ABSTRACT
For the final years of the Umayyad caliphate, Ibn Fadl Allah’s Masalik once again provides highly significant evidence. A similar description of the buq is found in the 14th-century Muqaddima [Prolegomena] by Ibn Khaldun in a list of musical instruments played in his time in the Maghrib: Among the best wind instruments of this era is the buq. Wadih ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la was a male singer who performed for al-Mu’ayyad Hisham II ibn al-Hakam II (r. 976–1008, 1010–12), and also for al-Mustakfi bi-llah Muhammad III ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hakam. One biography includes a remarkable account of a musician’s travels to Christian lands, that of Hisn ibn ‘Abd ibn Ziyad. The next biography is that of Sa‘idah ibn Buraym, written in the same highly poetic rhymed prose, and once again the manuscripts and printed editions disagree at several key points.
