BİRİNCİ FEN · ÜÇÜNCÜ BÂB · YEDİNCİ FASIL · Altıncı Madde
**Article Six**
Concerning the Temperaments of Inhabited Places and Cities.
Know, esteemed one, that philosophers have stated: The qualities of cities differ from each other due to the close relationship of water and air with the terrain conditions of the place where they are found, and even because of their mingling with the earth. By the wisdom of God, through various influences, the temperament of a place becomes uniform, and water and air quickly adapt to the soil. Indeed, since the temperament of each place is different, it is as if each city has educated its people according to its own temperament.
The Temperament of People in Hot Regions: The inhabitants of these areas are generally dark-skinned and have curly hair. They possess weak digestion, strong and rapid elimination, little moisture, are timid, have delicate bodies, and age quickly. Like Abyssinia, where the average lifespan of its inhabitants is only around thirty-five years. It is rarely seen that someone reaches the age of forty.
The Temperament of People Living in Cold Regions: The inhabitants of these areas are generally courageous and strong. Their digestion is easy and comfortable. Although cold regions are moist, those who live there are fleshy, stout, and have broad builds. Their bodies are at ease and healthy; they are typically fair-skinned and clear complexioned. Summers are temperate, but winters are severely cold.
The Temperament of People in Humid Regions: The inhabitants of these areas generally possess beautiful faces and soft voices. The climate gives the people a laxity; the seasons pass moderately between summer and winter. Fevers, hemorrhoids, and skin diseases are commonly seen.
The Temperament of People in Dry Lands: The inhabitants of these lands generally have dry skin, temperaments, and brains. Summers are hot, and winters are cold.
The Temperament of People in High Places: The inhabitants of these areas are generally healthy and strong. Most of the people are delighted with good character, flourishing with knowledge and maturity, beautiful in appearance and radiant, blessed with a long life in good health.
The Temperament of People in Low-Lying Areas and Depressions: The inhabitants of these places are generally sorrowful and melancholic. Their waters are hot and stagnant. The air exposes its inhabitants to fevers; its density makes them feel constricted. The understanding of the people of low-lying areas is limited, and their temperaments are afflicted.
The Temperament of Open Terrain and Rocky Places: These areas make the bodies of those around them strong, their hair thick, and their stature short. Most are intelligent and sensible. Summers pass hot and intense in these types of places. Because dryness dominates the nature of the people there, they wake up very early in the morning. Therefore, they are inclined to fight and quarrel.
The Temperament of Snowy Mountains: The climatic conditions of these areas, like the inhabitants themselves, are virtually trained by them. As long as snow remains in the region, the clean winds purify its inhabitants.
The Temperament of Places Near the Sea: These places moderate heat and cold for their inhabitants. Moisture prevails over dryness in these areas.
The Temperament of Northern Regions: They are like cold countries and seasons. The diseases of time are frequently seen among the people of these regions. It is rare to see bile accumulating in their bellies. Their digestion is strong, their lifespans long. Many of them live beyond a hundred years. Elimination is minimal in them. However, their veins are full and wide, so nosebleeds are common. (Due to their strength) they sustain fewer injuries, and when they do occur, they heal quickly. Their bodies are strong, their blood clean, and their hearts fiery. Their temperaments resemble those of predatory animals.
The Temperament of Southern Regions: They are like hot cities and seasons, and most of their waters are salty and bitter. The throats of the people are filled with moisture. Their sensory organs are diseased. Their bodily members are lax, and their appetites are weak. Wounds heal slowly. Women frequently miscarry due to illness; their fertility is low, and their menstrual periods are long. Various types of fever and epilepsy afflict many of them. Hemorrhoids are widespread in these regions due to moisture. Even those who manage to survive past the age of thirty succumb to paralysis.
The Temperament of Inhabited Places in the Eastern Region: The temperament of areas east-facing is sound and pleasant. For the sun, which is like the lamp of the world, first shines upon the people of these cities. It purifies their air before any other place.
The Temperament of People in Western Regions: The temperament of these regions is contrary to that of the East. The inhabitants of these areas are generally coarse and cold because their temperaments are moist. For the sun does not shine on them at the beginning of the day. It only appears after it has risen sufficiently to warm the surroundings, then it invades them with all its heat. Therefore, most of the people in these regions are phlegmatic. Particularly, their voices become hoarse and muffled during autumn. To those travelers who wish to settle in one of the regions briefly described above, it is incumbent upon them first to investigate the height and lowliness of that place. Then they should pay attention to the characteristics that arise from whether its surroundings are open or closed. Finally, they should investigate the mountains adjacent to the city they intend to settle in, the mines nearby, any gas deposits, and their directions.
From all these findings, they should endeavor to predict the temperament of the people of that city. They should consider their health and illness conditions, digestion, and other strengths, appearance, character, disposition, manners, sects, and customs.
"Then let them look at the buildings; are their exteriors wide and their interiors high? Let them observe whether their doors and windows face east or north.
For among the conditions of a building’s soundness is that its interior be spacious and high, and its doors and windows open either to the east or the north, so that the morning breeze and the northern wind may enter it, making the house flourishing, giving life and vitality to its inhabitants, bringing contentment to their hearts, and health and well-being to their bodies.
The most essential thing in building is that the morning air and the northern wind can enter the home. Let sunlight reach the floor of the house, for the improvement of the atmosphere is possible through the eastern sun. Indeed, (a dwelling whose location is consciously chosen in this way) becomes friendly with the morning breezes circulating, visiting, and passing by; and they draw that air into themselves with longing in every breath—a refreshment to the soul, a remedy for the body, and polish for the heart.
The circles depicting the topics we have explained above are presented collectively here for suitability.
It is assumed that a half-day circle passes through each degree of the equator, totaling three hundred sixty.
"So glorified be the Creator, the Wise."
It is assumed that a half-day circle passes through each degree of the equator, totaling three hundred sixty.
“He who brings this into being from nothing with perfect artistry and guides it, and is wise in what He does, may He be exalted above every imperfection.”
It has been said: “The distance of the visible horizon’s span is not more than twenty-two thousand five hundred paces on earth.” As for the equator circle; it is a moving, great circle that passes through the two poles of the world and the designated head point, intersecting with the equator circle, dividing the spheres and the terrestrial globe into two parts—one side being called east and the other west. Night’s midpoint and midday are determined by this. It is possible to consider each piece of the equinox and the equator as a half-day circle for each of them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
[87/b]
It has been explained that longitude and latitude circles have divided the globe like the squares on a chessboard, and that determining these lines allows one to know the locations of cities and certain points on earth, their directions, and their relative distances from each other; also, the knowledge of the Circle of India, the tropics of cancer and capricorn, and how to determine the *qibla*. It has been explained that the pole star, located towards the polar side of the world, is high in the sky, and the distances and amounts of the meridional degrees are known; that through knowing these, one can find the diameter, circumference, and surface area of the globe; how to determine the distance of various points on land and sea by measuring and sailing; how the inhabited regions, which constitute a quarter of the earth, are related to the zodiacal triangle, and how the cities belonging to the seven planets and their directions are known, and how time revolves through twelve animals, and (how) the influences of the signs are explained with six points.