ABSTRACT
In the text quoted above, al-Ǧāḥiẓ opposes ʕarabī to ʕaǧamī. The latter is the classical term for Iranians in medieval Arabic texts, and it usually stands for the Iranians who converted to Islam during the two first Islamic centuries. 1 But it also had a wider meaning. The idea of the early Muslim community being composed of two groups, ʕarab and ʕaǧam, as well as the conflict between them, is expressed in one of the versions of the final sermon said to have been given by Muhammed during his last pilgrimage:
‘All of you are from Adam, and Adam is from dust; the most noble among you is he who is most pious. God is knowing, understanding. The ʕarabī has no precedence over the ʕaǧamī except in piety.’ 2
