Fall of Ibn al-Zayyat nearly proves fatal to al-Jahiz

سقوط ابن الزيات وكارثة تكاد تنزل بالجاحظ

847 CE · 233 AH

Baghdad

In Baghdad al-Jahiz attached himself to the vizier Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Zayyat; when al-Zayyat fell from favour in 233/847 the fall almost proved fatal to both men. Al-Jahiz then attached himself successively to the chief qadi Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad (d. 240/854) and his son Muhammad (d. 239/853), and finally to al-Fath ibn Khakan (d. 247/861) 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq

In time

830840850860
The Early Abbasid Caliphate

In space

Baghdad

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

History-writing and social thought

Overview

In Baghdad al-Jahiz attached himself to the vizier Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Zayyat; when al-Zayyat fell from favour in 233/847 the fall almost proved fatal to both men 1.

His patrons after al-Zayyat

After al-Zayyat's fall al-Jahiz attached himself successively to the chief qadi Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad (d. 240/854) and his son Muhammad (d. 239/853), and finally to al-Fath ibn Khakan (d. 247/861), while retaining ample independence — he was never a courtier 1.

Connections

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Had participant
al-Jahiz
Occurred at
Baghdad

People and things also explored

al-Jahiz's works on the imamate win al-Ma'mun's praise· Mu'izz al-Dawla grants the Sawad as iqta' to his commanders and troops, 334 AH· al-Tabari's History reaches the year 302 in dictation· Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi· Surat al-Ard (Ibn Hawqal)· The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad· Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The 'Adudi Bimaristan

Sources

  1. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 2 p. 385
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Fall of Ibn al-Zayyat nearly proves fatal to al-Jahiz”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/jahiz-zayyat-fall-233/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

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Related

al-Jahiz's works on the imamate win al-Ma'mun's praise

About 200/815-6 comes the first proof of al-Jahiz's literary activity: several works of his on the imamate won the compliments of al-Ma'mun and thereby the recognition of the capital, and from then on, without abandoning Basra, he stayed for long periods in Baghdad and later Samarra.