The Representation of the Persian and their culture in the Al- Bayan Waltabyin by al-jahiz

Al-Jāhiz Al-Basri(died 255 CE) was one of the greatest litterateur. He drew another image (Persian) in his book titled “Al-Bayan waltabyin”. Throughout this book, He introduces and describes himself (The Arab) and placed his national and cultural identity in front of the other character. The question that need to be investigated and studied is that what is the Jāhiz’s viewpoint about the other (Persian). Whether is he complementary or contrasting to himself. This article studies the Jāhiz’s viewpoint about the Other (Persian), their culture and position in “Al-Bayan waltabyin” based on Imagology in which the self and other image, foreign culture and its elements in the literature is investigated. The current research uses the comparative-analytic-descriptive method to analyze the evidence that lead us to the other’s image characteristic and his culture and civilization. The results of this study indicate that Al- Jāhiz presented a comprehensive and broad picture of the Persian’s knowledge, literature and original culture in a way that the Persian has contributed to the enrichment of the Islamic civilization. In addition, jāhiz draws a balanced image of the Persian. This image originates from the cultural and social situations and the interactions among the nations in that period of time. Finally, the Other(Persian) had been complementary to the Self(The Arab) and the Islamic civilization.