> Consequently, while al-Qazwīnī was wont to include tales about islands at the end of the world where women grew on trees and other dubious mirabilia, his purpose was lofty indeed.
Collections of marvels and extraordinary things were their own genre called ‘aǧā’ib. Here is an open-access example, "The Marvels Found in the Great Cities and in the Seas and on the Islands" https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/46307
That is absolutely wonderful! I've also ordered the book "Wonders and Rarities". I love reading about an unexplored world full of wonder, but it's difficult to find good books about such esoteric things.
Collections of marvels and extraordinary things were their own genre called ‘aǧā’ib. Here is an open-access example, "The Marvels Found in the Great Cities and in the Seas and on the Islands" https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/46307
The classical world had a similar genre, paradoxography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradoxography