Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Shushtar (Tustar)
Title
Tustar's Shaykh Noon Prayer customs
Short description
Tustar's Shaykh Noon Prayer customs, including qur'anic readers' recitation/cantillation. The art of qur'anic recitation is called tajwīd and entails phonetic and semantic rules (see Tadjwīd, EI-2).
Text on source
وهذا الشيخ من أحسن الناس صورة وأقومهم سيرة، وهو يَعِظُ الناس بعد صلاة الجمعة بالمسجد الجامع، ولَمّا شاهَدْتُ مَجَالِسَه في الوعظ صغر لدي كل واعظ رأيته قبله بالحجاز والشام ومصر، ولم ألْقَ فيمن لقيتهم مثله، حضرت يومًا عنده ببستان له على شاطئ النهر، وقد اجتمع فقهاء المدينة وكبراؤها وأتى الفقراء من كل ناحية فأَطْعَمَ الجميع، ثم صلى بهم صلاة الظهر، وقام خطيبًا وواعظًا بعد أن قرأ القراء أمامه بالتلاحين المبكية والنغمات المحركة المهيجة، وخَطَبَ خطبة بسكينة ووقار وتصرف في فنون العلم من تفسير كتاب لله وإيراد حديث رسول لله والتكلم على معانيه، ثم تَرَامَتْ عليه الرقاع من كل ناحية، ومن عادة الأعاجم أن يكتبوا المسائل في رقاع ويرمونها إلى الواعظ فيجيب عنها [ص. ١٣٦-١٣٧]
English translation
This shaikh is one of the handsomest of men in figure and most upright in conduct. He preaches to the public after the Friday prayer in the congregational mosque, and when I attended his preaching-session all the preachers whom I had seen previously in the Hijaz, Syria, and Egypt sank in my estimation, nor have I ever met his equal. I was present with him one day in a garden of his on the bank of the river where there was a gathering of the doctors and the notables of the city, and the poor brethren came from every direction. He served them all with food, then led them in the mid-day prayer and, after the Qurʾān-readers had recited in front of him, reciting with melodies that brought tears to the eyes [qaraʾ bi-l-talāḥīn al-mubkya] and with moving and stirring modulations [naġamāt muḥarrika muhīja], he rose up to preach and admonish. He delivered a discourse with solemnity and dignity, making extempore use of all kinds of learning, interpretations of the Book of God, citation of the traditions of the Apostle of God, and dissertation upon their meanings. When he had finished, bits of paper were thrown to him from all sides, for it is a custom of the Persians to jot down questions on scraps of paper and throw them to the preacher, who answers them.
Folios/Pages
286
Date
1326 circa
Observations on the events description
"Although the musical dimension of Ḳurʾānic recitation is a diverse, complex discourse, sustained over many centuries, the practice of tad̲j̲wīd came universally to be independent of any kind of popular singing, with set melodies." (Tadjwīd, EI-2).
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "Tustar's Shaykh Noon Prayer customs" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 19.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
