From al-Qazwini's Arabic cosmography; this page depicts a shark; a swordfish and a stingray (late 13th century). Zakariya ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Qazwini (1203-83) was a Persian physician; astronomer; geographer and proto-science fiction writer. His famous Arabic-language cosmography titled 鈥楢ja'ib al-makhluqat wa-ghe' (literally 鈥楳arvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing') is a frequently illustrated treatise. It was immensely popular in its time and is preserved today; also translated in Persian and Turkish.