(d 1352). Persian scholar. The section on the mathematical sciences (quadrivium) in his encyclopedia Nafā’is al-funūn (‘Treasures of the sciences’), written in about 1340, contains a chapter on music which is one of the few theoretical texts in Persian from the period between the works of Qutb al-Dīn Shīrāzī (c1300) and ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Marāghī (early 15th century). In addition to Qutb al-Dīn it draws heavily on the earlier formulations of Safī al-Dīn al-Urmawī and al-Fārābī to provide a succinct survey of concepts of sound, melody, intervals, mode and rhythm.
M. ibn M. al-Āmulī: Nafā'is al-funūn [Treasures of the sciences], iii (c1340); ed. A. al-Hasan Si‘rānī (Tehran, 1960), 73–109
R.G. Kiesewetter: Die Musik der Araber (Leipzig, 1842/R), viii, 13, 89
C. Rieu: Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1879–83/R), 435–6
OWEN WRIGHT