I have chosen to do my research paper on the amazing Ajaib Al-Makhluqat wa Gharaib Al-Mawjudat (The Wonders of Creation) created in 1283 by Zakariya Al-Qazwini. Al-Qazwini who was born in 1203, descends from Kamoun and Qazwin. Kamoun is an untraceable place while Qazwin is a city north-west of Teheran in Persia (Ruiter 99). Throughout his years as a young man, Al-Qazwini was surrounded by many philosophers, philologists and geographers. Al-Qazwini who was known best for his compilations of manuscripts in two areas of work in cosmography and geography started writing his cosmography during the later periods of his life. The Wonders of Creation has a lot to do with cosmography writings and illustration which I will be discussing in detail throughout this paper. On the other hand, Atar Al-Belad Wa Akbar Al-Ebad (Monuments of the lands and historical traditions about their peoples) has a lot to do with geography. Al-Qazwini’s cosmology work, The Wonders of Creation, is split into two parts: the first part is about super terrestrial entities such as celestial phenomena like the moon, sun, stars, and the angelic inhabitants of heaven. The second part of The Wonders of Creation speaks about the terrestrial creations such as nature and its geography, the description of the animal kingdom, and even goes into the description of man and other living beings such as jinn, ghouls, and monsters (Ruiter 100).
However, with such great details in both parts of his manuscript some might question if all of this could have come from Al-Qazwini alone. There are so many cosmological, geographical, and many phenomena explanations scattered throughout the manuscript that it might be silly to think it all came from Al-Qazwini. Scholars have found several stories in Al-Qazwini’s work that are very similar to other researcher’s work. For example, Al-Qazwini included an explanation of how the world is balanced by an Angel created by God. This angel had to hold the earth steady with his shoulders and hands. This cosmography that Al-Qazwini stated was very similar to Yaqut’s Muj’am al-Buldan and Ibn al-Wardi’s Kharidat Al-Ajaib. Both of these authors were before Al-Qazwini’s time. A Polish researcher, M. Kowalska, called Al-Qazwini “…an amateur geographer…(who) selected the available data rather uncritically often in a quite accidental way” (Ruiter 100). Another researcher, T. Lewicki, confirms that this impression of Al-Quazwini’s writings cannot be resisted, and that “He has plagiarized the writings of the older geographers and historians” (Ruiter 100). I don’t fully agree with those two researchers’ point of views. Throughout history there has been a lot of repeated work done by a variety of people but with many subtle differences. Countless Islamic inventions in the Golden Era were reinvented and improved upon again during the Enlightenment Era by British thinkers. However, we don’t necessarily classify that as plagiarism and Al-Qazwini’s work should not be classified as such either. Al-Qazwini took many ideas from different researchers and academics and built upon them and added an artistic and beautiful element to them. Moreover, whenever others’ work is used in Al-Qazwini’s research, we find him giving credit to many of the people whose work he ended up using. “There are approximately fifty names that Al-Qazwini mentions as his sources, but it seems unlikely that he had direct access to all the works he cites” (Ammar). Not only did he mention those names, but he also included many sources to preserve and convey information that might otherwise be destroyed or damaged. This makes it apparent that Al-Qazwini was not trying to be sneaky nor claim a lot of the information in his work as his.
In an article by Homira Pashai, the author states, “Qazwini consulted Ptolemy, Aristotle, Dioscorides, Balinus, Pliny the Elder, Avicenna, al-Khwarizmi, al-Istakhri and many other sources in explaining scientific phenomena, and for the literal parts of the manuscript he used anecdotes from Nizami’s poetry, Ferdowsi’s mythology, and Alexander the Great’s history. Compiling all the information in one place and quoting a great number of authorities, attests to the point that the author tried to collect and save the cultural heritage and knowledge of his time during this era in which the Mongols sought to destroy it” (Pashai). This is another example showing that Al-Qazwini was not trying to plagiarize at all. On the contrary, Al-Qazwini wanted to preserve the great work of such noted historical authorities in their respective subject matter areas and he did it beautifully by introducing an amazing compilation in the form of scripts and illustrations which were being sought out to be destroyed by the Mongols. “The Wonders of Creation was not only compiled to help readers obtain information about various branches of science but also it entertained the imagination of the readers and storytellers” (Pashai).
Going off that, Al-Qazwini introduced in his work a mixture of science, religion, literature, poems and mystical information all in one to really encourage the reader to think. It was actually very common to do so at the time of the Il-Khanids to gain major political authority. Stefano Carboni states that, “The Il-khanids soon understood that, if they blended in a single work the power of the written word and the highest expressions of Persian poetry with the intensity and immediacy of illustrations, they would create an everlasting vehicle to transmit to posterity their legitimacy to rule over their new homeland” (Carboni). Al-Qazwini’s work and the work of many others were a byproduct of that blend of words and illustrations. However, for readers like myself who did not live in that era, it might be difficult to comprehend the content of such amazing and sophisticated work.
When it came to reading such work, Persis Berlekamp took the following three-step approach: “first, she analyzes the manuscripts according to their explicitly stated purpose to induce wonder at God’s creation; second, she considers the differing viewpoints and reactions of a varied readership within the span of the fourteenth century, stating that “the ways in which [the manuscripts] induced wonder, and even what wonder meant, changed” (p. ix); and third, she urges us to “put aside our own assumptions concerning logic, vision, and truth,” since “our modern educations significantly interfere with our abilities to recognize either of the first two points above”” (Berlekamp 320). I think it is important for any reader/observer to follow these three steps when it comes to reading such beautifully complex work like Al-Qazwini’s Wonders of Creation or any other work from that time period. Using this approach would help someone understand and appreciate the knowledge inside The Wonders of Creation.
Looking at a section from Al-Qazwini’s work which he completed during the thirteenth century, we find that Al-Qazwini talked about the theory of the universe as a series of concentric circles with the earth at the center. It was commonly believed by Islamic astrologers that there were seven spheres belonging to the seven known planets, the eighth sphere is known as fixed stars, where all forty-eight constellations, including the twelve constellations of the Zodiac rotate. “According to al-Qazvini, outside the eighth Sphere there is another one, called the Greatest Sphere, which regulates the orbits of all the others and is the place where the angels and the Throne of God are situated” (Carboni 4). Furthermore, by observing these different spheres people were able to construct imaginary lines between stars and come up with images. Hence, giving us the Zodiac signs. Al-Qazwini illustrated this and talked about it in the section On the Celestials (Ammar). Although Al-Qazwini relied on Islamic astrologists’ work and incorporated religious aspects into such scientific findings, these Islamic astrologists were not the first to talk about astrology. “In the medieval Islamic world, the science of astrology was based on a knowledge of astronomy passed on to the Arabs from Greek sources and consequently translated into Arabic. During the first centuries of Islam, it developed further, after the introduction of new observations and mathematical calculations, and the astonishing progress made in science, to which European culture would owe so much” (Carboni 3).
It is evident that astrological knowledge was first introduced by the Greeks who laid the groundwork of astrological science, which then the Arabs used as a foundation to build on and augment with religion and science. Moreover, in the different sections of The Wonders of Creation Al-Qazwini talks about man, jinn, and animals. However, those sections seem to be more focused on the artistic portrayal and religious explanations behind those creations, rather than science. For example, in his section on the nature of Man, Al-Qazwini explains that Man has the highest rank in all of creation because of Man’s free will. Al-Qazwini goes on to add that Man is even higher than Angels because he willingly chooses to worship God while Angels don’t have that choice because they were created for that purpose. Man has the choice to be the highest version of himself or the lowest depending on how he lives his life and serves God. Therefore, Man through his endowed free will and intellect can choose to be either as good as an Angel or as evil as Satan. This very theological approach is also evident through Al-Qazwini’s writings on jinn and animals. Specifically, when talking about animals Al-Qazwini references many of the prophetic stories in the Quran pairing them with his illustrations. When reading Al-Qazwini’s work, you would find several interesting theological explanations as to the purpose of some of these creations. For example, Al-Qazwini submits that God created birds to show humans that living things can fly, therefore helping humans bolster their belief in Angels and in the idea that the existence of Angels is not so far-fetched. By going from section to section through The Wonders of Creation writings, one would clearly notice that each section and its related topic is handled differently from others. For example, the Astrology section is heavily grounded in science while the sections on religion, jinn, man, and animals is heavily grounded in theology and art. Al-Qazwini chose a wide plethora of references to help bond the reader with his work in any way possible through incorporating as many themes as he could from different schools of thoughts. “Qazwini as a historian is a great storyteller who helps the reader to bond with the past by introducing astrology, astral medicine, geographical lore, khawass, (characteristic) genre, botanical remedies, ‘Aja’ib (wonders) genre, bestiary studies, historical studies, musicology, prosody, Sufism, literature, and Solomonic lure” (Pashai). Though Al-Qazwini’s writings mixed elements of religion with science and several other facets, if we take the three-step approach of analyzing the work like Berlekamp stated, we could truly appreciate it and understand the thought process of the time. This opens up a whole new world when analyzing works of art like this.
Moreover, not only was the content of The Wonders of Creation and other works of art during the Il-Khanid era spectacular but also the way it was presented artistically through scripts, illustrations, and material used was just as spectacular. The Persian manuscript dating back from the late 1500s and consisting of 335 leaves with more than 150 illustrations is written in Persian ta’liq script with elements of Naskh written with black and red ink (Pashai). In many of these manuscripts the attention to such minute details between the scribes and artists are what make the beauty in every page so addictive to the reader. Being a person who can’t read Persian at all, I am still able to appreciate this beautiful harmony between scripts and art, and I am in awe of every single stroke and dot on such a beautiful work of art.
In Marco Ammar’s article, we find a mention of Carol Bockelmann, who was a German semiticist highly educated in the history of Arabic literature and who attests to the brilliance of Al-Qazwini’s work. “Hailed by Carl Brockelmann as the most precious cosmography of Islamic culture, Agaib al-mahluqat wa garaib al-mawgudat is indeed a repository of all the major cognitions attained in the fields of science, medicine and philosophy up until the 13th century” (Ammar). I strongly agree with Carol Bockelmann’s view on Al-Qazwini’s work, which combined several educational fields while presenting the content in such a poetic and artistic way. When speaking about Al-Qazwini’s work, it is important to note that “He did not create new theories, but had the merit of faithfully compiling the results of his varied training; it is no coincidence that he has been compared to Pliny and Herodotus, precisely because of the vastness of his resources” (Ammar). Interestingly enough, Al-Qazwini presented his work uniquely using the known classical language of his day. His writing style may be described as formal but was intended for the mass public to read and enjoy. I think Al-Qazwini used this writing style intentionally with the objective of educating the general public more about science, religion, literature, medicine, and so on. This approach reminds me very much of the Enlightenment Era during which the European intellectual movement around the 17th and 18th centuries was a massive movement with a different understanding of the world. New ideas about God, science, medicine, society, law, religion, etc. flourished all over Europe during the Enlightenment Era. The general Encyclopedia that was published in France in the mid 1700s was written by many of the intellectuals of that era and was finally edited by Denis Diderot.
The Encyclopedia was written by intellectuals to serve the purpose of educating the general public of the new ideas that were coming about during the time. It was a book that contained much information on how to change the way people think about God, science, medicine, society, law, religion, etc. Diderot specifically hoped it would continue on educating the masses for generations to come. Similarly, a couple of hundred years back Al-Qazwini took the same approach. However, Al-Qazwini incorporated a poetic element in his work and focused on the beauty of the content like illustrations. The Encyclopedia was strictly for information and consisted of little to no focus on the beauty of words or illustrations. That is what I admire about Al-Qazwini and why it makes his particular piece The Wonders of Creation so beautiful as he was able to present logical information in such a unique and different way while still trying to reach the general public. In conclusion, I would definitely say that Al-Qazwini’s work is one of the most impactful pieces of Islamic art history.