Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani
Arab historian, writer, poet and musicologist
- Lived
- 897–967
- Country
- Abbasid Caliphate
Updated September 2026
About Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani
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".
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.