BİRİNCİ FEN · ÜÇÜNCÜ BÂB · ÜÇÜNCÜ FASIL · Yedinci Madde
Seventh Point
It reports the changes occurring in the air surrounding us that transpire contrary to natural formations.
O Noble One! Know that philosophers have said: Changes and transformations which occur contrary to natural formations are either due to changes within the essence of air ( *istihala* ) or from alterations in the qualities of the air.
The *istihala* occurring within the essence of air happens through the corruption and alteration of the air's essence itself. It is not that this change has occurred through an excessive increase or decrease of any quality within the air. Rather, if the essence of the air itself becomes corrupt, it is called pestilence—a state of putrefaction affecting the air. It is also called plague. This corruption is like the putrefaction of water whose color, smell, and taste have been spoiled. By "air" here, we do not mean simple and subtle air. We mean the mass of vapor and smoke that surrounds us; it is not simple or abstract. For no simple body ever putrefies. Rather, it transforms into another simple body through change in its qualities and essence.
[521] By "air," we mean a composite substance diffused within the air, mixed with its essential components—water droplets, vapor, smoke, and earth and fire elements rising upwards. To call it “air” is like calling seawater “water.” For seawater is not pure water; rather, it is a mixture of earth, water, air, and fire (in varying proportions). However, since water prevails in this mixture, it is named "water." Therefore, the air formed from the mixture of different elements may sometimes putrefy and its essence deteriorate, undergoing change. Just as the water of wide rivers bedded with pebbles putrefies and transforms into stone, reverting to its original essence; similarly, (the aforementioned) air putrefies and becomes a pestilence. This increase in the putrefaction within the air, leading to an outbreak of pestilence, generally occurs towards the end of summer and in autumn.
However, the change occurring in the essential quality of the air is when heat or cold reaches an unbearable degree, rendering agriculture impossible and preventing procreation. It is the extreme fluctuation of these two—heat and cold—to a degree that leads to their destruction (of progeny and agriculture).
When the air undergoes a change through one of those mentioned above, its effect, with the permission of the Most High, brings about various illnesses in our bodies. For when the air putrefies, with the permission and influence of the Most High, this affects the four elements within our bodies, first producing a corruption in the heart.