MWANAFALSAFA
Al-Jahiz
أبو عثمان عمرو بن بحر الجاحظ
- Lifespan
- c. 776 – 868/869
- Region & background
- Basra, Iraq (Abbasid Caliphate) — lived in Baghdad and Samarra
- Intellectual tradition
- Muʿtazili rational theology; Arabic adab (humanist prose)
Key ideas
- Reason and observation as tools for understanding nature, society and language
- Clarity of expression (al-bayān) as the basis of communication and persuasion
- Curiosity about human diversity, character and everyday behaviour
Abū ʿUthmān ʿAmr ibn Baḥr, known as al-Jāḥiẓ, was born around 776 in Basra and died there in 868 or 869, after years spent in Baghdad and Samarra. He belonged to the rationalist Muʿtazili school of theology and became one of the most celebrated prose writers in Arabic.
His works mix argument, anecdote, poetry and humour. The unfinished, seven-volume Book of Animals combines natural history drawn partly from Aristotle with literature, theology and observations on society; The Book of Eloquence and Exposition reflects on language and persuasion; The Book of Misers portrays human behaviour through satire. Taken together, his writings offer a wide-ranging education in the knowledge of his time and a model of independent, inquisitive thinking.
Notable works
- Kitāb al-Ḥayawān (The Book of Animals)
- Kitāb al-Bayān wa-l-Tabyīn (The Book of Eloquence and Exposition)
- Kitāb al-Bukhalāʾ (The Book of Misers)