Electromagnetic

Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889), in the introduction to his literary compilation Choice Narratives, says the following:

This book, although not on the subject of the Qur’an and sunna [Prophetic tradition], the religious law or the knowledge of what is lawful and forbidden, yet points to sublime things and shows the correct way to noble character; it restrains from baseness, diverts from the disreputable, and incites to right personal conduct, fair management [of others], mild administration [of government], and to making the land prosperous. For the way to Allah is not one nor is all that is good confined to night prayers, continuous fasting, and the knowledge of the lawful and the forbidden. On the contrary, the ways to Him are many and the doors of the good are wide….

Knowledge is the stray camel of the believer; it benefits him regardless from where he takes it: it shall not disparage truth should you hear it from polytheists, nor advice should it be derived from those who harbor hatred; shabby clothes do no injustice to a beautiful woman, nor shells to their pearls, nor its origin from dust to pure gold. Whoever disregards taking the good from its place misses an opportunity, and opportunities are as transient as the clouds…. Ibn `Abbas [the Prophet's uncle]* said: “Take wisdom from whomever you hear it, for the non-wise may utter a wise saying and a bull’s eye may be hit by a non-sharpshooter.”

*The translator identifies Ibn `Abbas, may God be pleased with him and his father, as “the Prophet’s uncle” in parentheses above. This is an error. He was a paternal cousin of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

Ibn Qutayba, `Uyun al-akhbar, Cairo, 1923-30 (repr. 1973), vol. 1, pp. 10.11-15 and 15.11-17. English translation found in Dimitri Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early `Abbasid Society (2nd-4th/8th-10th centuries), New York: Routledge, 1998, p. 159.