The Book Of Animals Al-jahiz Pdf
Sharyn Requena
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]
While still in Basra, al-Jāḥiẓ 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 is said that his mother once offered him a tray full of notebooks and told him he would earn his living from writing. He went on to write two hundred books in his lifetime on a variety of subjects, including on the Quran, Arabic grammar, zoology, poetry, lexicography, and rhetoric. Al-Jāḥiẓ was also one of the first Arabic writers to suggest a complete overhaul of the language's grammatical system, though this would not be undertaken until his fellow linguist Ibn Maḍāʾ took up the matter two hundred years later.[22]
Conway Zirkle, writing about the history of natural selection science in 1941, said that an excerpt from this work was the only relevant passage he had found from an Arabian scholar. He provided a quotation describing the struggle for existence, citing a Spanish translation of this work:
The rat goes out for its food, and is clever in getting it, for it eats all animals inferior to it in strength", and in turn, it "has to avoid snakes and birds and serpents of prey, who look for it in order to devour it" and are stronger than the rat. Mosquitos "know instinctively that blood is the thing which makes them live" and when they see an animal, "they know that the skin has been fashioned to serve them as food". In turn, flies hunt the mosquito "which is the food that they like best", and predators eat the flies. "All animals, in short, can not exist without food, neither can the hunting animal escape being hunted in his turn. Every weak animal devours those weaker than itself. Strong animals cannot escape being devoured by other animals stronger than they. And in this respect, men do not differ from animals, some with respect to others, although they do not arrive at the same extremes. In short, God has disposed some human beings as a cause of life for others, and likewise, he has disposed the latter as a cause of the death of the former."[44]
According to Frank Edgerton (2002), the claim made by some authors that al-Jahiz was an early evolutionist is "unconvincing", but the narrower claim that Jahiz "recognized the effect of environmental factors on animal life" seems valid.[45] Rebecca Stott (2013) writes of al-Jahiz's work:
A collection of stories about the greedy. Humorous and satirical, it is the best example of al-Jāḥiẓ' prose style. Al-Jāḥiẓ 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-Jāḥiẓ.[citation needed] The book has two English translations: One by Robert Bertram Serjeant titled The Book of Misers, and another by Jim Colville titled Avarice and the Avaricious. Editions: Arabic (al-Ḥājirī, Cairo, 1958);[47] Arabic text, French preface. Le Livre des avares. (Pellat. Paris, 1951)[48]
al-Bayan wa al-Tabyin was one of al-Jāḥiẓ's later works, in which he wrote on epiphanies, rhetorical speeches, sectarian leaders, and princes. The book is considered to have started Arabic literary theory in a formal, systemic fashion.[49] Al-Jāḥiẓ's defining of eloquence as the ability of the speaker to deliver an effective message while maintaining it as brief or elaborate at will was widely accepted by later Arabic literary critics.[50]
This book is composed as an imaginary debate between black people and white people as to which group is superior.[51] Al-Jāḥiẓ mentions that Blacks have an oratory and eloquence of their own culture and language.[52]
Everybody agrees that there is no people on earth in whom generosity is as universally well developed as the Zanj. These people have a natural talent for dancing to the rhythm of the tambourine, without needing to learn it. There are no better singers anywhere in the world, no people more polished and eloquent, and no people less given to insulting language. No other nation can surpass them in bodily strength and physical toughness. One of them will lift huge blocks and carry heavy loads that would be beyond the strength of most Bedouins or members of other races. They are courageous, energetic, and generous, which are the virtues of nobility, and also good-tempered and with little propensity to evil. They are always cheerful, smiling, and devoid of malice, which is a sign of noble character.
The Zanj say that God did not make them black to disfigure them; rather it is their environment that made them so. The best evidence of this is that there are black tribes among the Arabs, such as the Banu Sulaim bin Mansur, and that all the peoples settled in the Harra, besides the Banu Sulaim are black. These tribes take slaves from among the Ashban to mind their flocks and for irrigation work, manual labor, and domestic service, and their wives from among the Byzantines; and yet it takes less than three generations for the Harra to give them all the complexion of the Banu Sulaim. This Harra is such that the gazelles, ostriches, insects, wolves, foxes, sheep, asses, horses and birds that live there are all black. White and black are the results of environment, the natural properties of water and soil, distance from the sun, and intensity of heat. There is no question of metamorphosis, or of punishment, disfigurement or favor meted out by Allah. Besides, the land of the Banu Sulaim has much in common with the land of the Turks, where the camels, beasts of burden, and everything belonging to these people is similar in appearance: everything of theirs has a Turkish look.[53]
Al-Jahiz was born in Basra to a poor family, and in his youth he worked selling fish on the city canals.
But he developed a love for and expertise in the Arabic language, becoming an avid reader and a prolific writer.
He was born in Basra, present-day Iraq, in 776 - during the rise of the Golden Age of Muslim civilisation, and was known to be an avid learner.
He read Greek literature, especially Aristotle.
Seeking to widen his intellectual horizons further, he travelled to Damascus, Beirut, Samarra and Baghdad, where he lived for many years.
"The book is silent as long as you need silence, eloquent whenever you want discourse.
It is a friend who never deceives or flatters you, and it is a companion who does not grow tired of you."
- Al-Jahiz
The encyclopaedic work was probably the first book ever written in Arabic about animals.
It has seven volumes and is packed with details about animals, their habitats and behaviour, along with anecdotes, poetic descriptions and proverbs.
Highly engaging interactive exhibition with hands-on activities, exhibits and digital interactives educating young people about the natural world and inspiring them to take action to strive to protect their environment.
Beautifully illustrated book for young readers taking children on an exciting journey of discovery with messages echoing those set by the campaign of the importance of respecting all creatures and caring for animals while striving to protect the environment. It prompts readers to take positive action in global nature conservation efforts.
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.
In his Kitab al-Hayawan, Al-Jahiz put detailed description of animals, their habitat and behaviour. Some of the animals he mentioned have today endangered species like leopards, lions, ostriches, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, chameleons and more.
Al Ain, UAE, 15th February 2017: 1001 Inventions launched today at Al Ain Zoo a new 1001 Inventions production about 9th century scholar Al-Jahiz and his wondrous Book of Animals. The first-of-its-kind fun and educational production aims to celebrate and bring to life one of the oldest Arabic books on the animal kingdom
Zoology is the study of animals. Among Muslim and specifically Andalusian writers and practitioners on zoology, there were two types of zoological studies: literary and practical, (related either to agriculture or veterinary medicine). These eventually merged in some ways, with both contributing to the scientific study of animals. Islamic learning inherited three traditions that fused into what we call zoology today. One was the pre-Islamic Arab tradition of nomadism and breeding of horses, camels, sheep and goats, which with the spread of Islam, came in contact with the Indian-Persian and Greek traditions of animal study.
The book is not purely zoology, nor is it just a bestiary, because al-Jahiz was an essayist and man of literature who valued entertainment for his audience. He did, however, succeed in inserting many scientific observations into the work. For example, he discusses mimicry and camouflage, sensitivity to light, and the impact of climate and geography on the fauna of a region, and investigates animal behavior, communication and organization into communities, particularly among insects.
Some critics find ideas related to the evolution of creatures and their similarities and adaptations to the environment. Kitab al-Hayawan was produced in many illustrated editions that found their way into libraries across the Muslim lands, including Al-Andalus. In this way, he may be said to have succeeded in his mission of entertaining and informing.
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