ABSTRACT
This chapter sheds light on the traditional performance of the Libyan nawba with particular emphasis on its social, religious and cultural role in Libyan society, its history and its structure, its musical and poetical content. It focuses on the history of the Libyan nawba, and therefore of the ma'lūf, and the important role played by deceased renowned Libyan shuyūkh al-ma'lūf in the making of the same history. The history of the ma'lūf in Libya may be divided into two main phases. The first phase covers the period preceding the setting up of the first modern ma'lūf ensemble in 1964 by the renowned Libyan musician Hassan Araibi, whilst the second one covers the period following that event, a period mainly characterized by state-subsidized projects intended to revive and preserve the ma'lūf tradition. In the case of Libya, what is considered as distinctly Libyan in the ma'lūf is mostly blended in the wider discourse of Arabic music and the North African nawba.
