Folio 5a

…and what is begged and asked of their compassion is this: that they cover with the skirts of their kindness the errors and faults that have fallen between these lines full of flaws and shortcomings, and spare no effort in correcting them. God is sufficient for us, and how excellent a guardian He is; how excellent a master, how excellent a helper. It is He who grants success, and the reins of verification and close study are in His hand.*1

Introduction: On Wonder

Since this book «of wondrous signs» comprises an account of the states of wonders, it was first necessary to define «wonder» — so that the meaning of «wonder» might be known, and it might then be mentioned and illustrated as the need arises.*2

Wonder is this: when a person sees a thing he has never seen, or does not know how that thing produces its effect, a bewilderment comes over him; that is what they call «wonder».*2

An example: if someone sees honey in its comb, a bewilderment likewise comes over him and he says, «What kind of master is the maker of this craft, what an engineer, building like the heavens!» That is, if he sees the bee, his bewilderment grows many times over: how does so weak an animal, so frail a creature, build hexagonal cells of this kind with sides all equal to one another — when skilled engineers confess themselves unable to make the like with ruler and compasses?*3

Where does it find the wax to build from it houses equal in width and size, none larger or smaller than the next, as if they had been poured into a mould? And then, from what place did it take the honey, to store up provision for itself for the winter?*4

And by what means is it guided to protect itself against the winter, so as to make provision before the time comes, and to seal the honey it has stored tightly with wax, so that no air enters from any side and no dust gets in?*4

All the things in the world are of this rank. But a person perceives the wondrous things of the world in childhood; little by little, as youth arrives, he grows used to meeting his needs and pursuing the desires of the self — and through long familiarity the wonder of things fades from his sight.

Only this much remains: if he sees an animal he has never seen, or hears words he has never heard, then the astonishment that familiarity had erased from his sight returns, and his tongue to the words «Glory be to God»…*5