The Shahrud was a short-necked lute, illustrated in the Surname-i Hümayun, resembling an oud or barbat, but being much larger. The larger size gave the instrument added resonance and a deeper (bass) range, like the modern mandobass, mandolone or Algerian mandole.
A man plays an Ottoman shahrud, from a 1582 A.D., from an illustration in the Surname-i Hümayun.
Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi, known in the Latin West as Alpharabius, was an early Islamic philosopher and music theorist. He has been designated as "Father of Islamic Neoplatonism", and the "Founder of Islamic Political Philosophy".
al-Farabi on the currency of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Gerard of Cremona's Latin translation of Kitab ihsa' al-'ulum ("Enumeration of the Sciences")
Pages from a 17th-century manuscript of al-Farabi's commentary on Aristotle's metaphysics