sahand soltandoost

Nizam al-Din Ahmad Gilani, known as Hakim al-Mulk, the Hakim (physician) of the eleventh century AH, has been one of the cultural links between Iran and India during the Safavid rule over Iran and the monarchy of the Qutb Shahi dynasty in Hyderabad. Among his many works on various fields of science, mostly written under the patronage of Abdullah Qutb Shah, Hakim al-Mulk had a short treatise on music. This work has not yet been published and criticized. In this research, while investigating the life of the author and attempting to resolve some of the ambiguities surrounding him, we present the text of the treatise through the method of critical correction of texts, and in comparison, with the source texts. The digital image of the MS is also included. The result is that the treatise, like many of other music treatises of the period, mainly contains the words of predecessors. However, the very selection of him from Jame' ul-'Uloom by Fakhr al-Din Razi and Karamyeh by Dowre Sofre-Chi demonstrates the new trend of music authors of this period towards some pseudo-scholarly topics which is far away from the Greek-Arabic tradition of scholastic and systematist schools in the theory of music.

This paper deals with one of the most influential theoretical works in the field of philosophy and the ontology of the arts in the twentieth century. The term Aura was used by the German author Walter Benjamin in his important 1936 essay "The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction". Benjamin argued that ‘even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: Its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.’ He referred to this unique cultural context i.e. ‘its presence in time and space’ as its ‘aura’. Despite being widely accepted, the ideas of Benjamin in his well-known essay "The work of art…" are controversial. The most significant issue raised by Benjamin is the conceptualization of the Aura of an artwork and its decline with the help of mechanical reproduction of the works. However, the critical question is, are Benjamin’s arguments about the Aura and its decline acceptable in our day? What are the reasons for and against Benjamin’s thesis? Our purpose in this study is to critically examine the theory of Benjamin’s declining Aura, a theory that has been more widely documented in Persian sources than criticized. Given that the present paper is solely responsible for Benjamin’s views in his aforementioned essay, the research method is based on critical reading and analysis of the text, scrutiny of his logical arguments, and support from previous research by foreign scholars about the subject. Thus, library materials and resources, especially those written in English about Benjamin, form the basis of our qualitative data. In the final analysis, for several reasons, it can be concluded that the theorist of the declining Aura, although well aware of the importance of the advent of mechanical reproduction, has made serious mistakes in assessing its consequences. In our opinion, the Aura of contemporary art has not only disappeared but its dimensions and scope have become increasingly potent. Today’s Aura is not just a matter of great artistic masterpieces, but of the concept of Art itself, and of the creeds and rituals that have been shaped by late Capitalism and the economics of contemporary art. Who can deny that the Mona Lisa painting is still, and perhaps more than before, a powerful attraction that draws everyone to the Louvre Museum? Particularly today, signposts are erected throughout the museum to show the way to the curious audience, who line up to watch a small artwork for a few moments from a distance, behind a bulletproof glass case. The aura has not faded and will probably never diminish. Art is inseparable from its sacred origins. The aura, which always holds the qualities of ritual sanctity, takes on a real form in the distinction between the original and its reproductions. Therefore, there is still an aura at work today. The aesthetic judgments of the upper classes of society, which establish the cultural institution of art in the form of museums and art galleries, by framing and placing the work of art in the museum, throw a veil around it. While separating artworks from ritual origins, museums create a new ‘aura’ for art by classifying works in a specific place and time in an environment separated from the outside world. Thus, in this era, art is transferred from its original setting with religious authorities to the political-economic authorities of capitalism, with a more or less similar structure: from the church to the museum. Now the politics of the upper classes manage the affairs of the art world and shape the understanding of society. Today, the abundance of images promoted by digital mass media recreates the aura in a strange way for individuals in distant places. Mass reproduction has actually enhanced the aura in an unexpected way and multiplied the monetary value of the work up to a distant and priceless status. Last but not least is that aura would be accurately analyzed when it is considered a declaration regarding the subject of perception and not its object. If we pay attention to the fact that the aura is formed in the eyes of the beholder and does not belong to the work itself, and if we pay attention to the fact that the perception mechanisms of the beholder, even in the post-modern times, has not undergone a dramatic transformation (that is, the cult of art has replaced the former magical or religious rituals), then we will speak more cautiously about the declining of the aura.

The music treatise Tuhfat al-Sorur by Darvish-Ali Changi belongs to the 16th or 17th century. Apart from its theoretical musical content, which is significant in the scope of literature, literary history, and historical-mythological musicology, it might be one of the few Persian biographical compendiums about musicians of Iran and Persian-speaking regions. The treatise contains valuable information on the music theory, instrumentation, description and citation of the works by musicians before and after the 16th century. Darvish-Ali Chengi’s life span was about 70 years, and Abdullah-Khan, Bahadur-Khan, Sultan-Esfandiyar, and Baghi Mohammad-Khan were among his benefactors in the Bukhara and Khiva provinces. Although Tuhfat al-Sorur originates in Transoxiana, it includes some content related to the musical life of the Safavid era. The content of Tuhfat al-Sorur incorporates two parts: a theoretical one that deals with general issues in Arabic-Islamic theoretical music and a biographical part. Tuhfat al-Sorur consists of twelve maqams. One of the findings is that the description of the instruments maintains variable accuracy, and the accounts about the invention of musical instruments are full of myths, but the statements about musicians and writers are not baseless. In the present paper, the researchers have investigated the details of the author’s life through the sources, examined the characteristics of the work from the surviving copies, and analyzed the writings of other researchers about Darvish-Ali Changi and his work, using a descriptive and analytical method and with access to supplementary library sources. In addition, the content of the work has been analyzed and examined, including the themes of its twelve chapters, references to the artists of that era, and the descriptions of tales concerning the originators.

The general subject of this paper is an interdisciplinary study in the field of organology, considering ancient Persian music with a reference to visual narration in Iranian painting. In current research, two significant issues are specifically addressed: first, the identification of musical instruments in the marginal illustrations of an exquisite manuscript of Divan of Hafez; and second, research on the gender composition of the musicians in these paintings. Among the questions are: Generally, which instruments are depicted with how many repetitions and variations in these paintings? Which instruments are primarily in the hands of male musicians? Which are mainly in the hands of female musicians, and which are almost in the hands of both genders? By answering these questions, iconographical knowledge can be obtained based on the images of common or famous instruments at the time and place of the creation and completion of the aforementioned  manuscript. As an implicit purpose, by analyzing the choices of painters in deciding the gender of instrumentalists, it is possible to try out hypotheses about the gender composition of musicians or produce new speculations in this field. In historical musicology, the musicological studies of images and paintings are known as iconography or iconology. The scope of research in the historical sociology of Persian music has not yet expanded, and the collection of musical literature that has been provided by using visual narratives and considering them as texts has remained relatively poor. Organology is a large branch of musicology with a broad scope; therefore, considering the limited scope of an article and the multitude and variety of research topics, we have to choose a case study regarding the material and its limits. The reigning period of the Timurid dynasty (1370-1507) is of particular significance in musical studies. The music of Iran in the post-Timurid era (especially in some periods of the Safavid era) until the Zand and Qajar eras, in which a rebirth takes place, has been stuck in a kind of stagnation and decline, especially in the theoretical aspect. The study materials in this research are divided into two categories: primary research material and comparative sources. Comparative sources are those sources that will be used for the comparative analysis of the primary material. Numerous books, treatises, and manuscripts about Persian music contain valuable organological information. The crucial premise of this research, in case of possible estimation and generalization of the gender structure of musicians to the entire musical culture of that time, is that painters did not act arbitrarily in deciding the gender of musicians of different instruments. Instead, according to their own experiences and the traditions of the musical culture of the time, they depicted the so-called ‘masculine’ instruments in the hands of male musicians and the ‘feminine’ instruments in the hands of female musicians. In the tradition of Persian painting, as well as the Indo-Mughal style, not only often are the time and place of the events not precisely known, but the identity and gender of the figures could hardly be determined only by the face. An exquisite copy of Divan of Hafez is held in the British Library under Or. 14319 is the primary material of the present research. Its creation and completion took place between the end of the Timurid era and the middle of the Safavid era, first in Herat and then in the Mughal court of India. What doubles its value and significance in organological studies are the images of the musicians. These images are depicted in the decorative zones in the margins of the poems. Due to the general inaccuracy of painters in drawing details, it is only possible to partially match the rigid descriptions of the ancient musicology with the paintings drawn by the painters. However, in general, the instruments of this collection are divided into several general groups and subgroups:Group 1 Wind instruments, including: a) Ney (mizmar) and similar instruments (without reed); b) Sorna and similar instruments (with reed). Group 2 Percussions: Dayereh Group 3 Bowed instruments: Kamancheh (fiddle, with or without a bow) and similar instruments. Group 4 String instruments, including: a) Rubab with a vase-shaped bowl similar to a tulip flower; b) Oud, Tanbur, and similar instruments; c) Qanun. It is peculiar that out of the relatively large number of string instruments in this collection, only one example can be matched with our knowledge about the Oud, an essential instrument in ancient Persian music. Therefore, it can be assumed that the creation of the illustrations in this manuscript took place at a time and place when the Oud gradually lost its importance compared to other string instruments, such as the Rubab, and diminished. Among the 34 musicians that we see in the illustrations of this version of Divan of Hafez, about 71% are men, and 29% are women. In addition, in this version: If we exclude the musicians depicted in the image of the angels, all the musicians of the wind instruments (Ney and Sorna) are men. Contrary to the widespread belief that Dayereh players were once women, only one out of six are female. About the musicians of bowed instruments, the creators have considered an almost equal share for men and women. None of the five Rubab musicians are women. Compared to wind and percussion instruments, more women are seen playing various string instruments (except Oud and Tanbur). The Qanun player is shown only once, and that time, according to the standard gender stereotype, is a female musician. In this research, thirty-four portraits of musicians have been studied. The instruments and gender of the musicians have been identified. Ney and Sorna instruments, Dayereh, Kamancheh or Ghezhak, Rubab, Oud, Tanbur, Seta, Sheshtai or Roohafzai, and Qanun, are present in the present collection. As much as the structure of instruments such as Ney, Sorna, and Dayereh is more straightforward, their design is also easier for painters. That is why half of the instruments in this collection are made up of these three. Also, the striking predominance of the presence of the Rubab compared to the essential instruments of old Persian music, i.e., Oud and Tanbur, indicates shifts in the typical instrument composition in this period (17th century). The contribution of female musicians in this manuscript could be more impressive. Some instruments such as Qanun and Setar, which stereotypically are considered ‘feminine’ even today, are seen in the hands of women. In addition, if we exclude the three angelic beings, none of the Ney, Sorna, and Rubab players in this collection are women; and this confirms that men often played wind instruments in ancient times. At the same time, we see only one Dayereh musician in the image of a woman. If this idea and method are used in the study and examination of a more significant number of paintings and manuscripts of the history of Persian art, perhaps it will bring more detailed results regarding the historical sociology of Persian music in terms of the gender composition of musicians. Although the number of images of musicians in this manuscript is significant compared to many others, we need a more reliable and suitable statistical sample to consider the results as generalizable.

The present study investigates a brief poem attributed to Abu al-Wafa Kharazmi and verifies the attribution. The verse has been composed to explain the suitability of the hours of an entire day with the twelve modes (maqāms) of ancient Persian music, and its content has a history in older writings that can be traced back to its origins. The purpose of the study is to introduce, describe, analyze, and critically correct this literary piece using recorded materials and sources as well as library documents and manuscripts. In the course of the discussion, the content of the poem has been comparatively studied with two other musical treatises, an earlier work (Kanz al-Tuhaf by Hassan Kashani), and a later one (Treatise on the Science of Music written by Mir Sadr al-Din Mohammad Qazvini). The findings show that the aforementioned trans-musical topic is one of the favourite subjects among the authors of the transition period of Persian music (late fourteenth century AH to the end of the Safavid era), which can be detected with the slightest modification in several treatises of this period. The actual source of this topic is the Kunz al-Tuhaf treatise, but it is allegedly based on the ideas of Avicenna; however, this attribution is quite far from the historical truth. Based on the evidence, the authors have concluded that the work in question in this study is by a lesser-known poet and Sufi named Khajeh Abu al-Wafa Kharazmi (760-835 AH) who, according to historical accounts, was familiar with the science of music (Advār) and had a treatise on music, which is not available today. Most likely, the poem was extracted from his lost musical treatise. So far, the validity of the attribution of this work to Khajeh Abu al-Wafa has not been scrutinized and no research has been done regarding its content.

Saif al-Din Farghani (d. 1348/ 749 AH) is among the lesser-known poets of the Iraqi period. He lived in the 13th-14th centuries, during the Mongol invasion and domination, and spent most of his life outside the borders of Iran in Aksaray (modern-day Turkey). The primary issue of the research is to discuss his merits in comparison with numerous Persian poets and writers, especially Qasida (ode) authors. As a criticiser and social reformer, he was committed to society and avoided praise poetry and a courtly career. In this paper, we will first examine the background of him, and then there will be a commentary on his beliefs, which can be helpful as a backdrop to comprehending Saif's qualities and works. Afterwards, we extend the main discussion into three parts: first, we have an overview of the troubled situation of his time. Second, we discuss Saif's response to that situation in the form of socio-political criticism included in his poems, which is significant from the perspective of the sociology of literature. And thirdly, we draw upon his moral and artistic behaviour according to the above topics. The research method is descriptive-analytical and, due to the extreme lack of first-hand sources, directly referring to the text of Diwan (Qasidas) and extracting facts related to the main subject. Drawing the attention of critics of the political aspect of Persian classical poetry to a rare and admirable poet is a side goal of the research. Among the findings, we should point out the inconsistency of some of Saif's beliefs with the progressive side of his character, including his opposition to reason, philosophy and the historical background of Iran; and on the other hand, the impact of Saif's adoration for the truth of Sufism and Shiism in pursuing a path that ultimately ended in his anonymity.

In his most notable work entitled Resale-ye Sena’iye, Abulqasim Mir Fendereski (c. 1562–1640), the Hakim and philosopher of the Safavid era, examines theoretical music. In this regard, he stands exceptional among the philosophers of the period. But unlike the philosophers of the early Islamic epoch, Mir Fendereski's purpose was not to teach music technically through the written text but to employ the example of theoretical music to clarify different kinds of crafts. Using the qualitative method of text analysis and historical resources, the present paper, written with the aim of investigating Mir Fendereski's philosophical views on music under a category within the crafts, briefly reviews the time, works and ideas of Mir, and explains the theoretical basis and terms of the treatise to analyze the author’s purpose by exemplary usage of theoretical music, so that one can comprehend his true intention. The most important conclusion of musical fragments is that in this period, scholars made a clear and decisive distinction between the science and practice of music. It was likely that a prominent religious figure, despite having full knowledge of theoretical music, an ear for music, and even instructing it, might have avoided practising music and even banned his pupils from it. This fact can be thought of as an obvious indication of the separation between musical science and practice in this era.

The Treatise of Kerāmiyeh about music (Resāleh-ye Kerāmiyeh), attributed to Dowreh-ye Sofrehchi, is one of the most important writings on music in the Safavid era. This work has been published only once with a different title "On the Knowledge of Music Science", without critical correction and sufficient explanation, only based on a single manuscript, by Yahyā Zokā in a compilation of essays named Nāmeh-ye Minavi (1971) in Tehran. It has not been thoroughly and methodically analyzed and criticized. This printed version, despite its precedence over the present study, is not without errors and mistakes, and in many cases, both in the body of the prose and its poetic verses, differs pointedly from our compiled versions; As far as it can be considered as a completely different treatise due to the changes, additions, and deficiencies. In this study, while identifying the problems of Zokā's version in various fields, including incorrect recording of names and technical terms, the introductory prose (which is adorned with poetic verses and is also relevant from the perspective of literary studies) has been compared with 13 manuscripts and corrected by the method of "Apparatus Criticus". The most significant finding of this study is that a simple comparison between the proposed correction and the printed version reveals that the edition of Zokā is based on an eclectic and plagiarized version and bears no acceptable resemblance to the various preferred versions of the treatise. Therefore, a new correction of this important musical work of the Safavid era seems necessary.