Al-Bayan wa'l-Tabyin by al-Jahiz: The Greatest Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

Who Was al-Jahiz?

Abu 'Uthman 'Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz (159–255 AH) was a Basran polymath who authored around 200 works. He is the first systematic literary critic in Arabic history and the founder of what would become 'ilm al-balagha (the science of Arabic rhetoric).

The Book's Themes

Al-Bayan wa'l-Tabyin is a four-volume work that ranges over:

• Definitions of eloquence (bayan)
• Defects of speech (stuttering, lisping)
• Model orations of caliphs and princes
• Rhymed prose (saj') and proverbs
• Wisdom sayings and biographies of the eloquent

Key Ideas

On the definition of bayan

"Bayan is a general term for anything that unveils the meaning and tears down the barrier before the listener's understanding."

On brevity

Al-Jahiz championed the maxim: "The best speech is what is few in words yet dense in meaning."

On the Arab linguistic instinct

"The Arabs were granted wisdom not through deliberation or study; but through nature and improvisation."

This anticipates modern theories of innate linguistic ability by over a millennium.

Why Read al-Jahiz Today

• Sharpens your literary taste.
• Enriches your vocabulary with rare but authentic classical terms.
• Teaches the art of rhetorical argumentation.
• Provides rich test material for Arabic grammatical parsing.

Read the full Arabic version: «البيان والتبيين للجاحظ»

Keywords: al-Jahiz, Al-Bayan wa'l-Tabyin, Arabic rhetoric, Abbasid literature, classical Arabic prose.