Ziryab Rocks The Lute
Ziryab (789-857) was the coolest dude in the world 1,200 years ago. He was a trendsetter, an influencer, an icon.
Born a slave in Bagdad, he became a prominent performer, rising to be the chief musician in the court of the caliph, Harun al-Rashid. When the mighty caliph asked Ziryab to play for him, Ziryab surprised his patron with a new lute he had invented. He had added a fifth string to his special lute! HE ROCKED THE LUTE! If that weren’t enough, he further surprised everyone with his custom pick made of an eagle’s talon. THE DUDE WAS METAL!
Ziryab knew more than 10,000 songs by heart, some of which were revealed to him by jinn in his dreams. His full name is Abu l-Hasan Ali Ibn Nafi. Ziryab is a nickname meaning Blackbird, given to him for the dark complexion of his skin and his melodious singing. While most sources say he was of African origin, some say he was Kurdish or Persian. Because he was so awesome, everybody wants to claim Ziryab. No one knows what he really looked like, but a Dutch Renaissance artist might have imagined Ziryab when he painted the picture above 800 years later.
Eventually Ziryab left Baghdad and headed west to seek his fortune. In 822 he arrived in Al-Andalus, Islamic Spain. He opened a music school and quickly became the favorite court musician in Cordoba. For his musical talents, the emir awarded Ziryab an enormous salary of 200 gold dinars per month. This made him very rich, and he spent lavishly on luxury and fashion. He popularized the idea of different wardrobes for winter and summer, varying colors and clothes depending on the season.
Coming from the highly sophisticated court of Baghdad, Ziryab thought that Cordoba needed to bump it up a notch on the culinary scene. Ziryab got the emir to adopt the three-course meal for dinners at his palace. They started with soup, then had a main course of meat and vegetables, then dessert, usually fruit and nuts. The expression “from soup to nuts” today can be traced all the way back to Ziryab’s influence on the Andalusian table.
So now you agree that Ziryab is awesome, right? But wait, there’s more! Ziryab introduced toothpaste and deodorant into Europe. He opened a cosmetology school and encouraged people to cut their hair with bangs. Can you believe this guy? He was way ahead of his time.
How have you never heard of Ziryab before? It makes you want to kick your high school history teacher in the shins for not telling you about Ziryab. And for not letting you take AP European History senior year, just because you were “disruptive in class” and “ruining it for everybody” during junior year World History. Probably woulda paid more attention if they spent more time on Ziryab. Sheesh.
While Ziryab was always awesome, business dinners vary greatly in their awesomeness. The cold airport burrito you eat standing up in a crowd at your departure gate is not so awesome. But the all-the-bad-for-you-apps dinner you have with your work friends at the airport restaurant next to that same gate while they announce the latest delay for your flight can make the disruption not so bad.
Business dinners where everyone is from your company are usually more laid-back than dinners with customers and others external to your organization. When you’re at those, you’re usually on your best behavior. That’s a good idea. Spill your drink into the nachos when it’s just you and Steve from Sales and it’s a funny story. Fall backward in your chair when sitting next to Carol the Client and you might have an unpleasant meeting with Heather in HR.
Regardless of whether the dinner party is small or large, all friendly colleagues or a mix of intimidating customers, follow Ziryab’s lead: get appetizers and dessert, not just a main course. Dessert is the best part. When the waiter asks, “Did anyone save room for dessert?” be the first to say, “You know it!” Scientists have proven that calories don’t count when the company is paying. That’s a true fact. End the dinner on a sweet note. Unless all they have is cheesecake. Then feel free to pass.
