BİRİNCİ FEN · ÜÇÜNCÜ BÂB · BEŞİNCİ FASIL · Birinci Madde
**Article One: Concerning the Essence, Nature, and Stages of the Element of Water**
Beloved! It is known that philosophers and astronomers unanimously state: The third of the four primary elements is water [533], which is a simple substance; a colorless, transparent, and spherical body. Its natural quality is to be moist and cold. In relation to air, it is dense (kesîf), and because it adheres to dense bodies, it is contrary to the other three elements. It possesses the ability to find new forms through generation and decay. When it emerges from its origin, it transforms by mixing with other elements. Indeed, even while remaining in its own place, it changes into other elements due to various and necessary causes.
The outer, convex surface of the water sphere is accustomed to waves and has come into contact with the movable concave surface of the air sphere above it. Since it lies tangent to the surface of the terrestrial globe within the concave surface, the surface of the mass of water that touches those areas is also uneven due to the twists and turns of the mountains and valleys beneath the earth’s surface. The natural place of the water sphere is below the air sphere and above the earth, covering and enclosing the terrestrial globe in a perfectly round form; yet it does not completely cover the earth's surface, and some parts of the land remain exposed. Some philosophers—explaining that the water covers most of the terrestrial globe while leaving some portions open—attribute this to the grace of God, linking the creation of land animals and especially the human species, who sustain their lineage on earth through respiration, to Divine will, stating that “there is no apparent cause for it.”
Most philosophers also concede: That everything in the realm of possibility occurs due to a cause is an established divine custom. Therefore, the true reason why the sea does not cover the entire surface of the earth is that the sun's sphere, as the lamp of the universe, and its current location at the beginning of the Capricorn zodiacal sign, causes the sun’s rays, in its annual course, to approach the center of the earth, bringing intense heat (to) the earth’s surface.
For the sun, as the lamp of the universe, is closest to the earth when it is located in those southern constellations at the yerberi [perihelion]. When it reaches the northern constellations [aphelion], it moves further away from the earth. As it continues its course in this manner, upon reaching the yerberi, the intensity of heat warms and agitates this element of water, drawing it towards that region of the earth’s surface. For a small amount of water boiling on one side of a large cauldron will certainly move to the other side, emptying the remaining parts. Similarly, seawater is stirred by the intense heat of the sun in the southern regions, and waters from the other poles are drawn toward that area, leaving open areas in the northern region of the earth, they say. However, according to expert investigators, the cause of warmth and coldness is not solely the proximity and distance of the sun; rather, it is the angle at which sunlight strikes—perpendicularly for warmth, and refracted for coldness.
Indeed, this has been explained above. For it is observed that reflections are multiplied by reciprocal burning currents (eddies). After land and water have become two spheres, the passage of centuries, the constant blowing of winds, and the flow of numerous floods have affected the mass of water, creating valleys, mountains, plains, ascents, and descents. As the seawater moves, the water in the depressions has sunk down, and what remains between them has entered peaks and mountains, while open areas remain as places of water accumulation (sea-lakes).
Therefore, it is not proper to present the sun’s location at the yerberi as the sole cause for the water receding from the land. Rather, it may be known that it is an important cause among other causes. For half of the New World (America) lies beneath the yerberi [Tropic of Capricorn]. The truth is only known by God Almighty.