BİRİNCİ FEN · İKİNCİ BÂB · ÜÇÜNCÜ FASIL · İkinci Madde
**Article Two**
Concerning the structure of Saturn (Zuhal)'s eccentric sphere (felek-i haricü’l-merkez).
Know, esteemed one, that according to astronomers, the ordering and harmonization of various tasks related to the seven planetary stars within the overarching spheres is demonstrated and explained. This necessitates the acceptance of subsidiary spheres (cüz’î felek), which exist in diverse forms and rotations within the celestial layers. Therefore, to explain the movement of Saturn (Zuhal), they have accepted and determined the existence of a second sphere (felek-i sâni) within the sphere of representation (felek-i mümessil)—that is, a sphere enclosed by two parallel surfaces—including its body.
The second sphere thus recognized encompasses the Earth. Its center is a spherical body, six and a half degrees distant from the center of the universe along its diameter, surrounded by two planes parallel to each other according to its point of solstice (cihet-i evc). And the convex surface of this sphere touches the convex surface of the first sphere at a single point; that point is named the solstice, and it is the furthest point from the center of the universe.
When Saturn (Zuhal) reaches the aforementioned point, it arrives at its most distant and highest position relative to the Earth’s center. Similarly, the concave surface of the second sphere touches the concave surface of the first sphere at the point of conjunction (nokta-i müştereke), which is called the perihelion (hadîd; bu’du’l-arz); this point is closest to the center of the universe. When Saturn (Zuhal) reaches that point through the movement of the carrier sphere (felek-i taşıyıcı), it approaches and descends most closely towards the Earth's center.
In this condition (speaking of the aforementioned sphere and its movement as described above), if the second sphere, known as the carrier, is separated from the first sphere, two spheres remain necessarily, differing in their masses; one encompasses the other.
The thinner side of the sphere encompassing the carrier sphere (küre-i hâviye) is directed towards the solstice point (cânib-i evc), while its thicker side is directed towards the perihelion point (cânib-i hadîd; bu’du’l-arz). The condition of the sphere encompassed by the carrier sphere (küre-i mahviyye) is the opposite of the former. These two sides (bîle) are considered to be entry points (medhal) in completing the sphere of common non-center (ortakmermezli küre); therefore, they have said that one completes it by encompassing (mütemmim-i hâvî), and the other completes it by being encompassed (mütemmim-i mahvî).
Since every sphere possesses its own specific movement, predetermined and certain to complete its revolution around its own axis (mihver) and poles, Saturn’s (Zuhal) carrier sphere also moves from west to east along with its own motion beneath the sphere of the signs, and beneath the sphere of common non-center, causing the stars to move together with it.
Thus, the planet Saturn, accompanied by this ensemble (as described above), travels through each of the twelve signs for two and a half years, completing a cycle of revolution in twenty-nine years, five months, and six days. Because the carrier sphere is larger and its circumference wider from the perspective of the Earth’s surface, the movement of Saturn appears slower than that of the other planets beneath it.
May God Most High, who fashions these things perfectly and gives them artistic form, be free from all imperfection. [484]