Al-Bukhala - The Misers - Al-Jahiz

The book deals with the disease of miserliness and stinginess in a way of ridicule and mockery. It describes the funny arguments of misers, and their gentle tricks. Their weird anecdotes are not lacking in the book.

Al-Jāḥiẓ’s work “Al-Bukhala’” depicts the misers he met and became acquainted with in his private milieu, particularly in Merv, the capital of Khorasan. He portrays the misers in a realistic, sensual, psychological, and humorous manner; he shows us their movements, anxious or reassuring looks, and psychological whims, exposes their secrets and the secrets of their homes, informs us of their various conversations, and shows us all their attitude and conditions, but he does not make us hate them or leave us with a negative impression.

The stories in the book are short instructional comedy scenarios. The work was presented in a realistic way, using vernacular phrases and frequent dialogue. The book is a sociological, educational, psychological, and economic study of the misers.