Al-Jahiz
Encyclopedia
Al-Jāḥiẓ (real name Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Fuqaimi al-Basri) (born in Basra
, 781 – December 868/January 869) was an Arab
ic prose
writer and author of works of literature, Mu'tazili
theology, and politico-religious polemics.
In biology, Al-Jahiz introduced the concept of food chains and also proposed a scheme of animal evolution that entailed natural selection
, environmental determinism
and possibly the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
, he was the grandson of a black slave. He used to sell fish along one of the canals in Basra to help his family. Yet, despite his difficult financial troubles, that didn't stop him from seeking knowledge since his youth. He used to gather with a group of other youths at the main mosque of Basra
, where they discussed various subjects of sciences. He also attended various lectures done by the most learned men in philology
, lexicography
, and poetry
.
, Arabic philology, history of the Arab
s and Persian
s before Islam, and he studied the Qur'an
and the Hadith
s. He also read translated books of Greek sciences and Hellenestic philosophy, especially that of Greek philosopher Aristotle
. His education was highly facilitated due to the fact that the Abbasid Caliphate
was in a period of cultural, and intellectual revolutions. Books became readily available, and this made learning easily available.
s and told him that he'll earn his living from writing. Since then, he had authored two hundred books throughout his lifetime that discuss a variety of subjects including Arabic grammar
, zoology
, poetry, lexicography, and rhetoric
. The staggering number of books though, haven't all reached us, only thirty books survived.
, the capital of the Arab Islamic Caliphate at the time, in 816
AD, because the Abbasid Caliphs
encouraged scientists and scholars and had just founded the House of Wisdom
. Due to the Caliphs' patronage
, his eagerness to reach a wider audience, and establish himself, al-Jahiz stayed in Baghdad (and later Samarra
) where he wrote a huge number of his books. The Caliph al-Ma'mun
wanted al-Jahiz to teach his children, but then changed his mind when his children got afraid of his boggle-eyes (جاحظ العينين), it's said that this is where he got his nickname.
s, poetic descriptions and proverbs describing over 350 varieties of animals. The work was considered by the 11th-century Muslim scholar Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi
to be "little more than a plagiarism
" of Aristotle's Kitāb al-Hayawān
, a charge that was once levelled against Aristotle himself with regard to a certain "Asclepiades of Pergamum". Later scholars have noted that there was only a limited Aristotelian
influence in al-Jahiz's work, and that al-Baghdadi may have been unacquainted with Aristotle's work.
In the work al-Jahiz speculates on the influence of environment on animals, a concept considered by some to be a precursor to evolution
. It is considered as the most important work of Al-Jahiz.
y. Humorous and satirical
, it is the best example of Al-Jahiz' prose
style. It is an insightful study of human psychology
. Jahiz ridicules schoolmasters, beggars, singers and scribe
s for their greedy behavior. Many of the stories continue to be reprinted in magazines throughout the Arabic-speaking world
. The book is considered one of the best works of Al Jahiz.
[ "Black Africans"]
Everybody agrees that there is no people on earth in whom generosity is as universally well developed as the Zanj. These people have a natural talent for dancing to the rhythm of the tambourine, without needing to learn it. There are no better singers anywhere in the world, no people more polished and eloquent, and no people less given to insulting language. No other nation can surpass them in bodily strength and physical toughness. One of them will lift huge blocks and carry heavy loads that would be beyond the strength of most Bedouins or members of other races. They are courageous, energetic, and generous, which are the virtues of nobility, and also good-tempered and with little propensity to evil. They are always cheerful, smiling, and devoid of malice, which is a sign of noble character.
The Zanj say to the Arabs: You are so ignorant that during the jahiliyya you regarded us as your equals when it came to marrying Arab women, but with the advent of the justice of Islam you decided this practice was bad. Yet the desert is full of Zanj married to Arab wives, and they have been princes and kings and have safeguarded your rights and sheltered you against your enemies.
The Zanj say that God did not make them black in order to disfigure them; rather it is their environment that made them so. The best evidence of this is that there are black tribes among the Arabs, such as the Banu Sulaim bin Mansur, and that all the peoples settled in the Harra, besides the Banu Sulaim are black. These tribes take slaves from among the Ashban to mind their flocks and for irrigation work, manual labor, and domestic service, and their wives from among the Byzantines; and yet it takes less than three generations for the Harra to give them all the complexion of the Banu Sulaim. This Harra is such that the gazelles, ostriches, insects, wolves, foxes, sheep, asses, horses and birds that live there are all black. White and black are the results of environment, the natural properties of water and soil, distance from the sun, and intensity of heat. There is no question of metamorphosis, or of punishment, disfigurement or favor meted out by Allah. Besides, the land of the Banu Sulaim has much in common with the land of the Turks, where the camels, beasts of burden, and everything belonging to these people is similar in appearance: everything of theirs has a Turkish look.
after spending more than fifty years in Baghdad
. He died in Basra in 869
AD. His exact cause of death is not clear, but a popular assumption is that an accident, where the books piling up his private library
, toppled over and crushed him, caused his death. He died at the age of 93. Another version said that he suffered from ill health and died in Muharram
.
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, 781 – December 868/January 869) was an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
ic prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
writer and author of works of literature, Mu'tazili
Mu'tazili
' is an Islamic school of speculative theology that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad, both in present-day Iraq, during the 8th–10th centuries. The adherents of the Mu'tazili school are best known for their having asserted that, because of the perfect unity and eternal nature of God,...
theology, and politico-religious polemics.
In biology, Al-Jahiz introduced the concept of food chains and also proposed a scheme of animal evolution that entailed natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
, environmental determinism
Environmental determinism
Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture...
and possibly the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
Early life
Not much is known about Al-Jahiz's early life, but his family was very poor. Born in BasraBasra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, he was the grandson of a black slave. He used to sell fish along one of the canals in Basra to help his family. Yet, despite his difficult financial troubles, that didn't stop him from seeking knowledge since his youth. He used to gather with a group of other youths at the main mosque of Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, where they discussed various subjects of sciences. He also attended various lectures done by the most learned men in philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, lexicography
Lexicography
Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....
, and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
.
Education
Al-Jahiz continued his studies, and over a span twenty-five years, he had acquired great knowledge about Arabic poetryArabic poetry
Arabic poetry is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter...
, Arabic philology, history of the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s and Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
s before Islam, and he studied the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
and the Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
s. He also read translated books of Greek sciences and Hellenestic philosophy, especially that of Greek philosopher Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
. His education was highly facilitated due to the fact that the Abbasid Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
was in a period of cultural, and intellectual revolutions. Books became readily available, and this made learning easily available.
His career
While still in Basra, Al-Jahiz wrote an article about the institution of the Caliphate. This is said to have been the beginning of his career as a writer, which would become his sole source of living. It's said that his mother once offered him a tray full of notebookNotebook
A notebook is a book or binder composed of pages of notes, often ruled, made out of paper, used for purposes including recording notes or memoranda, writing, drawing, and scrapbooking....
s and told him that he'll earn his living from writing. Since then, he had authored two hundred books throughout his lifetime that discuss a variety of subjects including Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the grammar of other Semitic languages....
, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, poetry, lexicography, and rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
. The staggering number of books though, haven't all reached us, only thirty books survived.
Moving to Baghdad
He moved to BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, the capital of the Arab Islamic Caliphate at the time, in 816
816
Year 816 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Frankish king Louis the Pious is crowned emperor by Pope Stephen IV.- Religion :...
AD, because the Abbasid Caliphs
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
encouraged scientists and scholars and had just founded the House of Wisdom
House of Wisdom
The House of Wisdom was a library and translation institute established in Abbassid-era Baghdad, Iraq. It was a key institution in the Translation Movement and considered to have been a major intellectual centre during the Islamic Golden Age...
. Due to the Caliphs' patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
, his eagerness to reach a wider audience, and establish himself, al-Jahiz stayed in Baghdad (and later Samarra
Samarra
Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
) where he wrote a huge number of his books. The Caliph al-Ma'mun
Al-Ma'mun
Abū Jaʿfar Abdullāh al-Māʾmūn ibn Harūn was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 813 until his death in 833...
wanted al-Jahiz to teach his children, but then changed his mind when his children got afraid of his boggle-eyes (جاحظ العينين), it's said that this is where he got his nickname.
Kitab al-Hayawan (Book of Animals)
The al-Hayawan is an encyclopedia of seven volume of anecdoteAnecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
s, poetic descriptions and proverbs describing over 350 varieties of animals. The work was considered by the 11th-century Muslim scholar Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi
Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn `Ali ibn Thabit ibn Ahmad ibn Mahdi al-Shafi`i, commonly known as al-Khatib al-Baghdadi or the lecturer from Baghdad , was a Sunni Muslim scholar and historian.-Early life:...
to be "little more than a plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
" of Aristotle's Kitāb al-Hayawān
Kitab al-Hayawan (Aristotle)
The Kitāb al-hayawān is an Arabic translation in 19 treatises of the following zoological texts by Aristotle:Historia Animalium : treatises 1-10De Partibus Animalium : treatises 11-14...
, a charge that was once levelled against Aristotle himself with regard to a certain "Asclepiades of Pergamum". Later scholars have noted that there was only a limited Aristotelian
Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic school, and, later on, by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings...
influence in al-Jahiz's work, and that al-Baghdadi may have been unacquainted with Aristotle's work.
In the work al-Jahiz speculates on the influence of environment on animals, a concept considered by some to be a precursor to evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. It is considered as the most important work of Al-Jahiz.
Kitab al-Bukhala (Book of Misers) also (Avarice & the Avaricious)
A collection of stories about the greedGreed
Greed is an excessive desire to possess wealth, goods, or abstract things of value with the intention to keep it for one's self. Greed is inappropriate expectation...
y. Humorous and satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, it is the best example of Al-Jahiz' prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
style. It is an insightful study of human psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. Jahiz ridicules schoolmasters, beggars, singers and scribe
Scribe
A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps the city keep track of its records. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing...
s for their greedy behavior. Many of the stories continue to be reprinted in magazines throughout the Arabic-speaking world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. The book is considered one of the best works of Al Jahiz.
Kitab al-Bayan wa al-Tabyin (The Book of eloquence and demonstration)
Al Jahiz is considered to be one of the most renowned writers of all times, for he is believed to have written during his life span about 360 books, from all walks of knowledge and wisdom of his time, al bayan wa tabyeen which literally means (eloquence and demonstration), was one of his latest work, in which he approaches different subject like epiphanies, rhetorical speeches, sectarian leaders, and princes…, also a book in which he converges skills of the language and eloquence, the art of silence and poetry, he also treats with his sardonic spirited comments, the fools and the crazy, and not to forget Arab's wit and wisdom…Kitab Moufakharat al Jawari wal Ghilman (The book of dithyramb of concubines and ephebes)
In Arabic the word jawari is the plural of jariya meaning (a female servant) which by today's standard we would call concubine mistress or dame there was actually two kinds of female servants jariya one that manages the household and runs daily errands and the second type used to be called qina also qaenawas a jariya who had the ability to sing which put her above (in market value) than the usual jariya, often this kind of jawari was worth a lot of money, in consequence they have become a privilege for princes and wealthy merchants, and the word ghilman is the plural of ghoulam (a young male servants) also referred to as eunuch, castrato, ephebus, ephebe. For most scholars the book of dithyramb of concubines and ephebes is a wanton book of sensuality, in this book Al Jahiz enthralls us with stories of erotic nature that deals with the Arab perception of sexuality.Risalat mufakharat al-sudan 'ala al-bidan (Treatise on Blacks)
On the ZanjZanj
Zanj was a name used by medieval Arab geographers to refer to both a certain portion of the coast of East Africa and its inhabitants, Bantu-speaking peoples called the Zanj...
[ "Black Africans"]
Everybody agrees that there is no people on earth in whom generosity is as universally well developed as the Zanj. These people have a natural talent for dancing to the rhythm of the tambourine, without needing to learn it. There are no better singers anywhere in the world, no people more polished and eloquent, and no people less given to insulting language. No other nation can surpass them in bodily strength and physical toughness. One of them will lift huge blocks and carry heavy loads that would be beyond the strength of most Bedouins or members of other races. They are courageous, energetic, and generous, which are the virtues of nobility, and also good-tempered and with little propensity to evil. They are always cheerful, smiling, and devoid of malice, which is a sign of noble character.
The Zanj say to the Arabs: You are so ignorant that during the jahiliyya you regarded us as your equals when it came to marrying Arab women, but with the advent of the justice of Islam you decided this practice was bad. Yet the desert is full of Zanj married to Arab wives, and they have been princes and kings and have safeguarded your rights and sheltered you against your enemies.
The Zanj say that God did not make them black in order to disfigure them; rather it is their environment that made them so. The best evidence of this is that there are black tribes among the Arabs, such as the Banu Sulaim bin Mansur, and that all the peoples settled in the Harra, besides the Banu Sulaim are black. These tribes take slaves from among the Ashban to mind their flocks and for irrigation work, manual labor, and domestic service, and their wives from among the Byzantines; and yet it takes less than three generations for the Harra to give them all the complexion of the Banu Sulaim. This Harra is such that the gazelles, ostriches, insects, wolves, foxes, sheep, asses, horses and birds that live there are all black. White and black are the results of environment, the natural properties of water and soil, distance from the sun, and intensity of heat. There is no question of metamorphosis, or of punishment, disfigurement or favor meted out by Allah. Besides, the land of the Banu Sulaim has much in common with the land of the Turks, where the camels, beasts of burden, and everything belonging to these people is similar in appearance: everything of theirs has a Turkish look.
His death
Al-Jahiz returned to BasraBasra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
after spending more than fifty years in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. He died in Basra in 869
869
Year 869 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* May 26 – An earthquake and tsunami devastate a large part of the Sanriku coast near Sendai, Japan....
AD. His exact cause of death is not clear, but a popular assumption is that an accident, where the books piling up his private library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, toppled over and crushed him, caused his death. He died at the age of 93. Another version said that he suffered from ill health and died in Muharram
Muharram
Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year in which fighting is prohibited...
.