Book of Animals
composition: secureauthorship: secure
Seven books of zoology, theology, poetry and digression invent the Arabic essay, and observe in passing that animals struggle for existence and that the survivors pass on what let them survive.
- digression used deliberately as a compositional method
- competition and environment noted as shaping which animals survive
- observation mixed with theology, verse and humour in one register
- the founding model of the Arabic literary essay
The work is organised loosely by species but proceeds by association, mixing anatomical observation, folklore, verse, theological argument and jokes. Al-Jahiz describes animals competing for food, preying on one another, and adapting to their environments, and remarks that these pressures shape what survives. Whether this constitutes an anticipation of natural selection is argued and generally treated with caution, but the observational habit is genuine. His prose style, digressive and self-aware, set the standard for Arabic literary essay writing.
Commentary
Readers' notes on this work. No account needed - be scholarly, or at least civil.
Loading commentary…