Al-Jāhiz, who lived in Basra and Baghdad in the eighth and ninth centuries A.D., was one of the most famous and prolific of Arab prose writers. A versatile polymath and popularizer, known for his works of adab and his religious and political polemics as well as for his literary works of social satire (such as the Book of Misers), al-Jāhiz has been called brilliant and superficial: and certainly his style was characteristically inconsequential and digressive. Professor Pellat says of him elsewhere: 'For the majority of literate Arabs al-Jāhiz remains, if not a complete buffoon, at least something of a jester...for he never fails, even in the weightiest passages, to slip in anecdotes, witty observations and amusing comments. Alarmed at the dullness and boredom enshrouding the speculations of a good many of his contemporaries, he deliberately aimed at a lighter touch, and his sense of humor enabled him to deal entertainingly with serious subjects.' In this book Professor Pellat, indisputably the greatest Jāhiz authority, has selected the best as well as the most characteristic of his known writings, prefacing them with an assessment of his life and works. (book jacket).