6 Quotes by Zakariya al-Qazwini

If a person sees a beehive, and has not seen one previously, he will become bewildered because he does not understand who made it. If he then learns that it is the work of the bee, he will be bewildered again by how this weak creature makes these hexagons, the likes of which a skilled engineer would be unable to make with a compass and ruler.

They said: 'ajab is the bewilderment that befalls a person because of his failure to understand the cause of something, or to understand the effect of the cause of something upon it [or alternately, upon him].

The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, said, 'Contemplate Allah's creation.' Intelligent contemplation comes only to one who has been bewildered by what is known. . . . For when that has happened, the eye of discernment opens for him, and he sees 'ajab (wonder) in everything.

As for the wonders the Exalted Creator crafted, by they perceived by the senses or understood by the intellect — they are indubitable and flawless.As for the curious stories linked to relating them — I have had no hand in them.And as for the strange characteristics [of them] — . . . life does not supply experience of all of them, [but] there is no point in dismissing all of them for the sake of doubt in some of them.

There is no end to the study and classification of [the] different manifest and hidden attributes, forms, and meaning [of things that exist]. In all of this [are things] held from thought and from sight.

If you want to be certain [of what seems strange], then get to work testing it. But beware of being misled, or of being overcome with fatigue, or of becoming fed-up if [your rest] does not come out right once or twice . . . If you see a magnet that does not attract iron, then do not deny its characteristic property, but set your sights on investigating its various states until its power becomes evident to you.