al-Rasail lil-Jahiz
- Author died
- 255 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Khānjī
al-Rasa'il lil-Jahiz (The Epistles of al-Jahiz) is a corpus of thematic treatises composed by the Abbasid author and theologian Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH / 868–869 CE), addressing theology, politics, social ethics, and literary debates .
Scope and Themes
The treatises in the collection cover a wide variety of subjects and have been categorized by editors into theological, political, and literary groupings :
- Theology and Polemics: Treatises in this category include Hujaj al-Nubuwwah (Arguments for Prophethood), in which al-Jahiz examines the structural and rhetorical inimitability of the Quran (nazm al-Qur'an) as proof of prophecy ; al-Radd 'ala al-Nasara (Refutation of the Christians) ; and Maqalat al-Zaydiyyah wa-al-Rafidah (The Discourse on the Zaydiyyah and the Rafidah) .
- Politics and the Caliphate: Political epistles include al-Uthmaniyyah, al-Jawabat fi al-Imamah (also known as Istihqaq al-Imamah), al-Hakamayn (concerning the arbitration), al-'Abbasiyyah, and Fadl Hashim 'ala 'Abd Shams (The Superiority of Banu Hashim over Banu Abd Shams) .
- Ethics, Society, and Literature: Works in this category include Fakhr al-Sudan 'ala al-Bidan (The Boast of the Blacks over the Whites), Manaqib al-Turk (The Merits of the Turks), Fi al-Ma'ash wa-al-Ma'ad (On Livelihood and the Hereafter), al-Awtan wa-al-Buldan (also titled al-Hanin ila al-Awtan), al-Hijab (On Chamberlainship), Dhamm Akhlaq al-Kuttab (Censure of the Scribes' Conduct), and the satirical epistle al-Tarbi' wa-al-Tadwir (Squaring and Rounding) .
Manuscripts and Editions
Early twentieth-century editions of selected treatises include Joshua Finkel's collection Thalath Rasa'il lil-Jahiz (Cairo, 1328 AH / 1910 CE; reprinted 1332 AH) and a compilation published by Hasan al-Sandubi (al-Matba'ah al-Rahmaniyyah, Cairo, 1933) .
A four-volume edition was edited by Abd al-Salam Muhammad Harun and published by Maktabat al-Khanji in Cairo in 1964 (1384 AH) and 1979 (1399 AH) . Harun based his edition primarily on Damad Ibrahim Pasha MS 949 in Turkey, British Museum MS 1129, and Taymuriyya MS 19 at Dar al-Kutub in Egypt .
Scholars have noted differences across editions regarding the inclusion and text of specific works. Harun incorporated Kitab al-Bighal (The Book of Mules)—originally published by Charles Pellat in 1955 based on Damad MS 949—into his edition of the Rasa'il . Later editors, such as Ali Bu Mulhim, excluded Kitab al-Bighal from the Rasa'il, considering it an appendix to Kitab al-Hayawan, and modified some of Harun's chapter titles . For al-Tarbi' wa-al-Tadwir, researchers also relied on al-Sandubi's 1933 edition, noting it to be more complete in that text than Harun's rendering .
Answer updated