caliph almamun read to him some of his books on the imamate and was impressed by them. abu uthman presented him with the book of the abbasids and he received his reward. caliph almamun did nothing but assign him the position of the scribe where he did not stay for long. after three days aljahiz asked the caliph to relieve him of this responsibility which required its owner to have a solid nature and strict behavior that did not suit aljahizs temperament and nature. his ties with the great men of his time were strengthened and aljahiz contacted muhammad ibn abd almalik alzayyat the minister of almutasim and wrote to him and praised him and presented him with the book of animals. the minister rewarded him with five thousand dinars then lavished him with a lot of money that enabled him to undertake many trips to damascus antioch and egypt
وقرأ له الخليفة المأمون بعض كتبه في الإمامة، فأعجب بها، وقدم إليه أبو عثمان كتاب العباسية فنال ثوابه. وما كان من الخليفة المأمون إلا أن أسند إليه ديوان الكتاب، الذي لم يطل الإقامة فيه، وبعد ثلاثة أيام طلب الجاحظ من الخليفة إعفاءه من هذه المسؤولية التي تحتم على صاحبها طبعا رصينا، ومسلكية صارمة لا تتلاءم ومزاج الجاحظ وطبائعه. وتوطدت روابطه بكبار رجال عصره، فاتصل الجاحظ بمحمد بن عبد الملك الزيات وزير المعتصم، وكتب له ومدحه، وأهداه كتاب الحيوان فأجازه الوزير بخمسة آلاف دينار، ثم أغدق عليه مالا كثيرا جعله يقوم برحلات عديدة إلى دمشق وأنطاكيا ومصر 