Al-Jahiz

Arabic writer (776–869)

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Lived 775–868, aged 93

WritersWriter / Author

Wikipedia
48 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
775–868
Aged 93

Summary

Updated 2026-06-09

A 9th-century polymath whose sprawling observations of animal behavior anticipated natural selection by a thousand years, and whose prose style set the standard for Arabic literature.

Biography

About

Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri, called al-Jahiz ("the bug eyed"), was born around 776 in Basra and became a scribe and teacher before rising into the literary circle of Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun around 815. Aligned with the rationalist Mu'tazilite school, he wrote across theology, zoology, philosophy, linguistics, and rhetoric, producing nearly 140 works — 75 survive. His seven-volume Kitāb al-Ḥayawān used animals as a lens for principles now recognized as ethology and ecosystem function; Kitāb al-Bayān wa-l-tabyīn explored human communication; Kitāb al-Bukhalāʾ collected sharp anec…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Al-Jahiz

Al-Jahiz

saidundated

A noble man need not pretend to be virtuous, any more than a well-spoken man feigns eloquence.

— The Book of Misers

Al-Jahiz

saidundated

The book is silent as long as you need silence,eloquent whenever you want discourse. He never interrupts you if you are engagedbut if you feel lonely he will be a good companion.

— The Book of Animals

Al-Jahiz

saidundated