Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani fascinates me more than most living celebrities. Born in 897 and working out of Baghdad, this poet, historian and musicologist compiled the Kitab al-Aghani, the Book of Songs, an immense record of who composed and sang what, and why. Music vanishes the instant it sounds, yet he tried to pin centuries of it onto the page. That obsession with preservation is why we can still glimpse the musical world of the medieval Arab court today. I reserve my deepest respect for the archivists and chroniclers; without his stubborn diligence, an entire soundscape of history would simply be gone.

Name (English)

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani

Name (Japanese)

アブー・アル・ファラジュ・アル・イスファハーニー

Reading

あぶー・ある・ふぁらじゅ・ある・いすふぁはーにー

Born

January 1, 897 – January 1, 973

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Capricorn / Snake

Origin

Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran

Occupation

poet / historian / literary scholar / musician / writer

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B9%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%8F%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8B%E3%83%BC

Tags

• Isfahan Province
• poet
• historian
• literary scholar

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.