Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Basri, commonly known as al-Jahiz, was an Arabic polymath and author of works of literature, theology, zoology, philosophy, grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, philology, linguistics, and politico-religious polemics. His extensive zoological work has been credited with describing principles related to natural selection, ethology, and the functions of an ecosystem.
Syrian stamp of al-Jahiz from 1968
A giraffe from a reproduction of Kitāb al-Hayawān (Book of the Animals) by al-Jāḥiẓ.
A page from a reproduction of al-Jāḥiẓ's Kitāb al-Hayawān depicting an ostrich (Struthio camelus) in a nest with eggs. Basra.
Arabic is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The ISO assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic, including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic, which is derived from Classical Arabic. This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā or simply al-fuṣḥā (اَلْفُصْحَىٰ).
Safaitic inscription
The Namara inscription, a sample of Nabataean script, considered a direct precursor of Arabic script.
Arabic from the Quran in the old Hijazi dialect (Hijazi script, 7th century AD)
The Qur'an has served and continues to serve as a fundamental reference for Arabic. (Maghrebi Kufic script, Blue Qur'an, 9th–10th century)