At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Overview
About 200/815-6 comes the first proof of al-Jahiz's literary activity: several works of his on the imamate — a very characteristic subject of the age — won the compliments of al-Ma'mun and opened the door of the caliphal capital to him 1.
From Basra to Baghdad and Samarra
From then on, without abandoning Basra, al-Jahiz stayed for long periods in Baghdad and later Samarra, devoting himself to literary work of which an appreciable part has survived. In Baghdad he discharged the functions of scribe for three days and was very briefly assistant to Ibrahim ibn al-Abbas al-Suli at the Chancellery 1.
Connections
People and things also explored
Fall of Ibn al-Zayyat nearly proves fatal to al-Jahiz· Arib al-Ma'muniyya· أبو الفتح عثمان بن جني الموصلي النحوي· Ulayya bint al-Mahdi· The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad· Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The 'Adudi Bimaristan· al-Bimaristan al-Muqtadiri
Sources
- Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 2 p. 385
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “al-Jahiz's works on the imamate win al-Ma'mun's praise”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/jahiz-imamate-works-200/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.
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