BİRİNCİ FEN · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL · Üçüncü Madde
Third Article
Concerning some curious matters founded upon the principle that the world is round.
O esteemed one! The astronomers have said: Within the data of astronomical science regarding the roundness of the earth, there are many matters which the mind will follow with astonishment, both posed as questions and answered with wonder.
First matter: It is the difference in a day according to three persons. For example, if three people were found in one place, one going east and another west, and a third remaining in place without moving, then the two persons traveling in different directions on a straight path and proceeding at the same speed, advancing eastward from westward, and westward from eastward, would arrive at the location of the person who remained stationary after [a week and the same] day. In this case, that day would be Friday for the person remaining stationary, Thursday for the person going west, and Saturday for the person going east.
Herein lies the secret: The person constantly traveling westward, if he were to walk for seven days, because his walking aligns with the direction of the sun’s movement, his sunset time, according to the one who remains stationary, would be delayed by an amount equal to one-seventh of the earth's daily rotation.
Therefore, from the total of these daily delays, a day and night would be missing after seven days. Thus, when he arrives at the point from which he departed, it is Thursday for him.
Similarly, the walking of the person going east is in the opposite direction to the sun’s movement. His situation is the reverse of that of the one going west. For him, sunset would be a seventh less than that of the person remaining stationary, and from these deficiencies, there would be a day and night surplus after seven days, so his arrival day would be Saturday.
Second matter: Suppose there were a deep well in one place on the earth and a tall minaret above it. If one filled a container at the bottom of the well with water and filled another container of the same volume at the top of the minaret with the same amount of water, the water would overflow the container at that elevation because the sphericity diminishes as one moves away from the center. Yet, the components of the four elements are but a single drop from the globe of existence, wherever they may be. Thus, the arc of the circle at the mouth of the (cup) with which we filled it is closer to the earth’s center when it is at the bottom of the well than it is at the top of the minaret, and therefore curved. [32/b] At the top of the minaret, however, the mouth of the container would be flat, and a small amount of water would overflow.
Third matter: For example, if two stones were thrown from two different points on a high minaret balcony, after determining the points where they fall, one compared the distance between those falling places with the distance between the points from which they were thrown from the balcony; the distance between the falling places would be less than the distance between the two points on the balcony.
For example, if the distance between the two sides of the balcony were ten *zirā’* [five meters], the distance between where the stones fell would be less than that. Similarly, the distance between the bases of two walls is not equal to the measured distance from above. For the two plumb lines extended from above downwards do not meet at their starting and ending points; they draw closer together as they approach the ground, and if they could be continuously extended, they would meet at the earth’s center.
Again, religious questions are posed regarding the matter of the roundness of the world.
First matter: If Zeyd were to travel to the poles with English ships, where there is six months of night and six months of day, upon what basis would he determine the times for the five daily prayers and how would he observe the fast of Ramadan?
Second matter: If Zeyd and Amr were to dispute regarding the sign of the apocalypse—the sun rising in the west—and if Zeyd were to say that this matter must be explained according to the rules of astronomical science, while Amr opposed it. In response, if Zeyd insisted on his position and said, “According to the view of Takiyuddin Râshid, the Zodiac (Mintaqat al-Buruj), passing through the universal inclination [449], would gradually align with the horizon of equinox after a long interval, along with the regions [451] of other planets, so that the sun rises in the west. Indeed, even today, the sun rises in the west at the sixty-sixth degree of latitude [452],” thus supporting the rising of the sun in the west with scientific justifications, would Amr insist on his own view? If he did, insisting that “It is not possible or correct to explain the matter this way. If it were possible, let my wife be divorced,” would Amr’s wife be divorced?
Third matter: Zeyd says that there exists on earth a city other than Mecca where there are four *qiblas*. That place is at the foot of Mecca (Semt-i Kadem) [453]. If Amr were to oppose this, and if both of them insisted upon their positions, swearing an oath, “If my statement is incorrect, may my slave be freed,” whose oath would be broken?
The answers to these three matters have not been given.