ʿ jā'ib al-makhlūqāt

A
wa gharā'ib al-
mawjūdāt

ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-

mawjūdāt, The Wonders of Creation
(Arabic: ‫ﻋﺠﺎﺋﺐ اﻟﻤﺨﻠﻮﻗﺎت وﻏﺮاﺋﺐ اﻟﻤﻮﺟﻮدات‬,
meaning Marvels of creatures and
Strange things existing) is a book in
Arabic and an important work of
cosmography by Zakariya al-Qazwini,
who was born in Qazwin in the year 600
AH/1203 AD.

An illustration depicting the moon in al-

Qazwini's work, The Wonders of Creation

Author Zakariya al-Qazwini

Original title ‫ﻋﺠﺎﺋﺐ اﻟﻤﺨﻠﻮﻗﺎت وﻏﺮاﺋﺐ‬

‫اﻟﻤﻮﺟﻮدات‬

Language Arabic

Genre Cosmography
Background to the work
Qazwini's Aja'ib al-Makhluqat is criticized
for being less than original. Substantial
parts of his work are derivative of Yaqut's
Mu'jam al-Buldan.[1]

Qazwini mentions fifty names as his

sources, the most important of whom are
old geographers and historians such as
al-Istakhri, Ibn Fadlan, al-Mas‘udi, Ibn
Hawqal, al-Biruni, Ibn al-Athir, al-Maqdisi,
and al-Razi. Notwithstanding the fact that
Qazwini's work is a compilation of known
and unknown sources, it influenced later
works of Islamic cosmology and Islamic
geography through its style and
language. Qazwini's cosmography is not
pure science but it also was intended to
entertain its readers by enriching
scientific explanations with stories and
poetry.

Framework

A manuscript of the treatise copied in the 14th

century.

Qazwini's cosmography consists of two

parts, the first part is celestial, dealing
with the spheres of the heaven with its
inhabitants (the angels) and chronology.
Astronomical knowledge of that time is
compiled together with astrological
ideas.[1]

The second part discusses the terrestrial:

the four elements, the seven climes, seas
and rivers, a sort of bestiary on the
animal kingdom (including mankind and
the jinns), the plants, and minerals.[1] He
discusses her man and the faculties of
his soul, his character, weaknesses and
illnesses.

Also, the cosmography of Ahmad al-Tusi

(Aḥmad al-Ṭūsī[a]) is very similar and
bears the same title;[3] though the latter
characterized by the concept of the unity
of God and the unity of creation..

Celestial cosmography
Qazwini tells that the earth was swinging
in all directions, until God created an
angel to bear it on his shoulders and
steady it with his hands. A green Jacinth
slab was placed underneath the angel,
the slab borne by a gigantic bull
Kuyūthā,[b] which in turn rested on the
great swimming fish Bahamūt.[4][5][6][c]

Qazwini's cosmography above have been

compared to a similar entry in Yaqut's
Mu'jam al-Buldan[10] and Ibn al-Wardī's
Kharīdat al-'Ajā'ib, with small differences
noted.[4]

Time …

When discussing time, Qazwini makes

parallel comparison of the Islamic,
Roman and Iranian calendars. Thus he
links the days of the week to the sacred
history of Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam, e.g. the holy days Friday (Islamic
day of congregational prayer/salat),
Saturday (Jewish sabbath) and Sunday
(Christian day of rest) and how they
became to be regarded as holy. The days
are also linked to lawful and unlawful
things and acts.
Angelology …

An illustration from the manuscript depicting

archangel Israfel.

God created many things that are

unknown to the people (Qur'an 16:8), and
a fundamental part of this, with central
importance, is God's Throne, His
footstool are the angels and the jinn
(demons, evil/good spirits).[d]
The celestial spheres are inhabited by the
angels. The angels are good perfect
beings without negative feelings or
passion, they are obedient and most
importantly, they keep the order of the
creation and govern everything on earth;
the jinn and devils are bad and imperfect
creatures who possess passion and
wrath and are disobedient. Qazwini's
work contains moreover angelology that
has roots partly in the Qur'an and hadith.

There are two types of angels in the

Qur'an, the one being the guards of hell
(96:18) and angels that nearest to God
(4:170, 83:21). Qazwini also mentions the
angels who carry the Throne of God (the
idea goes back to the Jahiliyya): they are
four in number in the form of a man, bull,
eagle and lion. On the Day of
Resurrection the Throne will be carried by
“eight” (Qur'an 69:17), and this
traditionally refers to eight angels. Next
to these is the angel ar-Ruh or the Spirit,
who is actually first in order and the
greatest. His breath quickens the
creatures and he knows the order of the
spheres, planets, elements, minerals etc.
He is the one who decides the movement
and stillness of things by the will of God.
This angel is followed by Israfil; he
transmits the orders of God and blows
the horn. He is not mentioned in the
Qur'an but in hadith and linked to the Day
of Resurrection. Israfil carries the “tablet”
(lawh) and the “pen” (qalam). Whether
the abovementioned angels or Gabriel,
Michael or others all of them have a role
in keeping the order of the creation. It is
also believed that angels have about
seventy wings each.

Then God sent angels who inhabited the

earth. One sent in exile was young Azazil
whom the angels educated. He acquired
their knowledge and became like them
and even their leader. But he fell into
disgrace because he disobeyed God to
prostrate himself before Adam as the
vicegerent of God on earth. Azazil goes
back to Judaism and is mentioned in the
Qur'an (2:32 etc.) as Iblis, the fallen
angel. In Volksislam it is believed that
Iblis is present in baths, bazaars,
crossroads, intoxicating drinks, and is
associated with flutes, poetry, tattoos,
lies and illnesses.

God also persecuted and imprisoned

many of the jinn and exiled them. Jin and
ghuls are then considered terrestrial
beings, occupying and a place between
animals and mankind, and discussed in
the second part of Al-qazwini's work.[1]

Terrestrial cosmography
The earth, being part of the lower
spheres, brings forth minerals, plants and
living creatures such as animals and
man. In Qazwini's classification there are
seven types of living creatures – man,
jinn, animals used for riding, animals that
graze, beasts, birds and insects – and
creatures that look strange or are
hybrids.

Man …

Man has the highest rank in the order of

God's creation (macrocosm): he is its
quintessence (microcosm) and can be
both the embodiment of the angels and
Satan. Man with his rational soul has the
capacity to think and talk and the choice
to ascend to the highest or lowest
stations in life. Man's soul is immortal
and he is created for immortality; he
changes his place of living from the
womb to the earth, and from there to
paradise or hellfire (Qur'an 20:57).

Next to man are the jinn who were

created from smokeless fire and can be
in different forms. It is also believed that
the jinn represent the rebellious among
men or that angels were created from the
light of the fire and the devils or jinn from
its smoke. According to a legend the jinn
were created before Adam and lived on
the land, sea, plains and mountains and
that God's mercy for them was
boundless. They had a government,
prophets, religion and laws but they
became disobedient and stubborn and
broke the rules of the prophets which
culminated in chaos on earth. Solomon
became their lord whom they obeyed.[e]

Bestiary …

Anqa
God created the birds because He knew
that many people would deny the
existence of flying creatures, especially
the angels. Furthermore, Qazwini adds as
proofs that God created birds with three
wings, as He did the unicorn, the Indian
ass with a horn or the bat without wings;
why not angels? Among the birds
Qazwini classifies the Anqa or Simurgh
(Phoenix) as the most known bird and
the kin of birds that lived alone on Mount
Qaf. This idea goes as back as to the
time of Zoroaster. In more recent
traditions the Anqa is a wise bird with
experience gained throughout many ages
and gives admonitions and moral advice.
Long before Adam was created, this bird
lived without procreation; he was single
and the first and most powerful bird. The
“golden age” of the Simurgh was the time
of Solomon in which not only ministers
were near his throne but also animals
and birds with whom Solomon could
speak; the Anqa also talked to him and
was the most respected. The second bird
that is also recurring in classical Persian
literature and mentioned by Qazwini is
the Homa (paradise bird). When it lands
on someone's head, that person
becomes the king of his land. Being also
a bird used in Iranian mystical symbolism
is the salamander or “fire bird”, which
was not seen since the time of
Muhammad. Qazwini talks about the
hoopoe (hudhud) that has a central role
in Iranian mysticism too, only in passing;
here it is described as being able to see
water from afar but not the mesh that in
front of its eyes.

So the hoopoe symbolizes fate: when it

comes, the eyes of man are blinded, i.e.
man is not able to predict his fate.
Another exceptional bird in Qazwini's list
is the eagle because lions feared it and
from his wings fire appears. Birds that
were conceived as strange hybrids by
Qazwini are the vulture, having the claws
of the rooster, or the ostrich with the feet
of a camel and the body of a bird; this
bird eats stones and flames and can live
in fire for ten years. He is also able to
digest legs of a horse and birds but not
date pits. The ostrich fears his own
shadow and always walks against the
sun. There are also other rare and
strange birds, for example a big bird in
Khuzistan that attacks camels and
elephants and has eggs similar to crystal;
the “purple bird”, a white bird that sits on
a rock in the Chinese Sea and the person
that looks at that rock must laugh to
death, except that this bird lands on the
rock; or a bird in Tabaristan which is seen
in spring and carries one hundred
sparrows on its tail and eats one each
day.
Lapidary …

Some stones are associated to jinn or

are a remedy against ailments: the
smaragd (zabarjad or zumrud) cures
illnesses and repels devils; a stone called
talk is used for talismans and magic
drinks; the amberstone was first
discovered by Satan; Alexander used the
faylaq stone to protect his men from
devils, or the manâtas, according to
Aristotle from whose “Book of Stones”
Qazwini often quotes, nullifies the
influence of magicians and devils and
protects from jinn. One stone (bahtah) is
described as being found at the edge of
the utmost darkness where the sun has
no effect, near the world ocean.

Analysis
This section needs additional citations for
verification. Learn more

Called the “most precious cosmography

of the Islamic culture” by Carl
Brockelmann, Qazwini's cosmography
was one of the most read works in the
Islamic world since numerous
manuscripts and translations from
Arabic into Islamic languages have
survived. Scholars presented excerpts of
it to Western readers.
In Qazwini's conception, the Universe is
the manifestation of the absolute Truth
or God. God's command "Be!" caused all
things in the universe to have a place and
a reciprocal relationship between
themselves. Man in the Islamic tradition
has the task to understand the wisdom
of God's creation as much as possible.
God is the ultimate goal of that cosmic
structure.

Traditional Islamic sciences are

connected with cosmology that has an
essential role within the metaphysical
system. Whereas cosmology deals with
the spiritual side of the universe,
cosmography concerns itself with the
physical aspect and its processes.
Qazwini states that it is important that
man should exert himself to investigate
the wondrous and wisely conceived
creation of God, to reflect on it in
astonishment and understand it as much
as is possible to him. In this way, man
will gain the delights in both this world
and the hereafter. Next to this Qazwini
explains important terminology in his
book: 1) marvels are a phenomenon that
confuses man because he is not able to
grasp its cause and effects; 2) creation is
everything except God, it is either
essential (body, spiritual substance) or
accidental (other); 3) the strange is
something which is rare and differs from
the known and familiar things and
causes astonishment; 4) Creation is
divided into several things: it has an
unknown cause, man cannot grasp it and
it is known in its entirety but not in its
details (e.g. the celestial spheres).

Moreover, Qazwini informs us in the

introduction of his book that he left his
home and family to study books because
he believed that a man's best companion
on earth are books. He marvelled at the
wondrous and strange things in God's
creation and how perfect a creation it is,
as stated in the Qur'an (50:6). In his
explanation of created things in the
powerful and vast universe (51:47), he
describes the orbit of the sun based on
statements of scientists but also quotes
a tradition in which the angel Gabriel tells
Muhammad that the sun moves forward
500 years or farsakhs (1 farsakh = c.
6 km) from the time Muhammad says
“No” until the time he says “Yes” one
after another.

In Qazwini's view wondrous things are in

the heavens and the earth, as the Qur'an
informs (10:101), and in the seas and at
their shores since it was their beginning
and end where not clarified; it was part of
the unknown world, inhabited with
wondrous and strange creatures.
Following the Judeo-Islamic tradition,
Qazwini confirms that in the beginning
God created one substance, then He
melted it and from the smoke became
the heaven and the sediments were
formed to earth; heaven and earth were
first together and God divided them
(Qur'an 21:31) and He completed his
creation in six days. Altogether God
made seven heavens and seven earths
(Qur'an 65:12).

Whether known or unknown, every

created thing has a sign of divine
wisdom within itself and represents the
unity of God. Based on Ptolemy's design
of the universe, Qazwini talks about 9
spheres in the heaven: the earth, the
Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn and the Sphere of
spheres, which embraces all other
spheres and causes day and night; they
all have their own orbit. Whereas on the
one hand to these and other stars
Qazwini refers to the spheres or plants in
scientific terms, on the other hand he
supports the effects of the Moon, the
North Pole and South Pole on man and
animal, such as having the power to cure
illnesses, with sayings among people.

Man's purpose on earth is to achieve

perfection and eschew bad habits and
acts. The good character outweighs in
this life and the next; bad character is a
sin that can not be forgiven and through
it man descends to the lowest of the low
in hell. A man with a good character is
thus angel-like and bad character is the
feature of the despised Satan. Qazwini's
concern here, so to speak, anthropology.

Later influence
Ahmed Bican reworked Qazwini's
cosmology in the year 1453, providing his
Turkish readership with a much abridged
version (reduced to ca. one fifth of the
original) in plain Turkish prose, with
some new materials added.[12] Bican's
rendering was later included by Donado
in his Della Letteratura de Turchi, Venice
(1688), in a shortlist of Turkish works he
felt merited translation into Italian.[13]

Explanatory notes
a. Also Aḥmad-e Ṭūsī,[2] or Aḥmad-ī
Ṭūsī.
b. "‫اﻟﺼﺨﺮة أن ﺗﺪﺧﻞ ﺗﺤﺖ ﻗﺪﻣﻲ اﻟﻤﻠﻚ ﺛﻢ ﻟﻢ‬
‫ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ ﺛﻮرا ﻋﻈﻴﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﻳﻜﻦ ﻟﻠﺼﺨﺮة ﻗﺮار ﻓﺨﻠﻖ ا‬
‫( ﻳﻘﺎل ﻟﻪ ﻛﻴﻮﺛﺎء‬..the rock to under the
feet of the malak (angel), and as the
rock was not steady, God created a
great bull called Kuyūthā)"
c. A thesis by Chalyan-Daffner (2013)
transcribes the bull's name in the
Wüstenfeld edition as
"Kīyūbān/Kibūthān",[7] but it has been
 pointed out that this may be in a
"corrupt Arabic form".[8] Hermann
Ethé translated it as "Leviathan".[9]
d. For some Muslims the footstool is
the eighth and the Throne the ninth
sphere. Furthermore, the Throne of
God is the point of adoration for the
inhabitants of the celestial spheres,
as is the Kaaba the qibla for people
on earth.
e. Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog)
dwells in the seventh clime
according to Qazwini in another work
(Ātar al-belad). Traditionally Islam
assigns their homeland between the
fifth and seventh climes.[11]
References
Citations
1. Netton, Ian Richard, ed. (2013), "Al-
Qazwini" , Encyclopedia of Islamic
Civilization and Religion, Routledge,
p. 686
2. Guest & Ettinghausen (1961), p. 52.
3. "al-Ḳazwini" , The Encyclopaedia of
Islām, E. J. Brill ltd., I, p. 68, 1938
4. Chalyan-Daffner (2013), pp. 213–
216.
5. "Ḳāf" , The Encyclopaedia of Islām
(new ed.), E. J. Brill ltd., 7, p. 401,
1973
6. Wüstenfeld (1849), p. 145.
 7. Chalyan-Daffner (2013), p. 214, note
195.
8. Guest, Grace D.; Ettinghausen,
Richard (1961), "The Iconography of
a Kāshān Luster Plate", Ars
Orientalis, 4: 53, note 110,
JSTOR 4629133
9. Ethé (1868), p. 298.
10. Jwaideh, Wadie, ed. (1987) [1959],
The Introductory Chapters of Yāqūt's
Muʻjam Al-Buldān , Brill Archive,
pp. 34–35
11. Van Donzel, Emeri J.; Schmidt,
Andrea Barbara (2010). Gog and
Magog in Early Eastern Christian and
Islamic Sources: Sallam's Quest for
 Alexander's Wall . Brill. p. 81.
ISBN 9004174168.
12. Laban Kaptein, Eindtijd en Antichrist,
p. 30. Leiden 1997. ISBN 90-73782-
90-2
13. Laban Kaptein (ed.), Ahmed Bican
Yazıcıoğlu, Dürr-i Meknûn. Kritische
Edition mit Kommentar, p. 36ff. Asch
2007. ISBN 978-90-902140-8-5
Bibliography
Chalyan-Daffner, Kristine (2013). Natural
Disasters in Mamlūk Egypt (1250–1517):
Perceptions, Interpretations and Human
Responses (PDF) (Ph. D.). Heidelberg
University. pp. 213–252.
al-Qazwini, Zakariya (1849). Wüstenfeld,
Ferdinand (ed.). 'Aja'ib al-makhluqat
[Kosmographie: Die Wunder der Schöpfung].
1. Göttingen: Dieterich. plain text
al-Qazwini, Zakariya (1868). Wüstenfeld,
Ferdinand (ed.). Die Wunder der Schöpfung:
Nach der Wüstenfeldschen Textausgabe, mit
Benutzung und Beifügung der Reichhaltigen
Anmerkungen und erbesserungen des Herrn
Prof. Dr. Fleischer . 1. Leipzig: Fues’s
Verlag.
idem, in: Fuat Sezgin, Islamic Geography,
vol. 201
Alma Giese, Die Wunder des Himmels und
der Erde (Goldmann: Berlin 1988)
Johann von Müller, Auszüge aus dem
persischen Werke Adschaibul-machlukat
des Zacharia ben Mohammed Elkazwini in
Sezgin Islamic Geography vol. 201
 Jonas Ansbacher, Die Abschnitte über die
Geister und wunderbaren Gesch pfe aus
Qazwînî's Kosmographie, in: Fuat Sezgin,
Islamic Geography vol. 201
Julius Ruska, Das Steinbuch aus der
Kosmographie des Zakarijâ ibn Muhammad
ibn Mahmud al-Kazwînî, in: Fuat Sezgin,
Islamic Geography vol. 201

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"ʿAJĀʾEB AL-MAḴLŪQĀT", Encyclopædia
Iranica
Turning the Pages A virtual version
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