Ziryab (777–857)
Born 777 CE, died 857 CE.
Abu al-Hasan 'Ali Ibn Nafi' (Arabic: أبو الحسن علي ابن نافع, زریاب; c. 789–c. 857), commonly known as Ziryab, was a singer, oud and lute player, composer, poet, and teacher. He lived and worked in what is now Iraq, West Asia, and Andalusia during the medieval Islamic period. He was also a polymath, with knowledge in astronomy, geography, meteorology, botanics, cosmetics, culinary art, and fashion. His nickname, "Ziryab", comes from the Persian and Kurdish word for jay-bird زرياب, pronounced "Zaryāb". He was also known as Mirlo ('blackbird') in Spanish. He was active at the Umayyad court of Córdoba in Islamic Iberia. He first achieved fame at the Abbasid court in Baghdad, his birthplace, as a performer and student of the musician and composer Ibrahim al-Mawsili. Ziryab was a gifted pupil of Ibrahim al-Mawsili in Baghdad, where he got his beginner lessons. He left Baghdad during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun and moved to Córdoba, where he was accepted as a court musician in the court of Abd ar-Rahman II of the Umayyad dynasty.
Text from the Wikipedia article Ziryab, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.