al-Jahiz
Arabic writer (776–869) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri (Arabic: أبو عثمان عمرو بن بحر الكناني البصري, romanized: Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī; c. 776–868/869), commonly known as al-Jahiz (Arabic: الجاحظ, romanized: al-Jāḥiẓ, lit. 'the bug eyed'), was an Arabic polymath and author of works of literature (including theory and criticism), theology, zoology, philosophy, grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, philology, linguistics, and politico-religious polemics.[2][3][4][5] His extensive zoological work has been credited with describing principles related to natural selection, ethology, and the functions of an ecosystem.[6]
al-Jahiz | |
---|---|
Born | Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī 776 |
Died | December 868/January 869 (aged 92-93) Basra, Abbasid Caliphate |
Era | Islamic Golden Age/Medieval era |
Region | Islamic Philosophy |
School | Aristotelianism |
Main interests | Arabic literature,Biology,Trivium,Islamic studies,Islamic theology |
Personal | |
Religion | Islam |
Creed | Mu'tazila[1] |
Ibn al-Nadim lists nearly 140 titles attributed to al-Jahiz, of which 75 are extant. The best known are Kitāb al-Ḥayawān (The book of the Animal), a seven-part compendium on an array of subjects with animals as their point of departure; Kitāb al-Bayān wa-l-tabyīn (The book of eloquence and exposition), a wide-ranging work on human communication; and Kitāb al-Bukhalāʾ (The book of misers), a collection of anecdotes on stinginess.[7] Tradition claims that he was smothered to death when a vast amount of books fell over him.[8]