing girls from pre-Islamic sources.

20 S. Stetkevytch, The Mute Immortals Speak: Pre-Islamic Poetry and the Poetics of Ritual (Ithaca, 1993), p. 15, verses 59–60.

21 Hadith (pl. ahādith) are the traditions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. The parenthetical statements following the name of Aisha and the Prophet are formulaic and confer a blessing.

22 From Sahih Muslim, The Book of Prayers (Kitāb al-Salat), Book IV, no. 1938, Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, University of Southern California, <http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/muslim/004-smt.php?>.

23 The nomadic Arabs had little need for a formal, sedentary court and the associated trappings of wealth. They privileged poetry above all other arts and were known outside their own culture for their skill as poets. Prowess in battle was also essential, even in the merchant clans. While the Arabs did engage in trade with and fight as mercenaries for Persia, Egypt, Rome and Byzantium, these cultures also represented decadence and a sedentary lifestyle. Singing girls, young boys and men for sexual amusement and wine were representative of that lifestyle, though Arabs did indulge in the same amusements when at rest or after battle.

24 Small hand drums, tambourines, flutes and stringed instruments were still considered women's instruments. Later, stringed instruments become more gender neutral, as in the case of the ud.

25 Abu Huraira is a somewhat controversial figure in that he is credited with reciting thousands of hadith, a number of which have been shown to be of dubious authenticity. According to some sources, he not only clashed with the Prophet but with his favourite wife, Aisha, because he disapproved of women having any say or authority in the new Islamic community. For an analysis of Abu Huraira and the problem of authenticity, see F. Mernissi, Women and Islam: An Historical and Theological Enquiry, trans. M. J. Lakeland (Oxford, 1991).

26 From Sunan Abu Dawud, The Book of General Behaviour, Kitāb al-Adab, Book 41, no. 4910. The translator rendered mukhannathūn as ‘hermaphrodite’. Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, University of Southern California, <http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/abudawud/041-sat.php>.

27 See E. K. Rowson, ‘The Effeminates of Early Medina’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 111 (1991), pp. 671–93. The musical culture of early Medina and the influence of the mukhannathūn are also summarised in H. G. Farmer, A History of Arabian Music to the 13th Century (London, 1929; repr. 1995), and mentioned many times in the Aghani. See e.g. the story of Tuways in al-Isbahani, Kitāb al-Aghani, iii, p. 27, and that of al-Dalal, iv, p. 269.

28 For research on the figure of the mukhannathūn in literature and court records, see Rowson, ‘The Effeminates of Early Medina’; id., ‘Gender Irregularity as Entertainment: Institutionalized Transvestism at the Caliphal Court in Medieval Baghdad’, in S. Farmer and C. B. Pasternack (eds.), Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages (Minneapolis, 2003), pp. 45–72; and id., ‘The Categorization of Gender and Sexual Irregularity in Medieval Arabic Vice Lists’, in J. Epstein and K. Straub (eds.), Body Guards: The Cultural Politics of Gender Ambiguity (New York, 1991), pp. 50–79.

29 Rowson, ‘The Effeminates of Early Medina’. See also Farmer, A History of Arabian Music, and A. Shiloah, ‘Music and Religion in Islam’, Acta Musicologica, 69 (1997), pp. 143–55.

30 The two major canonical collections of hadith were compiled in the 9th c. by al-Bukhari (810–70 ce) and Abu Muslim (821–75 ce). Through comparison of extant manuscripts and interrogating the memories of hadith reciters, these scholars took what is estimated to be about 600,000 hadith and reduced them to approximately 7,000 sahih, or those considered true hadith. This process also developed into a system for evaluating and authenticating hadith. That is not to say all the hadith are indeed authentic; many are still contested. The four major Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fikh) which developed in the 8th and 9th centuries are the Hanafi, after Abu Hanifa (c. 699–767 ce); Maliki, after al-Malik (c. 715–95), Shafii, after al-Shafii (767–820 ce); and Hanbali, after Ibn Hanbal (780–855 ce). See J. Schacht, ‘Fikh’, EI ², ii, pp. 886–89. All the schools differ in terms of legal methodology, points of law and uses of hadith and reason in determining legal decisions. They also all differ on the subject of the legality of singing, musical instruments and listening, though only the later followers of the Hanbali school ruled music illegal under Islamic law.

31 See the Introduction in Feldman and Gordon (eds.), The Courtesan's Arts, p. 6.

32 Though the sources attest that singing girls wrote and disseminated their own works, all the extant sources were written by men. There are a number of sources, including the Aghani, which provide biographies of singing girls, their poems, information about their patrons/owners and colourful tales of their exploits. Whether or not these are factual is hard to determine, though the fame and existence of celebrity musicians at the time is certain. The accounts of singing girls fall into several categories: (1) Stories which simply mention them as a group as part of a bigger event; (2) stories of individual singing girls who achieved fame or notoriety but had a limited long-term impact; and (3) famous singing girls who wrote books of songs, performed for several caliphs and had considerable wealth of their own. While all accounts provide insight into the performance and role of singing girls, it is this last category that most accurately represents the courtesan–patron relationship and, I suggest, had the most lasting impact on musical discourse.

33 According to one story, the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi (775–85 ce) was rumoured to have been poisoned by one of his slave girls when he intercepted and ate a poisoned pear that one slave girl was having sent to her rival. See al-Tabari, The Early Abbasi Empire, ii, p. 119. In the court of al-Muqtadir (908–32 ce), the Queen Mother's stewardess, or qahramana, was also adept at torture. See N. M. El-Cheikh, ‘The Qahramana in the Abbasid Court: Position and Functions’, Studia Islamica, 97 (2003), pp. 41–55.

34 For detailed studies of music performance practice in the early Islamic courts, see G. Sawa, Music Performance Practice in the Early Abbasid Era, 132–320 AH/750–932 AD (Toronto, 1989); E. Neubauer, Musiker am Hof der frühen Abbasiden (Frankfurt am Main, 1965); and M. Stigelbauer, ‘Die Sängerinnen am Abbasidenhof um die Zeit des Kalifen Al-Mutawakkil nach dem Kitab Al-Aghani des Abu-l-farag Al-Isbahani und anderen Quellen dargestellt’ (Ph.D. diss., Universität Wien, 1975). See also D. Brookshaw, ‘Palaces, Pavilions and Pleasure Gardens: The Context and Setting of the Medieval Majlis’, Middle Eastern Literatures, incorporating Edebiyat, 6 (2003), pp. 199–223.

35 The audience played an important role in determining the progression of a performance – more so than the musicians themselves. This interaction between audience and performer is frequently attested in the literature and is still a factor in contemporary practice. For a discussion of the connection between medieval and contemporary practice, see G. Sawa, ‘The Survival of Some Aspects of Medieval Arabic Performance Practice’, Ethnomusicology, 25 (1981), pp. 73–86.

36 Sawa, Music Performance Practice, pp. 111–44 and 176–200. See also G. Sawa, ‘The Status and Roles of the Secular Musicians in the Kitāb Al-Aghani (Book of Songs) of Abu Al-Faraj Al-Isbahani (D.356 AH/967 AD)’, Asian Music, 17 (1985), pp. 69–82.

37 A. Shiloah, ‘The Arabic Concept of Mode’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 34 (1981), pp. 19–42 and id., ‘Music and Religion in Islam’. See also Sawa, Music Performance Practice, pp. 167–70.

38 See in particular F. Shehadi, Philosophies of Music in Medieval Islam (Leiden and New York, 1995); Farmer, A History of Arabian Music; id., ‘Greek Theorists of Music in Arabic Translation’, Isis, 13 (1930), pp. 325–33; and id., ‘The Old Arabian Melodic Modes’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 3/4 (1965), pp. 99–102. See also Ikhwan al-Safa, The Epistle on Music, trans. A. Shiloah (Tel Aviv, 1978) and Shiloah, ‘The Arabic Concept of Mode’. For the use of rhythmic and melodic modes in performance practice, see Sawa, Music Performance Practice, pp. 72–107.

39 Farmer, ‘Greek Theorists of Music’; id., A History of Arabian Music, pp. 149–53; and Shiloah, ‘The Arabic Concept of Mode’, for specifics on the history and development of Arabic mode. See also A. Shiloah, Music in the World of Islam: A Socio-Cultural Study (Detroit, MI, 1995) and O. Wright, ‘Musiki’, EI ².

40 Notation of a type is referred to in the Kitāb al-Aghani and a few other music treatises, but finding a means to read it is still being researched. A sample of notation from a 13th-c. treatise can be found in Farmer, A History of Arabian Music, pl. 3, facing p. 202. Since rhythm was the foundation of medieval Arabic music, recent musicological studies have focused more on Arabic treatises dedicated to the uses of rhythm and rhythmic modes in early Islamic music theory. For the most recent study, see G. Sawa, Rhythmic Theories and Practices in Arabic Writings to 339AH/950CE (Ottawa, 2009).

41 This practice is similar to uses of notation for memory retrieval in the Western musical tradition. See A. M. Busse-Berger, Medieval Music and the Art of Memory (Berkeley, 2005). Since the majority of Arabian music was improvised, there was less of a need to memorise formulae for vertical composition (i.e. polyphony); however, musicians still needed to retain a vast repertory of melodic and rhythmic modes in memory, as well as the many possibilities for using them singly and in modulation.

42 A number of singing girls repented of their former life as musicians and retired, married or opened schools to train singing girls. Even if the methods by which they acquired their wealth were considered immoral, once they repented and stopped performing publicly, a singing girl, even one with a notorious past, could be ‘forgiven’ and lead a life of quiet piety. A number of famous – and infamous – singing girls gained a degree of public absolution in this manner, though they would periodically come out of retirement if there was something they wanted or needed. See e.g. the story of Arib manipulating a land deal through her talent in the memoirs of al-Tanukhi, Table Talk of a Mesopotamian Judge, pp. 144–6.

43 For those musicians wishing to overcome the stigma of their station, the only recourse was through an appropriate display of propriety. Musicians who behaved correctly, including singing girls, were described as being acceptable to polite society – in essence, as having risen above their station. Propriety was shown in lifestyle, genre choice and demeanour in performance, even to the extent of hiding the tools of their profession, i.e. their instrument, in order to mask their true nature. This use of propriety is attested in the Aghani, and discussed in Sawa, ‘The Status and Roles of the Secular Musicians’.

44 See S. Moreh, Live Theater and Dramatic Literature in the Medieval Arab World (New York, 1992).

45 This fad is the subject of a saucy essay by al-Jahiz, the title of which can be roughly translated as Dialogue between the Concubines and the Catamites. See al-Jahiz, Kitāb Moufakharat al-Jawāri wa l'ghilman (Beirut, 1957). A brief extract in English is available in al-Jahiz, Nine Essays of Al-Jahiz, trans. W. M. Hutchins (American University Studies, Series VII: Theology and Religion, 53; New York, 1989). Ibn al-Washshā also refers to courtly sexual preferences several times throughout the Brocade, particularly in chapter 20, which I discuss further below. For a recent study of homoeroticism and gender play in Arabic literature, see J. W. Wright, Jr. and E. Rowson (eds.), Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature (New York, 1997).

46 Based on references to specific quotations or works within these texts, al-Jahiz, Ibn al-Washshā and Ibn Abi'l Dūnya certainly knew of each other. Since they were associated with the Baghdad court around the same time, it is also possible that they met.

47 The Bayt al-Hikmah, or House of Wisdom, was a research library established in Baghdad by the caliph al-Mamun (813–33 ce) in 830. Al-Mamun commissioned scholars to make translations of Greek and Syriac texts into Arabic for the library, sending some as far as Constantinople to obtain copies of Greek texts for further study. Al-Jahiz references Greek philosophy in a number of his works, and possibly knew Greek himself. In the introduction to her French edition of the Brocade, Siham Bouhlal notes that Ibn al-Washshā referred to Hippocrates and Socrates in one of his other works, the Kitāb al-Fadil, as well as utilised the Greek system of temperaments in his discussion of passionate love in the Brocade. Like al-Jahiz, even if he himself did not read Greek, it was likely that Ibn al-Washshā was familiar with the growing body of work generated by the various translation projects taking place in Baghdad at the time. See Le Livre de brocart (The Book of Brocade), pp. 19–20.

48 In the Fihrist, al-Nadim includes several quotes by al-Jahiz which suggest he owned concubines despite his unattractive appearance and famous dislike of emotional entanglements. See al-Nadim, The Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim: A 10th Century Survey of Muslim Culture, trans. B. Dodge, 2 vols (New York, 1970), i, p. 402. Similarly, the depth of Ibn al-Washshā's detail about singing girls and their perils suggests a certain amount of personal experience.

49 There has been considerable speculation as to whether or not the authors listed in the Epistle were actual acquaintances of al-Jahiz. Beeston presumed the list to be purely fictitious based on the translation of some of the names themselves: ‘Cupping-Glass’ and ‘Scalpel’, for example. Others, such as Charles Pellat, suggested that Jahiz was, in fact, referring to real people, as it was not uncommon to have a descriptive kunya or nickname. For example, Jahiz's kunya translates as ‘the bug-eyed’ because he apparently had bulging eyes. See Beeston's Introduction to the Epistle on the Singing Girls, pp. 3–4. For a more recent discussion of the list of authors, see A. Cheikh-Moussa, ‘La Négation d'Éros ou le ‘išq d'après deux épîtres d'al-Ğâhiz’, Studia Islamica, 72 (1990), pp. 71–119.

50 Al-Jahiz, Epistle on the Singing Girls, p. 35, Arabic text, p. 21.

Though Beeston translates the italicised statement as ‘learning from music teachers’, the Arabic does not specify the type of teacher, only that the singing girl must study. On p. 61 in the commentary, Beeston notes that the meaning of (tarh) in the lexica includes ‘to teach a tune’. It also, however, carries additional meanings of being cast off, discarded or submitted to. Given al-Jahiz's previous comment on the value of the songs sung by singing girls and his subsequent opinion on the importance of practising one's crafts, it is likely that rather than choosing a more specific term, his use of tarh is intended to imply all aspects of a singing girl's profession, not just music.

51 I cite both the French and Arabic editions here, indicating the French edition as Ibn al-Washshā (F), the Arabic as Ibn al-Washshā (A). All translations from the Brocade are from the Arabic and are my own. The poem attributed to Ibn Abi'l Dūnya reads: ‘Renounce love, for love aids in confusion and makes one stupid, or swiftly consummates that state; love is contemptible, a burdensome burden. In the face of affection, the steadiest of men are destroyed.’ See Ibn al-Washshā (F), p. 109, Ibn al-Washshā (A), p. 103.

52 These include inscribing poetry on the body with scents, writing love poems on apples to be given to a lover, and poetry inscribed on musical instruments.

53 In the French edition of the Brocade, chapter 20 begins on p. 135, in the Arabic, p. 134. The title in Arabic reads:

54 Ibn al-Washshā (F), pp. 136–7, Ibn Washsha (A), pp. 134–5.

Translated literally, the last sentence reads that she wrestles him down.

55 Ibid.

Ibn al-Washshā utilises a number of words in this passage which carry several meanings, many related to flattery, submission and intimations of sex. For example, drinking the dregs of someone's glass was an act of subservience and to be avoided. By so doing, a singing girl would demonstrate her servitude on a physical, social and emotional level. I am especially indebted to Hind Derar for advising me on the linguistic subtleties contained in this passage and the implications behind drinking the dregs of someone's wine.

56 The Mutazilite doctrine began in the 8th c. in Basra, where al-Jahiz was born and educated. In the 9th c., the caliph al-Mamun (813–33 ce) made it the official doctrine of his reign. The basis of the doctrine lay in the free will of a person and the createdness, rather than the eternal nature, of the Qur'an. Influenced by Greek philosophy, logic and reason were incorporated into theology by Mutazilite scholars. It was not a well-liked position by some traditionalists and counter-movements soon developed. After al-Mamun's reign, the doctrine quickly lost favour and was eventually revoked by the caliph al-Mutawakkil (847–61 ce). As a result, adherents of the Mutazilite doctrine were labelled as heretics when more conservative, and popular, theological doctrines came to ascendancy. Despite this shift in theological politics, the doctrine itself remained a viable theological position for several centuries. See D. Gimaret, ‘Mutazila’, EI ², vii, pp. 783–93.

57 Greed is a common descriptor for singing girls and used to imply they have a constant need for material, emotional and sexual gratification.

58 This is not to be confused with , which means to vilify, defame. The root word Ibn Abi'l Dūnya uses is , which means to amuse, distract or divert. By using lahw, Ibn Abi'l Dūnya could expand the definition of a diversion as well as make a connection with Sura Luqman, 31:6, which states: ‘But there are, among men, those who purchase idle tales, without knowledge (or meaning), to mislead men from the Path of Allah and throw ridicule: for such there will be a humiliating penalty.’ In this verse, lahw is used to indicate diversion, idleness, which is later expanded by followers of Abi'l Dūnya's position to include music. Ibn Abi'l Dūnya is among the first to stress this interpretation. One could render the title, then, as ‘Censure of Instruments of Pleasure’ or stretch to ‘Disapprobation of Musical Instruments’, which was H. Farmer's translation. See Farmer, A History of Arabian Music, p. 146. Since the treatise includes other activities of diversion, Robson's rendition of the title as ‘Censure of Instruments of Diversion’ offers, in my opinion, the best interpretation of Ibn Abi'l Dūnya's intent.

59 Of the major canonical hadith collections, al-Bukhari, along with Abu Muslim, is considered the most authoritative.

60 Dūnya, Tracts on Listening to Music, p. 19, translation by Robson. In ‘Ata's edition, pp. 31–2.

Robson based his translation on the Berlin manuscript, which is also the basis for the modern Arabic edition of the Dhamm Al-Malāhī. In this quote, Ibn Abi'l Dūnya defines singing girls as ‘slave singers’: jawāri mughannat. There are three other known manuscripts of the Dhamm al-Malāhī, two of which are almost twice as long as the Berlin copy. As far as I am aware, the longer versions have not yet been studied in detail. One manuscript was in the al-Zahariyah library in Damascus, Syria, now probably in the new al-Assad library, the other in the Jerusalem National Library. In his survey of Arabic music treatises for RISM, Amnon Shiloah commented that he believed these manuscripts to be similar. See the entry for the Dhamm al-Malāhī in A. Shiloah, The Theory of Music in Arabic Writings (c.900–1900): A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in Libraries of Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Russia, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and Supplement to Bx (RISM, Bxa; Munich, 2003), pp. 89–90. Thus far, I have only been able to examine a copy of the manuscript held in the Jerusalem National Library. This copy contains several variations of the first hadith from other reciters though all convey the same basic warning.

61 The mizmār was a double-reed instrument and possible ancestor of the shawm. Instruments were also decidedly second place to vocal performance, and instrumental music was used in majālis as preludes, interludes and postludes to singing. See Sawa, Performance Practice, pp. 105–7, 153.

62 Ibn Abi'l Dūnya's definition of fornication is all sex outside marriage and includes same-sex relations.

63 Dūnya, Tracts on Listening to Music, p. 40, Robson's translation. In ‘Ata's edition, p. 53.

64 See A. Shiloah, ‘Malāhi’, EI ², vi, pp. 214–16 and Shiloah, ‘Music and Religion in Islam’, pp. 146–7.

65 The word harem as a specific location and social institution did not begin to be used until approximately the 12th c. Up to this point, the sources refer to the living areas of women as ‘the women's quarters’.