KİTABIN MUKADDİMESİ · İkinci Madde
**Article Two**
The sun, the moon, and the stars within the sea that lies beneath the seven heavens and is adjacent to the world-sphere, along with their risings and settings and certain of their conditions, declare [something].
Know, O esteemed one, that some scholars of interpretation (tafsir) and hadith have said: The Most High created a sea of water beneath and adjacent to the world’s sky. And this sea encompasses the entirety of the world-sphere's interior, its foamy waves settling above the air by the command and power of God, finding tranquility such that not even a single drop falls into the atmosphere. The Most High created the sun, the moon, and all the stars from the light of His Throne, causing them to move within the water of the aforementioned sea like fish. Among all these stars, He made the sun the greatest and most radiant, then the moon great and luminous. After this, by the command of the Exalted One, Gabriel, the Trusted (a.s.), touched the face of the moon with his wing so that there would be a difference between night and day, thereby to know the reckoning of years and months [9/a]. As God has said in the Noble Quran: "We have ordained nights for you to rest and days for you to see." (Isra', 17/12)
Therefore, the black markings seen on the surface of the moon are remnants of that light which has been dimmed. The Most High created within this sea a chariot of diamond jewels with three hundred sixty handles for the sun, and placed the sun upon it. He appointed an angel to grasp each of these handles so that the angels might draw the sun eastward across the sea by means of the chariot. And for the moon as well, He created a chariot of yellow ruby from a sapphire-colored jewel, placing the moon upon it. And He appointed an angel to grasp each handle so that these tasked angels may carry the moon eastward across the sea with the aforementioned chariot. Furthermore, for the moon, He created a sleeve of lapis lazuli (blue) gemstone and appointed sixty angels to hold them.
As the angels charged with drawing the moon’s chariot move it further away from the sun each day, those tasked with holding its sleeve peel off the sleeve from the moon little by little. Thus, when the moon reaches opposite the sun, it is completely free of the sleeve and appears as a full moon. Then, as the tasked angels draw the moon closer to the sun, they bring the sleeve closer from the other side. So when the moon joins with the sun, the tasked angels pass the sleeve entirely over it. And this will continue until the Day of Resurrection. It is for these reasons that the moon sometimes disappears, sometimes appears as a crescent, sometimes as half, and sometimes as full. To the larger stars and planets, ten angels are appointed each, and to the smaller ones, one angel each. These angels move within the celestial ocean so that, by the wisdom and power of God, they may rise and set at their designated times, carry each to its place of rising, hurl devils who listen to what is spoken among those stars with fragments broken off from them, and stone them. The Most High, in His power, has determined different points for only five of the sun, moon, and stars to rise and set on the two sides of the earth. For this reason, they are called the seven planets (sab’a-i sayyara) [406], each rising from a different place and setting in another.
The Most High has created, specifically for the sun, one hundred eighty springs gushing forth from black clay on its eastern side. Similarly, He has created one hundred eighty springs emerging from black clay that set in the west. These bubble and seethe like cauldrons upon intense fire. The great sun, by the measurement and knowledge of God who measures all things and knows all things, rises from a different point each day for six months and sets in another place each day. Upon completion of those six months, it returns to its original rising and setting points; and with the end of the year, it has moved from south to north and from north to south upon returning to its initial position (makãm). This is why, during winter, the sun’s rising and setting points are in the south. During summer, it rises and sets in the north. The movements of the sun will continue in this manner until the Day of Resurrection.
If the rays of this radiant sun were to pass through the celestial sea and not into the atmosphere, but instead approached us from where they currently reside, all living beings on earth would be consumed by fire. And if the beauty of the moon were to appear without being veiled by the water of that “celestial sea” and with its own radiance, it is reported that people would be captivated by the beauty of the radiant moon and make it their sole beloved.”