" Of course," mused Vikram, oblivious to Alif's noncommittal demeanor, "there were days when the world was crawling with walis and prophets who could stare right at us, but that was a long time ago. Now it's different. Now you are more interested in the veil between man and photon than the one between man and jinn."

"Good," muttered Alif, becoming uncomfortable.
"So you say, but you may think differently when you discover all roads of inquiry end in the same place. "

― G. Willow Wilson , Alif the Unseen