BİRİNCİ FEN · ÜÇÜNCÜ BÂB · YEDİNCİ FASIL · Dördüncü Madde
**Fourth Article**
Concerning the inhabited regions at the borders of the seven known climates, and the high mountains, great rivers flowing through them, and the complexions of the people dwelling therein.
Know, O esteemed one, that astronomers have stated: The ancient philosophers who divided the world into seven climates, encompassing a quarter of its surface, demarcated each climate with numerous inhabited lands. They substantiated their claims with ample evidence, verifying their truth through extensive travel. For over thirty to forty years, many journeyed to these aforementioned inhabited regions, traversing them from end to end.
The boundaries of the First Climate: From the Western Ocean and the Berber land, passing through Nubia, Abyssinia, Hadhramaut, Saba’, Southern Yemen, the southern peninsula of India, and China, reaching some islands in the Eastern Ocean. Twenty major mountains and thirty major rivers have been observed within this climate. The inhabitants here are almost entirely dark-skinned.
The boundaries of the Second Climate: Encompassing all western and northern cities, as well as Sudan, the northern Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, Mecca al-Mukarrama, Medina al-Munawwara, Taif, Qatif, Bahrain, and Hormuz, passing through cities in Hind, Sind, Machin, and central China, extending to the middle of the islands in the Eastern Ocean. Twenty-seven high mountains and twenty-seven major rivers have been observed within this climate. The inhabitants here are noted as being fair-skinned, tending towards a dark complexion.
The boundaries of the Third Climate: From the Western Ocean, passing through the northern African cities and Egypt, then through Jerusalem, Damascus, Kufa, Baghdad, Basra, Shiraz, and Isfahan, encompassing all of Persia, and traversing the north of Hind, Sind, Machin, and China, reaching the islands in the Eastern Ocean. Thirty-three high mountains and twenty major rivers are known to exist within this climate. The inhabitants here are generally observed to be wheat-skinned and dark.
The boundaries of the Fourth Climate: Encompasses the entirety of the Mediterranean Sea, beginning from the Strait of Gibraltar that opens onto the ocean, passing through Andalusia, Spain, Gaul, and the southern regions of Frankish lands and Rumelia, reaching the southern shores of the Mediterranean and Southern Anatolia.
From there, it passes through Tripoli, Antioch, Iskenderun, Aleppo, Erzincan, Diyarbakir, Mosul, Tabriz, Ardabil, Kazvin, Tus, north of the Iranian mountains, Lahore, Kashmir, and Horasan, to the southern border of Hatay and through the lands of Hitan and China, reaching the islands in the Eastern Ocean. Twenty-five high mountains and twenty-two major rivers have been observed within this climate. The inhabitants here are generally noted as being fair-skinned with a tendency towards a dark complexion.
The boundaries of the Fifth Climate: Beginning from the Western Ocean, passing through northern Spain, then through the middle regions of Frankish lands, traversing the northern half of the Mediterranean Sea, encompassing many cities of Anatolia; Sivas, Erzurum, Shirvan, and the southern half of the Caspian Sea including the cities of Geylan and Cham, then southward to the southern regions of Maverae-Nahr, including Khwarazm, Samarkand, Bukhara, the land of Badakhshan, Turkistan, and southern Tatarstan, the south of Deşt-i Kebir and Tibet, north of the Great Wall of China, passing through the south of Tabuk and the middle regions of Hita and Hitan lands, reaching the Eastern Ocean. Thirty-three high mountains and fifteen major rivers have been observed within this climate. The inhabitants here are noted to be entirely fair-skinned.
The Fourth Climate is known as the most temperate. It has also been observed that the conditions of the Third and Fifth Climates adjacent to it are similar to those of the Fourth, for it is seen that the inhabitants of these three climates possess physical strength, spiritual fortitude, beautiful appearances, skillfulness, and moderation in maturity, due to the pleasantness of their water and air.
The boundaries of the Sixth Climate: From the Western Ocean, through the northern lands of Frankish territories, the northern cities of Rumelia, the regions north and south of the Black Sea, passing through Azak, then through Georgia, Ganja, Tiflis, Varna, and the Sea of Chokoz, beginning from the north of Shirvan, emerging from Derbent Fortress, traversing the lands of Dagistan and Ejderhan, crossing the northern half of the Caspian Sea, passing behind the Seyhun River, through the lands of Karakalpak, Uzbek, Chagatai, Kashgar, Ulungay, and Turkistan, then through the northern regions of Tatarstan and Deşt-i Kebir, through the northern lands of Hita and Hitan, reaching the islands in the Eastern Ocean. Eleven high mountains and forty major rivers have been observed within this climate. The inhabitants here are noted as being fair-skinned with a tendency towards yellow. It is known that this climate experiences severe cold but remains temperate overall.
The boundaries of the Seventh Climate: Beginning from the shores of the Western Ocean, passing through Portugal and England, then through Kipchak, Taselya, Bulgaria, and Russia, traversing the northern regions of the Caspian Sea and Deşt-i Kebir, proceeding north of old Tatarstan, passing over the Wall of Alexander, reaching the islands in the Western Ocean. Eleven high mountains and forty major rivers have been observed within this climate. The inhabitants here are noted as being fair-skinned with a tendency towards red. The end of the Seventh Climate is defined as the fiftieth degree latitude. The longest day has been found to be sixteen hours in these regions.
These are the seven known climates, according to the views of the ancient philosophers, and their conditions have been explained as above.
The determination of the boundaries of the twenty-four climates, through a detailed explanation, will be indicated later with numbers in a separate table.