116 LITERATURE OP THE ARABS. 



song composed on the occasion ; which he did with 

 such pathos of execution,, that in a fit of sudden affec- 

 tion, the repentant monarch rushed into the presence 

 of Meridah, implored her to forgive his indiscretion, 

 and bury their unhappy discords in eternal oblivion. 

 Overjoyed at this unexpected revolution of fortune, 

 the lady ordered 10,000 drachms (229, 3s. 4d.) 

 to be given to Jaaffar, and as much to Almouseli ; 

 while the caliph doubled the present to both. 



Abu Mohammed, another musician of Bagdad, flou- 

 rished in the reign of the Caliph Vathek, who was so 

 enchanted with one of his compositions, that he threw 

 his own robe over the shoulders of the performer, and 

 ordered him a donation of 100,000 drachms (2291, 

 13s. 6d.) The famous Al Farabi, whose universal 

 attainments have been already noticed, was so emi- 

 nently skilled in music, that he has been styled the 

 Arabian Orpheus. On his return from the pilgrim- 

 age to Mecca, he introduced himself at the court of 

 Saifadowlah, the first sultan of Aleppo, whom he as- 

 tonished with the variety of his accomplishments. 

 After disputing with the most learned doctors of the 

 court, whom he put to silence, he joined a band of 

 musicians that were accidentally performing, and 

 accompanied them with his lute. The prince was 

 delighted, and requested to hear some composition 

 of his own, one of which in three parts he imme- 

 diately produced and distributed among the band. 

 The first movement, we are told, threw the sultan 

 and his courtiers into a fit of excessive laughter ; 

 the second melted them into tears; and the last lull- 

 ed even the performers themselves to sleep. Al Farabi 

 wrote a work on the subject, entitled the Elements 

 of Music, preserved in the Escurial, which treats on 



