JIVAT

Mirror · 10th century

Ikhwan al-Safa: the whole world in one point

كما تلتقي صور المرئيات كلها مع اختلاف أجناسها في المرآة وفي الحدقة التي هي نقطة من العين

As the forms of all visible things, of every kind, meet in the mirror and in the pupil, which is a point of the eye.

Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, epistle on the intellect and the intelligible, section 2.

  • Look closely into a friend's eye, near a window. How much of the room can you find in it?
  • Is that tiny room a picture of the room, or part of what they see?
  • A camera chip smaller than a fingernail holds the whole sky. Can it ever be too full?

Pick one. That is the first session.

JIVAT · Write to me · All notes