Did a ninth-century polymath discover natural selection long before Charles Darwin?

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Al-Jahiz, an Abbasid-era intellectual, observed the interconnectedness of nature and the struggle for survival in his zoological encyclopedia. While some modern historians credit him with anticipating evolutionary theory, others argue he was simply a keen observer of divine creation, documenting the intricate webs of life with profound, poetic insight.

Born in Basra around 776, Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri—known as al-Jahiz, or 'the bug-eyed'—rose from poverty to become a central figure in the Abbasid intellectual revolution. A member of the rationalist Mu'tazilite school, he spent decades in Baghdad under the patronage of caliphs, writing approximately two hundred books on subjects ranging from theology and grammar to rhetoric and zoology.

His most famous work, Kitab al-Hayawan (The Book of Animals), is a seven-part compendium describing over 350 species. In it, al-Jahiz articulated a vision of nature defined by a constant struggle for existence, where every creature acts as both predator and prey. He noted that animals adapt to their environments, famously arguing that the skin color of various peoples and animals was a result of environmental factors like soil, water, and heat, rather than divine punishment or inherent disfigurement.

While some scholars have suggested al-Jahiz discovered natural selection a millennium before Darwin, others caution against such anachronistic readings. Rebecca Stott notes that al-Jahiz was not theorizing on the origin of species; he took divine creation for granted and viewed his work as a moral obligation to observe God's handiwork closely. His focus was on the 'interconnectedness' of ecosystems, using metaphors of nets and webs to describe the natural world.

Al-Jahiz’s life ended in Basra around 869, reportedly while surrounded by his beloved books. Legend claims he was smothered when a massive pile of them collapsed upon him. Beyond his scientific observations, he remains a titan of Arabic literature, remembered for his sharp wit in The Book of Misers and his foundational contributions to literary theory in The Book of Eloquence and Exposition.

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