Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī, known by his nickname al-Jahiz, was a ninth-century Arabic scholar who wrote learned and witty prose. Born in Basra, he spent most of his life in Baghdad. He was a leading light in the cosmopolitan society of the Abbasid caliphate.
In a comical reversal, the host Blumarit’s extravagant hospitality pushed the poet Luxorius toward starvation. … Read the post Luxorius: sixth-century African poet against dinner invitations
Eating colostrum and dates with al-Naqqāsh at his table, al-Jahiz was alone and laughed alone. His experience of absurdity is highly relevant today. … Read the post absurd others: al-Jahiz declares laughing alone safer
Al-Jahiz gave a miser’s response to a kid’s pissing ploy perverse force of reason. Classical Arabic literature accepted outrageous texts. … Read the post al-Jahiz on miser thwarting kid’s pissing ploy for eating dates
Just three sentences from al-Jahiz’s book on misers offer much more meaning than subsequent writing about misers has been able to provide. … Read the post misers’ complex, demanding struggles in classical Arabic literature
Al-Jahiz’s readers appreciated literary works like Athenaeus’ Learned Banqueters. Cultural heritage conflicted the Roman Empire like the Abbasid Caliphate. … Read the post al-Jahiz’s misers offer rich framework for reading Athenaeus’s banqueters
Al-Jahiz blamed others for any errors in his book On Misers. Ziolkowski exonerated others for any errors in his book Solomon and Marcolf. … Read the post al-Jahiz shows alternative to Ziolkowski’s magnanimity
Bureaucrats should adopt BMING’s standard recommended protocol for what to do when a fly lands on your nose. … Read the post COB-91: how to deal with a fly on your nose
Al-Jahiz the litterateur deployed linguistic logic. Yūhannā ibn Māsawayhi the physician advocated test and observation. The latter triumphed. … Read the post al-Jahiz the litterateur versus Yūhannā ibn Māsawayhi the physician
In the Shahnameh, Nahid’s bad breath brings Alexander the Great to Greece. Al-Jahiz’s claim that Persian men have sex with women with bad breath is undone. … Read the post Nahid in the Shahnameh: bad breath makes world history
Al-Jahiz made a legal argument analogous to “substantial non-infringing uses” in discussing the legality of alcoholic drinks under Islamic law. … Read the post al-Jahiz on "substantial non-infringing uses" in ninth-century Baghdad