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Ibn al-Haytham's madness

Author's name: Youssef Ziedan

Ibn al-Haytham lowered his head for a moment, looking worried, and was lost in the depths of thought. Then he came to and said with the sorrow of a knowledgeable scholar: “O Mut’i’, stop delving into the details and generalities of conflicting beliefs. This is a travail with no end, and there is no escape from drowning in it. Know that what they differ about today under the pretext of elevating the true view of Islam, and claiming to raise the banner of the Sharia, is, for the most part, what the Umayyads made and then the Abbasids wrote after them, to serve the purposes of both. So, do not worry about all that, and bring the inkwell and papers so that I may dictate to you some drafts of my large book on the nature of vision and sight.” I asked him, as I was about to sit in front of him to write what he would dictate to me, about the title he had chosen for this large book, whose drafts are astonishing to the mind. He said in a low voice: “Al-Manazir”