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Yunus al-Katib al-Mughanni
يونس الكاتب المغنّي
Yunus al-Katib al-Mughanni; يونس الكاتب المغنّي
Born	Medina
Died	Damascus
Years active	fl. first half of the 8th century CE

Yunus al-Katib al-Mughanni (Arabic: يونس الكاتب المغنّي; fl. first half of the 8th century) was a composer, poet-musician and writer on music during the later Umayyad Caliphate. Along with those of Ibn Surayj, the songs of Yūnus were among the most celebrated of his time and highly praised by the al-Fihrist compendium. Particularly taken by them was Al-Walid II, upon the latter's ascension to caliph in 743, Yunus stayed at the Damascus court until his death.

‌Biography

He was born and grown up in Medina. He was the son of a jurist (faqih) of Persian^[1] origin and a mawla (non-Arab, Muslim freedman or client) of the family of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. Since he was a scribe in local divan, he became known as "al-katib". But soon he became interested in music and took lessons from Ma'bad, Ibn Suraydi, Ibn Muhriz, al-Gharid and Muhammad ibn Abbad al-katib. During a trip to Syria at the time of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743), his fame on music brought him the patronage of Caliph al-Walid II. This event is mentioned in the book of One Thousand and One Nights in 684th and 685th nights.^[1]

He was still alive in the early years of Abbasid Caliphate (post 750) and his best pupil was Siyat who in turn was a teacher of Ibrahim al-Mawsili.^[1]

Beside music, he was also a famous poet.^[1]

Works

Kitab al-Nagham (partly survived)
Kitab al-Kian
Kitab al-Mudjarrad Yunus
Kitab fi 'l-Aghani (also called Diwan Yunus, according to Ibn Khordadbeh, this book contained 825 song texts by 35 singers)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Pellat, prepared by a number of leading orientalists; edited by ... H.A.R. Gibb, J.H. Kramers, E. Lévi-Provençal, J. Schacht, ... B. Lewis, Ch. (1960). The encyclopaedia of Islam (New ed.). Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 350. ISBN 9004127569. He was the son of a jurist (fakih) of Persian origin and a mawla of the family of al-Zubayr b. al-Awwam. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)