Abū L-Faraj's Life, Times and Works

The Kitāb al-aghānī is the product of a particular cultural milieu, the court of fourth/tenth century Baghdad, with which Abū l-Faraj was closely associated, and of the contemporary scholarly tradition in which he had his education. It is also marked by its author’s general approach to writing and compilation, which emerges from other works of his too. The following sketch of Abū l-Faraj’s life, ¹ times and oeuvre presents the context in which the Aghānī took shape, the information being confined to what is relevant for the subsequent discussion of it.