العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolAL-JAHIZ
'Al-Jahiz' (in Arabic الجاحظ) (real name 'Abu Uthman Amr Ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Fuqaimi al-Basri') (born in Basra, c. 781 – December 868 or January 869) was a famous Arab scholar.[4] He was an Arabic prose writer and author of works on literature, history, biology, zoology, Mu'tazili philosophy and theology, and politico-religious polemics.
Early life
Not much is known about Al-Jahiz's early life, but his family was very poor. 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.
Education
Al-Jahiz continued his studies, and over a span twenty-five years, he had acquired great knowledge about Arabic poetry, Arabic philology, history of the Arabs and Persians before Islam, and he studied the Qur'an and the Hadiths. He also read translated books on Greek and Hellenistic 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.
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 notebooks 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.
Moving to Baghdad
He moved to Baghdad, 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.
Works
''Kitab al-Hayawan'' (''Book of Animals'')
The ''Kitab al-Hayawan'' is an encyclopedia of seven volumes of anecdotes, poetic descriptions and proverbs describing over 350 varieties of animals. It is considered as the most important work of al-Jahiz.
In the ''Book of Animals'', al-Jahiz first speculated on the influence of the environment on animals and developed an early theory of evolution. Al-Jahiz considered the effects of the environment on the likelihood of an animal to survive, and first described the struggle for existence and an early theory on natural selection.[5][6] Al-Jahiz wrote:
In the 11th century, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi accused al-Jahiz of having plagiarized parts of his work from the ''Kitāb al-Hayawān'' of Aristotle,[7] but modern 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 on the subject.[8]
''Kitab al-Bukhala'' (''Book of Misers'' or ''Avarice & the Avaricious'')
A collection of stories about the greedy. 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 scribes 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.
''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 ''qaena''was 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'' (''Superiority Of The Blacks To The Whites'')
Al-Jahiz wrote the following on black people:
His death
Al-Jahiz returned to Basra 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 story 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[9]
Quotes
★ "Al-Jahiz was the greatest scholar and stylist of the ninth century." Christopher Dawson
★ "One of the greatest prose writers in classical Arabic literature." Bernard Lewis
★ "[al-Jahiz] was one of the most productive and frequently quoted scholars in Arabic literature. His originality, wit, satire, and learning, made him widely known." Philip K. Hitti
See also
★ List of Arab scientists and scholars
References
1. Sherman Jackson/ﺷﻴﺮﻣﺎﻥ ﺟﺎﻛﺴﻮﻥ, ''Al-Jahiz on Translation/ ﺍﻟﺠﺎﺣﻆ ﻭﻓﻦ ﺍﻟﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ'', in "Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics." Department of English and Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo Press: 1984, p.99
2. http://web.mit.edu/CIS/www/mitejmes/issues/200310/br_lane.htm
3. Joshua Finkel, ''A Risāla of Al-Jāḥiẓ'', in "Journal of the American Oriental Society," 1927, p. 314
4. Spirit of Islam by Syed Ameer Ali p. 484. "Al-Jahiz, Abu Osman Amr ''al-Kinani al-Laisi'', the celebrated Mutazilite philosopher, who died at Basra in AH 255 (868-9 AC), was a pure Arab, a member of the tribe of Kinana."
5. Conway Zirkle (1941). Natural Selection before the "Origin of Species", ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' '84' (1), p. 71-123.
6. Mehmet Bayrakdar (Third Quarter, 1983). "Al-Jahiz And the Rise of Biological Evolutionism", ''The Islamic Quarterly''. London. [1]
7. Peters, F. E., ''Aristotle and the Arabs: The Aristotelian Tradition in Islam'', New York University Press, NY, 1968.
8. J. N. Mattock (1971). "''Aristotle and the Arabs: The Aristotelian Tradition in Islam'' by F. E. Peters", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London'' '34' (1), p. 147-148.
9. http://www.enotes.com/classical-medieval-criticism/al-jahiz
External links
★ Al-Jahiz
★ Arabic literature
★ Al Jahiz' biology and its influence on Lamarck and Darwin
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
