This book is a Japanese translation of The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence, an encyclopedic Persian-language natural history written by Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī at the end of the twelfth century during the Seljuq Dynasty. There was a plethora of books in Arabic and Persian compiled in the Islamic world, though with few exceptions, many of these languish untranslated and unstudied. Despite the importance of its content, there are no papers on this tome, and it has not been translated into English.
 
As its title implies, the book is a collection of the “wonders of the universe” and comprises a wide range of subjects ranging from the natural sciences, such as astronomy, medicine, the study of medicinal herbs, and zoology, to geography, history, mythology, and folklore. Consisting of a preface and ten chapters, it covers celestial bodies, angels, and holy spirits; the four elements of fire, air, water, and earth; the mountains, seas, rivers, and cities of the world; minerals; trees and herbs; relics and ruins such as statues, graves, and treasures; people-related topics such as intelligence, the soul, the five senses, and dreams; women, eunuchs, and giants; medical science and alchemy; jinns and shaitans (ghosts and evil spirits that are neither humans nor angels); and birds, as well as animals and insects of various sizes. All of these are described as the Creation of Allah and systematized in order from the Throne of God and other things that exist in Heaven down to earthly things, with the mosquito—the smallest and lowliest of all—at the very end (the original is also lavishly illustrated).
 
Al-Ṭūsī was active during the twelfth century, amid the proliferation of Shi’a Islam, heresy, and mysticism, and the establishment of Sunni Islam as the theoretically and doctrinally true Islam. He advocated the use of language and books, and his intention in writing The Wonders of Creation was to enable readers to learn about everything in the universe by “seeing things they have never seen before” and “acquiring all possible information about the wonders of the world and the curiosities of the age,” without traveling or even leaving the house. This made it possible for people to ponder the workings of Allah, the Creator of the Universe.
 
We can infer from this book that scholarship in twelfth-century West Asian society culminated in the emphasis on the existence of Allah, who is the Creator and Destroyer of the Universe, and that this world is overflowing with the diversity of His Creation. As such, The Wonders of Creation might also be called a compendium of the intellectual activity of the time, which encompasses every possible phenomenon from Heaven to Earth.
 
This Japanese translation is annotated with the source text and relevant historical information to preserve the charm of the original and help readers’ understanding. Not only does The Wonders of Creation allow us to discover one twelfth-century West Asian intellectual’s Islamic perspective on the universe and the world, it also presents us with the opportunity to understand scholarship in an era before the separation of the humanities and natural sciences and to revisit the question of what knowledge is from an utterly different dimension than contemporary Japanese society. Feeling the pulse of that time through this book is the first step of a tireless intellectual journey into a world full of wonder.
 

(Written by MORIKAWA Tomoko, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2018)

Related Info

Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (1)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 2-2 (March 2009), pp. 198-218
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/79932/1/16morikawa.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (2)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 3-1 (July 2009), pp. 403–441
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/87443/1/29morikawa.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (3)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 3-2 (March 2010), pp.378–391
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/123287/1/19ajaib.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (4)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 4-1&2 (March 2011), pp.483–550
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/154006/1/29morikawa.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (5)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 5-1&2 (February 2012), pp.365–494
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/161180/1/19morikawa.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (6)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 6 (March 2013), pp.549–570
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/173269/1/28morikawa.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (7)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 7 (March 2014), pp.499–532
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/185810/1/I.A.S_007_499.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (8)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 8 (March 2015), pp.266–358
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/198342/1/I.A.S_008_266.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (9)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 9 (March 2016), pp.315–339
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/210320/1/I.A.S_009_315.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (10)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 10 (March 2017), pp.275–302
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/225215/1/I.A.S_010_275.pdf
 
Ajā’ib al-Makhlūqāt wa Gharā’ib al-Mawjūdāt - The Wonders of Creation and the Curiosities of Existence (11)
Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 11 (March 2018), pp.322–386
https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/230467/1/I.A.S_011_322.pdf
 

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