Abstract
The present work is conceived as a comparative study of Jāḥiẓ’s Kitāb al-Hayawān and Aristotle’s History of Animals. In the beginning, we study the historical evolution of Basra, the birthplace of the author. At the end of the 2nd century of Hidjra, the resources offered were likely to satisfy the most demanding spirits, such as Jāḥiẓ. It was at that time when the adab and the rationalist theories of the Mu‘tazilites flourished. In addition, from the eco-nomic point of view, the survival and the prosperity of Basra were due to the intel-lectual development. Moreover, the fertile elements of the Persian culture contribut-ed to this intellectual development; a personality such as Jāḥiẓ could not miss being interested directly in this heritage, so he became familiar with this enriching elements and he even assimilated another culture, the Greek one, the introduction of which by the translations of the radiant ancient works was supported by the intelligent and perspicacious caliph al-Ma’mū ...
The present work is conceived as a comparative study of Jāḥiẓ’s Kitāb al-Hayawān and Aristotle’s History of Animals. In the beginning, we study the historical evolution of Basra, the birthplace of the author. At the end of the 2nd century of Hidjra, the resources offered were likely to satisfy the most demanding spirits, such as Jāḥiẓ. It was at that time when the adab and the rationalist theories of the Mu‘tazilites flourished. In addition, from the eco-nomic point of view, the survival and the prosperity of Basra were due to the intel-lectual development. Moreover, the fertile elements of the Persian culture contribut-ed to this intellectual development; a personality such as Jāḥiẓ could not miss being interested directly in this heritage, so he became familiar with this enriching elements and he even assimilated another culture, the Greek one, the introduction of which by the translations of the radiant ancient works was supported by the intelligent and perspicacious caliph al-Ma’mūn.After the study of Basra’s cultural evolution, we deal with the life and work of the Basrian. The caliph al-Ma’mūn recognized the quality of his spirit and invited him to write for the large public and for the intellectual elite as well. In this way, he contributed to the popularization but also to the protection of the official doctrines. The fact that Jāḥiẓ became a legend can be justified by his outstanding work, Kitāb al-Hayawān. In the following chapter we proceed to the analysis of the concept of animal psychology and the influence of the animal literature on biological and evolutionary theories. Furthermore, we study the animal psychology as it was conceived by the Arabs through literature (adab), the Coran, philosophy, science and art. The presen-tation of Jāḥiẓ’s Kitāb al-Hayawān, which follows, provides information on the sources, theories and subjects approached in each volume. The seven-volume work Kitāb al-Hayawān contains a great number of stories regarding the behavior of vari-ous animals, from the larger to the smallest ones, with a high degree of accuracy. Throughout the study of the work, we can find many evolutionary theories, which were developed later during the 19th century by Darwin, Lamarck and other evolu-tionists. Apart from animal and natural knowledge, it contains knowledge related to literature, philosophy, psychology and theology.In the last chapter of this study, we turn to Aristotle; we outline the birth of the Arabic-Islamic aristotelism and the Islamic philosophy, which is the result of a great number of translations undertaken during the period of Umayyads and ‘Abbasids. Then, we study his contribution to the foundation of the biological science, which is as brilliant as his total work. He has really put a great influence with his biological works, On the Soul, On the Generation of Animals, On the Parts of Animals and, particularly, with The History of Animals, which constitutes Jāḥiẓ’s source of inspira-tion and information. In the Kitāb al-Hayawān, Jāḥiẓ mentions very often of Aristo-tle, who is called the “Author of Logic”. His work is based on the remarks that Aris-totle holds on animals in The History of Animals, which he generally subscribes to, but which he sometimes criticizes. Finally, we quote passages from the two works, which prove that Jāḥiẓ had attentively studied the Aristotelian work, by which he had been deeply influenced. The study ends with a conclusion and an appendix, including miniatures from the ms. Ar. A.F.D. 140 of the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana.
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