Al-Jahiz

Pioneering Arab scholar who laid foundations for evolutionary theory and zoology

Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri (776–869), known as Al-Jahiz, transformed medieval science through his revolutionary biological theories. His magnum opus Kitab al-Hayawan (Book of Animals) presented early concepts of food chains, environmental adaptation, and what Charles Darwin would later call natural selection.

In his seven-volume encyclopedia, Al-Jahiz wrote: 'Animals engage in a struggle for existence... environmental factors influence organisms to develop new characteristics.' This predated Darwin's theories by nearly 1,000 years. He also documented detailed observations of ants communicating through chemical signals and described mimicry in insects.

Beyond biology, this polymath authored works on rhetoric, lexicography, and social philosophy. His Kitab al-Bukhala (Book of Misers) remains a masterpiece of Arabic prose. As founder of the 'Adab' literary tradition, he influenced generations of scholars from Ibn Khaldun to modern evolutionary biologists.