Ziryab was born Abu al Hasan Ali ibn Nafi, in about the year 789 in modern day Iraq. Enslaved at birth then freed, Ziryab was likely of African, Persian or Kurdish descent. Ziryab, which in Arabic means black-feathered thrush (a small songbird), was referred to as Blackbird because of his extremely dark complexion, the clarity of his voice, and the sweetness of his character.
Ziryab studied music under the famous singer and royal court musician Ishaq Al-Mawsili (Isaac of Mosul) in the court of the caliph Harun al-Rashid, a great lover of music. Harun often brought many singers and musicians to his palace for the entertainment of his guests. Ziryab was once summoned to sing for the caliph. After he played several songs written by al-Mawsili, Harun spoke to him and was reportedly impressed by his graceful charming manner of speech. Ziryab offered to play the caliph some of his own music. When Ziryab was handed his master's oud (known as the lute, the ancestor of the guitar), he declined politely saying that he could not play in his own style on his master’s oud. He sent for his own oud, one that he had adapted to fit his own musical style. Ziryab’s oud weighed a third less than his master’s. The strings were made of lion’s gut; his pick was a sharpened eagle’s claw, rather than the usual piece of carved wood; and most significantly, he had added a fifth course of strings to the instrument, lending the instrument greater range and delicacy of expression.
When Ziryab finally began to play, the caliph was quite impressed. He scolded al-Mawsili for hiding Ziryab’s talent and ordered him to do all he could to develop the latter’s skills. While Ziryab’s talents had pleased the caliph, they deeply disturbed his teacher. Apparently, Ziryab had concealed his talents from his teacher, probably out of fear of this exact reaction. Ishaq al-Mawsili was furious with Ziryab and threatened to have him killed if he did not leave Baghdad immediately. To add inducement to threat, Ishaq offered to pay for Ziryab’s travels. Needless to say, Ziryab did not hesitate; he took the money and left. Ishaq then explained his protege’s absence as a consequence of Ziryab’s mentally instability, which had led him to depart Baghdad in a rage for not having received a gift from the caliph for his performance.
Thus, at the age of thirty, Ziryab and his family fled to Egypt and crossed North Africa to present-day Tunisia. There he was welcomed by the royal court of Ziyadat Allah I, but Ziryab’s eye was set on Spain, specifically on Cordoba, a city that was beginning to rival Baghdad in its cultural wealth. Ziryab wrote to al-Hakam, the ruler of the emirate of al-Andalus and offered his musical talents. Delighted at the prospect of adding a Baghdadi musician to his court, the ruler wrote back offering Ziryab a handsome salary. Ziryab quickly packed up and headed for Spain. When he finally arrived in the year 822, he was shocked to learn that Al-Hakam was dead. Ziryab was devastated and began to prepare to return to North Africa, but was delighted by the renewal of the invitation to stay by al-Hakam’s son, Emir Abd al-Rahman II, who hired the then 33-year-old Ziryab as a means to availing culture and refinement to al-Andalus. The Umayyad ruler Abd al-Rahman II knew that Baghdad was considered the cultural jewel in the lands ruled by Muslims and hoped Ziryab would help al-Andalus compete with Baghdad. Apparently, al-Rahman had hired Ziryab without ever hearing him sing! When he eventually did, he became so captivated by Ziryab’s voice that he refused to ever hear another singer. From that day on, al-Rahman and Ziryab became close confidants and would often meet to discuss poetry, history, the arts and the sciences.
Eventually, Ziryab became more than a court singer; he served as a minister of culture of sorts for all of al-Andalus. In the realms of music, his influence was large and still felt today. He established the principles for performing the nuba, a form of Andalusian music that exists today in North Africa, known as maluf in Libya, Tunisia and Algeria and known simply as Andalusi music broadly. Ziryab also founded a school of music, which opened its doors not only to the talented rich, but also to talented musicians of the lower-classes. His school of music was much more experimental than the classic conservatories in Baghdad. While classical Baghdadi music was taught in Ziryab’s school, his innovations were taught there as well.
Ziryab’s influence was not limited to the musical realm alone; he became known as his generation’s arbiter of taste, style and manners. He loved well-prepared food almost as much as he loved music. He revolutionized the arts of the table in Spain, in ways that survive to this day all around the world. Before Ziryab, dining was a crude affair, meant simply to fill the stomach with the fuel needed to survive. Plates of different foods, without concern for flavor profiles, were piled on top of each other and were all consumed at the same time, on bare wooden tables. Ziryab’s first influence was to change the physical features of the table settings. He covered the ugly wooden tables with beautifully embroidered leather tablecloths. He replaced the bulky silver and gold goblets with light and translucent hand-blown glass ones. He also spread his knowledge of delectable recipes of foods readily available in al-Andalus. He introduced asparagus to the dinner table, rather than dismissing it as a spring weed. He developed a number of delicious desserts that are still enjoyed in the region today. With the emir’s blessing, Ziryab issued a decree that meals be served in courses; beginning with soups or broths, followed by fish, fowl or meats, and ending with fruits, sweet desserts and bowls of nuts. The English saying from soup to nuts--referring to a fine, multi-course meal--is traced back to Ziryab’s innovations of the art of preparing and presenting food. This tradition eventually traveled to Italy, France and the rest of Europe.
Ziryab was also concerned with personal grooming and fashion. He developed Europe’s first toothpaste. He spread shaving among men and set new hair styles for both men and women. He introduced the use of salt in addition to the traditional rose-water in the washing of clothes. Ziryab opened a beauty salon/cosmetology schoolâ near the emir’s palace. Ziryab created hairstyles that were daring for his time: shorter, shaped cuts that showed women’s foreheads and ears. He also introduced the shaping of eyebrows and the removing of body hair. He introduced new perfumes and cosmetics. Some of his innovations were borrowed from the elite classes of Baghdad, while others were twists on Andalusian customs. Either way, people heeded his suggestions. He was similar to a present-day celebrity and people emulated him to feel more elevated and refined. Ziryab also set Spain’s first seasonal dress code. He decreed that men and women should wear bright colors in the spring in light fabrics like cotton, linen and silk. In summer, the rule was to wear white. When it became colder, people were to wear long, dark colored cloaks trimmed with fur.
Ziryab was also relied on by the emir for important decision making. Abd al-Rahman II was credited with organizing the government of al-Andalus from one of the Roman-Visigoths into a model along the Abbasid lines. Ziryab was believed to have an important role in this endeavor. Ziryab continued to enrich the culture of the Andalusian court by inviting inspiring people. He invited astronomers from India and Jewish doctors from North Africa and Iraq. Ziryab encouraged the scientists to spread knowledge about astronomy. He also asked the Indians to teach the members of the royal court to play chess, a game that then spread to the rest of the Peninsula.
The emir Abd al-Rahman II died in about 852, thirty years after Ziryab arrived in Cordoba. Ziryab is believed to have followed about five years later. Ziryab’s children kept his musical inventions alive, though none became celebrities like their father. All of his eight sons and two daughters pursued musical careers, with his youngest daughter becoming an especially skilled musician and teacher who inherited most of her father's musical clients. By the time Abd al-Rahman II had passed, Cordoba was slowly becoming a cultural capital in its own right. By the time another Abd al-Rahman came into power in 912, the city had become the intellectual center of Europe. At the close of the first century, many traveled to Cordoba to study science and to make use of the municipal library containing over 600,000 volumes. They returned to their native countries with knowledge as well as art, music, cuisine, fashion and manners. Many of these customs, ideas, and refined ways of living were brought to Europe by Ziryab, quite possibly the least known celebrity of all time.
The following sources were referenced: