I argue in this paper that the concept of wonder provided medieval Arabic literary theorists with a tool to appreciate and evaluate muhdath poetry. A major change in poetic style started taking place at the rise of the Abbasid Empire, epitomized by the likes of Abu Tammam. On the most basic level, modern scholars have characterized this New Style as an increased use of literary figures (badi‘). Others have rightly pointed out that muhdath poetry is not merely defined by the quantity of badi‘ it employs, but also by its quality. (Stetkevych) There is a general consensus, however, in modern scholarship that medieval literary criticism failed to formulate an understanding of and appreciation for muhdath poetry and its kind of badi‘. (e.g. Heinrichs and Stetkevych) It is true that the New Style was initially frowned upon by the literary critics of the period. Both Abu ‘l-Qasim al-Amidi (d.370/981) and al-Qadi al-Jurjani (d.392/1001), for example, side with the Old Style and disapprove of Abu Tammam and the muhdath style. However, they do acknowledge that some people do prefer the New Style, referring to them as “Ahl al-ighrab wa ‘l-ibda?” (the supporters of strange-making and innovation). Their use of the term “ighrab” is peculiar and I believe merits further investigation. Moreover, the elements that render the New Style inferior, according to these critics, seem to be the very characteristics that later critics deem wonder-evoking. These include elements such as farfetched meanings, complexity, obscurity, and novelty. I argue that a shift in attitude starts taking place in Arabic literary theory (starting with the commentaries on Aristotle’s Poetics in the 4th/10th century and later in the 5th/11th century with ‘Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani) from a view that prioritizes clarity, truthfulness, and naturalness as necessary qualities of good poetry to what I argue falls under a general concept of “wonder”. This shift accommodates the character of the New Style and frees it from being boxed into “truth-falsehood” / “natural-artificial” dichotomies, which inevitably favor the Old Style.