Ibrahim Al-Mausili

Who was Ibrahim Al-Mausili?

Ibrahim Al-Mausili, a singer, was born of Kurdish or Persian parents settled in Kufa. In his early years his parents died and he was trained by an uncle. Singing, not study, attracted him, and at the age of twenty-three he fled to Mosul, where he joined a band of wild youths.

After a year he went to Rai, where he met an ambassador of the caliph Al-Mansur, who enabled him to come to Basra and take singing lessons. His fame as a singer spread, and the caliph Mahdi brought him to the court. There he remained a favorite under Hadi, while Harun al-Rashid kept him always with him until his death, when he ordered his son Al-Ma'mun to say the prayer over his corpse.

Ibrahim, as might be expected, was no strict Muslim. Two or three times he was knouted and imprisoned for excess in wine-drinking, but was always taken into favor again. His powers of song were far beyond anything else known at the time. Two of his pupils, his sons Isiaq and Muariq, attained celebrity after him.

See the Preface to Ahlwardt's Abu Nowas, pp. 13-18, and the many stories of his life in the Kitab al-Aghani, V. 2-49.