On one occasion his followers suffered a dreadful rout in those battles, but they soon returned to him, regrouped, and then charged once more at the people of Basra. They defeated them, killed a large number, and captured others; not a single prisoner was brought before him without being put to death. After that his strength increased, the townsfolk of Basra grew fearful of him, and the caliph sent reinforcements to aid them against this Zanji rebel—may Allah disfigure him.

The leaders among his partisans then urged him to storm Basra and seize it by force, yet he disparaged their advice and said, “Rather, let us stay close to the city so that they will be the ones who invite us in and implore our support.” What befell him and the people of Basra in the coming year will be mentioned, Allah willing.

That same year the pilgrimage was led by ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Ismāʿīl ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās.

[Among the notable deaths of this year]

Al-Jāḥiẓ, the Muʿtazilī theologian (1). The sect known as the Jāḥiẓīyah is ascribed to him. His full name is Abū ʿUthmān ʿAmr ibn Baḥr ibn Maḥbūb al-Kinānī al-Laythī, better known as al-Jāḥiẓ because of the protrusion (2) of his eyes; he was also called al-Ḥadaqī. He was ill-favored in appearance, unpleasant in conversation, and unsound in doctrine, being charged with innovation. Some even pushed the matter to the point of dissolution, so that the proverb ran, “Alas for the one whose unbelief is like that of al-Jāḥiẓ!” Allah knows best his true state.

Even so, he was a gifted and distinguished scholar who mastered many sciences and authored a multitude of books that bear witness to his sharp intellect and graceful style. Among his most celebrated works are Kitāb al-Ḥayawān (The Book of Animals) and Kitāb al-Bayān wa al-Tabyīn (Eloquence and Exposition).

Ibn Khallikān (4) said, “These are his finest and most enjoyable compositions.” He devoted an extensive biography to him, filled with anecdotes, and related that al-Jāḥiẓ was struck with paralysis near the end of his life. He quoted al-Jāḥiẓ as saying, “The left side of my body is paralyzed: were it to be cut with shears, I would not feel it. My right side, however, is racked with gout (5): if a fly were to land on it, I should feel pain. I also suffer from a bladder stone, and hardest of all is that I am ninety-six years old.”

He would recite (6):
“Do you imagine, now that you are old and gray,
To be as you were in your youthful day?”