Hemiplegia strikes al-Jahiz in his last years at Basra

In his last years al-Jahiz was struck by hemiplegia: he would anoint his right side with sandalwood and camphor for its burning heat, while his left side felt nothing even if cut with scissors, so numbed and cold it was; in his illness he said he had reconciled opposites upon his body ^{1 2}.

Ibn Khallikan relates from one of the Baramika that he sailed down to Basra, heard that al-Jahiz lay ill there with the palsy, and wished to see him before his death; al-Jahiz returned his greeting graciously and asked him to buy him myrobalan — leaving the visitor amazed that the old man had guessed his errand despite his discretion ¹.