The oud

The oud was the chief instrument of music at the courts of the caliphs. Al-Masudi has an account of its origin, which he transmits from Ibn Khurradadhbih. ²

Ibn Khurradadhbih related to al-Mu'tamid that the first person to make it was Malik ibn Mutawshalakh ibn Mahwil ibn Ad ibn Qayn ibn Adam. A son he loved died, and he hung the body from a tree until its limbs came apart. He took wood and thinned it: the body of the instrument was made like a thigh, its neck like a leg, and its head like a foot; the frets were like fingers and the strings like veins. Then he struck it and lamented over it. ²

Tubal, of the line of Malik, made drums and tambourines, the daughter of Malik made the stringed instruments, and the people of Lot made the tanbur. ²

The source quotes a verse of al-Hamdhani describing the oud as speaking with a tongue that has no conscience, like a thigh attached to a foot. ²

The account is attributed to Ibn Khurradadhbih and does not go beyond the source given here. It needs a further source.