Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī, nicknamed Al-Jahiz, born 776 Basra, died 868
‘Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani, widely known by his nickname Al-jahiz due to an eye deformity, was an Arab prose writer and author of works of literature. He developed a love for – and expertise in the Arabic language becoming an avid reader and prolific writer. He was reported to have written over two hundred (some sources say three hundred plus) works, about thirty are extant. A unique feature of his oeuvre, apart from his celebrated prose – is that he tailored his writing in such a manner that the general community could understand; interspersing his writing, with anecdotes, humour and witticisms.
Seeking to widen his intellectual horizons further, he travelled to Damascus, Beirut, Samarra and Baghdad, the Abbasid capital, where he resided for many years. He read Greek literature (in translation), especially Aristotle and learnt Farsi. He was a man of reason and logic, which generated a spirit of life-long independence.
Al-Jahiz died in 868. From a youthful fish-seller, on the canals of Basra, he became a gargantuan figure, in the development of literature in Muslim civilisation and science.
www.muslimheritage.com/scholars/al-jahiz
www.1001inventions.com/al-jahiz
www.muslimheritage.com/article/islamic-foreshadowing-evolution
Kitab al-Hayawan (The Book of Animals)
From a massively wide range of subject matter, Al-Jahiz’s most famous of works is Kitab al-Hayawan or The Book of Animals; a pioneering work which covers aspects of biology and zoology; such as animal classification, food chains and evolution. It falls in 7 volumes and is full of anecdotes, poetic descriptions and proverbs describing many varieties of animals.
