# Safi al-Din al-Urmawi
Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (صفیالدین ارموی), full name Safi al-Din Abu al-Mafakhir [Abd al-Mu'min](https://www.edgepedia.org/abd-al-mumin) ibn Yusuf ibn Fakhir al-Urmawi al-Baghdadi, was a musician, music theorist, calligrapher, and chancery official who served the last Abbasid caliphs in [Baghdad](https://www.edgepedia.org/baghdad) and then the Mongol Ilkhanids, and who lived from about AH 613 (1216) to AH 693 (1294).[1](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-6447.xml) • [2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) He is known above all for two treatises on music theory, the Kitab al-Adwar and al-Risala al-Sharafiyya, which set out a systematic division of the octave into seventeen notes and were translated and commented on by music scholars in the following centuries.[3](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/erusosbilder/article/253231)
| | |
|---|---|
| **Born** | ca. AH 613 (1216), probably in Urmia; some sources say Balkh or Baghdad[1](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-6447.xml) • [2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) |
| **Died** | Safar AH 693 (January 1294), in a debtor's prison in Baghdad[1](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-6447.xml) • [4](https://islamdusunceatlasi.org/safiyyuddin-urmevi/342) |
| **Rulers served** | Caliph al-Musta'sim, then Hulagu, then the Juwayni family under the Ilkhanids[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) • [6](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/) |
| **Offices** | Court musician, librarian, and scribe under al-Musta'sim; head of the Diwan al-Insha under the Mongols[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) • [7](https://www.academia.edu/36750867/Al_Urmawi) |
| **Principal works** | Kitab al-Adwar (c. AH 650/1252) and al-Risala al-Sharafiyya[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) • [8](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C) |
| **Music-theoretical contribution** | Systematized the seventeen-note sound system of Middle Eastern music[3](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/erusosbilder/article/253231) • [9](https://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/The__Theory_of_Music.pdf) |
| **Instruments invented** | The nuzha and the mughni[8](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C) • [7](https://www.academia.edu/36750867/Al_Urmawi) |
## Origins and family
The Encyclopaedia of Islam gives his birth as ca. 613/1216, probably in Urmiya (Urmia, in [Azerbaijan](https://www.edgepedia.org/azerbaijan)).[1](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-6447.xml) The TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi likewise places his birth in Urmia in AH 613 (1216), but records divergent traditions: Isma'il Pur says he was born in Balkh and spent his childhood in Urmia, while Husni al-Hariri says his grandfathers were Azeri and he was born in Baghdad.[2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) A Muslim Heritage study gives his full name as Safi al-Din Abu al-Mafakhir Abd al-Mu'min ibn Yusuf ibn Fakhir al-Urmawi al-Baghdadi, born in Baghdad in the early 13th century to a family originally from Urmia.[6](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/) The birthplace is therefore reported variously as Urmia, Baghdad, and Balkh.
He went to Baghdad and studied the sciences at the [Mustansiriyya madrasa](https://www.edgepedia.org/mustansiriyya-madrasa).[2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) • [9](https://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/The__Theory_of_Music.pdf)
## Career
His life falls into three periods: service under the caliphs al-Mustansir and al-Mustasim (1226–1258), the [Mongol sack of Baghdad](https://www.edgepedia.org/mongol-sack-of-baghdad) and its aftermath (1258–1263), and the Juwayni period (1263–1294).[2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi)
**Under the Abbasids.** The caliph made him a secretary and custodian of his library's book treasury, entrusting him with copying books.[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) He became court musician, librarian, and boon companion of al-Musta'sim, with an annual pension of 5,000 dinars.[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) • [6](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/) According to the *Arab Encyclopedia*, the caliph learned of his musical talent only when the singer Lahaz performed one of his compositions; al-Musta'sim then summoned him, admired his oud playing, and kept him at court.[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) He first made his reputation as a calligrapher, and Yaqut al-Mustasimi and Shams al-Din Ahmad al-[Suhrawardi](https://www.edgepedia.org/suhrawardi) are counted among his disciples.[7](https://www.academia.edu/36750867/Al_Urmawi) • [10](https://www.dailysabah.com/portrait/2017/07/01/safi-al-din-al-urmawi-and-the-origins-of-middle-eastern-classical-music)
**The Mongol conquest.** His singing and oud playing won Hulagu's favor, who doubled his salary; this saved him and his family from mistreatment.[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) • [6](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/) The doubled pension of 10,000 gold pieces was paid from the revenues of Baghdad.[6](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/)
**The Juwayni period.** He entered the service of the Juwayni brothers and was made secretary of the divan-i insha.[4](https://islamdusunceatlasi.org/safiyyuddin-urmevi/342) • [6](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/) He tutored Shams al-Din's sons Baha al-Din Muhammad (d. 678/1279) and Sharaf al-Din Harun (d. 685/1286), to whom the Sharafiyya is dedicated.[4](https://islamdusunceatlasi.org/safiyyuddin-urmevi/342) • [2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) When Baha al-Din was appointed governor of Iraq-i Ajem, Safi al-Din accompanied him to Isfahan in AH 664 (1265) and headed the chancery of correspondence there.[2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) • [5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) In this period he invented two stringed instruments, the nuzha and the mughni.[8](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C) • [7](https://www.academia.edu/36750867/Al_Urmawi)
## Political influence
Safi al-Din's influence ran through his posts rather than through policy. As head of the Diwan al-Insha, the bureau of official correspondence in Baghdad, he directed the writing of state letters under Mongol rule.[4](https://islamdusunceatlasi.org/safiyyuddin-urmevi/342) • [6](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/) His position as tutor to the sons of the vizier Shams al-Din al-Juwayni tied him to the governing family, and his connection with the Juwaynis was what brought him the headship of the chancery.[8](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C) • [7](https://www.academia.edu/36750867/Al_Urmawi) At the Abbasid court his standing as the caliph's musician and librarian, with more than fifty ensembles of male and female singers said to have gathered at al-Musta'sim's court, made him a fixture of the palace's cultural life.[11](https://archive.org/details/20221003_20221003_1339)
## Death and successors
After the Juwayni family fell from power in 1284, he returned to Baghdad, his fortunes collapsed, and debts overwhelmed him.[2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) • [5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) For a debt of 300 dinars to Majd al-Din Ghulam ibn Sabbagh he was imprisoned, fell ill, and died in prison in AH 693 (1294).[4](https://islamdusunceatlasi.org/safiyyuddin-urmevi/342) • [2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) The exact day is reported differently: the TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi gives 20 Safar 693 (20 January 1294),[2](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi) while the Encyclopaedia of Islam, following the chronicler [Ibn al-Fuwati](https://www.edgepedia.org/ibn-al-fuwati), gives 28 Safar 693 (28 January 1294) at about the age of 80.[1](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-6447.xml)
## Works and historians' assessment
His two principal treatises are the Kitab al-Adwar, dated by the Arab Encyclopedia to about AH 650 (1252), and al-Risala al-Sharafiyya, dedicated to his pupil Sharaf al-Din Harun Juwayni.[5](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628) • [4](https://islamdusunceatlasi.org/safiyyuddin-urmevi/342) The date of the Sharafiyya is given as about AH 674 by one modern study.[8](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C) Through these two books he laid the foundation of the seventeen-note sound system, and his works were translated and commented on by music scholars in the following centuries.[3](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/erusosbilder/article/253231) His contribution is acknowledged as of great importance in the chain of [Arabic music](https://www.edgepedia.org/arabic-music) theory beginning with al-Kindi, and some writers called him "the Zarlino of the Orient" after the Renaissance theorist Gioseffo Zarlino.[9](https://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/The__Theory_of_Music.pdf)
Two points of scholarly disagreement stand out. First, on the Adwar: the scholar Neubauer questioned al-Urmawi's role in composing it, since he was only about 20 years old when it was written and the treatise is largely descriptive, though he held a library post with access to many books.[8](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C) Second, on which treatise matters more: some contemporary theorists, including Taqi Binesh and Mohsen Mohammadi, hold that the Sharafiyya is his most important work, noting that it is rooted in the school of al-Farabi and Ibn Sina while the Adwar is more independent and innovative.[8](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C) In later manuscripts he appears in two personas: in some his sound system is taken as the basis, in others he is presented as a legendary musician, with material on music-astrology relations and the effects of music on body and soul that has no trace in his own two books.[3](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/erusosbilder/article/253231)
## Legacy
The Kitab al-Adwar and al-Risala al-Sharafiyya were sources for later theorists including Qutb al-Din Mahmud al-Shirazi (d. 1310), [Abd al-Qadir](https://www.edgepedia.org/abd-al-qadir) al-Maraghi (d. 1435), Fath Allah al-Shirwani (d. 1486), Muhammad al-Ladhiqi (d. 1494) and Alishah ibn Haci Buke (d. 1500).[9](https://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/The__Theory_of_Music.pdf) • [7](https://www.academia.edu/36750867/Al_Urmawi) A scholarly facsimile edition of the Sharafiyya, written in al-Urmawi's own hand, has been produced with annotations to make his contributions to music theory accessible.[12](https://www.academia.edu/2444229/The_facsimile_Edition_of_al_Sharafiyyah_by_Safi_al_din_al_Urmawi_%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AE%D9%87_%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%87_%D8%A8%D9%87_%D8%AE%D8%B7_%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C)
## References
1. [Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Urmawī, Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE (Brill)](https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-6447.xml)
2. [Safiyyüddin el-Urmevî, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi](https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/safiyyuddin-el-urmevi)
3. [Safi al-Din al-Urmawi as a Music Theorist and Mythical Personality, Erciyes University Journal of Social Sciences Institute](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/erusosbilder/article/253231)
4. [Safiyyüddîn Urmevî, İslam Düşünce Atlası](https://islamdusunceatlasi.org/safiyyuddin-urmevi/342)
5. [صفي الدين الأرموي, الموسوعة العربية](https://www.arab-ency.com.sy/details/15628)
6. [Manuscript Review: The Book of Musical Modes, by Al-Urmawi, Muslim Heritage](https://muslimheritage.com/book-of-musical-modes/)
7. [Al Urmawi (manuscript study)](https://www.academia.edu/36750867/Al_Urmawi)
8. [صفیالدین ارموی, اسلامیکال](https://www.islamical.org/fa/%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C)
9. [Safi al-Din al-Urmawi and the Theory of Music, by Fazlı Arslan, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation](https://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/The__Theory_of_Music.pdf)
10. [Safi al-Din al-Urmawi and the origins of Middle Eastern classical music, Daily Sabah](https://www.dailysabah.com/portrait/2017/07/01/safi-al-din-al-urmawi-and-the-origins-of-middle-eastern-classical-music)
11. [كتاب الأدوار في الموسيقى لصفي الدين الارموي البغدادي (digitized edition)](https://archive.org/details/20221003_20221003_1339)
12. [The facsimile Edition of al-Sharafiyyah by Safi al-din al-Urmawi](https://www.academia.edu/2444229/The_facsimile_Edition_of_al_Sharafiyyah_by_Safi_al_din_al_Urmawi_%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AE%D9%87_%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%81%DB%8C%D9%87_%D8%A8%D9%87_%D8%AE%D8%B7_%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%8C_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%86_%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%DB%8C)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Mongol, Ilkhanid, and Timurid period (1219 to 1508) › Scholars, poets, and artists*
*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license