Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī, also known as Abul-Faraj, was a writer, historian, genealogist, poet, musicologist and scribe. He was of Arab-Quraysh origin and mainly based in Baghdad. He is best known as the author of Kitab al-Aghani, which includes information about the earliest attested periods of Arabic music and the lives of poets and musicians from the pre-Islamic period to al-Isfahani's time. Given his contribution to the documentation of the history of Arabic music, al-Isfahani is characterised by George Sawa as "a true prophet of modern ethnomusicology".
Illustration from Kitab al-aghani (Book of Songs), 1216–20, by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, a collection of songs by famous musicians and Arab poets.
Kitāb al-Aghānī, is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer Abū al-Farāj al-Isfahānī.
Illustration from Kitab al-Aghani (Book of Songs), 1216-20, by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani.
Female attendants, dancing and bathing at the court. Kitāb al-aghānī, Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol II. Cairo, Egyptian National Library, Ms Farsi 579
Kitāb al-aghānī, Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol IV. Cairo, Egyptian National Library, Ms Farsi 579
Kitāb al-aghānī, Mosul, 1218–1219. Vol XI. Cairo, Egyptian National Library, Ms Farsi 579