The curators at the British Museum have put together a very informative web page on this manuscript in their collection, a copy of The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence originally authored in approximately 1270 CE by Zakariya Qazwini, a judge living in Wasit in Iraq. In the text, Qazwini divided all of creation into three separate spheres: the Heavens, encompassing the stars, the planets and angels; the Waters, which included all the ocean, the fish dwelling therein, and the distant islands and exotic inhabitants and creatures dwelling in those far-flung lands beyond the seas; and finally, the Earth, which composed of animal, vegetable and mineral, that which is scientifically knowable.¹

Traditionally, Islam has strictures against the representation of human, animal, and certainly of divine figures. Muslim clerics held the view that to render such figural forms was to usurp the role of Creator, and constituted a blasphemous mockery of the divine act of Creation. This is one of the primary reasons why much traditional Islamic art focuses so heavily on calligraphy, geometric designs and floral motifs.

This manuscript, however, demonstrates that there were exceptions to the strict enforcement of this law, for at certain times and places in the Muslim world, figural art such as this illustrated manuscript were generated with wonderful proficiency and imagination. Featured on this page is a portrait of the Archangel Gabriel, who carried God's message to the Prophet Muhammad, relating the words that were recorded by the Prophet in the Qur'an.

(1) See the British Museum web page dedicated to this object.