The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Kitab al-Aghani
(ktäb´ äl-ägän´) (KEY) [Arab.,=book of songs], collection of poems in many volumes compiled by Abu al-Faraj Ali of Esfahan. It contains poems from the oldest epoch of Arabic literature down to the 9th cent. The poems were put to music, but the musical signs are no longer readable. Because of the accompanying biographical annotations on the authors and composers, the work is an important historical source.
täb´ äl-ägän
