Book II: The Portents and Proximity of the Hour and Related Affairs

As for the enemies of Allah, the philosophers, they claimed that the governance of the world in which we live belongs to the constellation of Virgo (al-Sunbula). Thus, when the world completes traversing this distance, corruption and annihilation occur; then the era returns to Libra (al-Mizan), whereupon matter regathers and resurrection is decreed as a recurring cycle.

Al-Bakri said: According to them, the dominion of Aries (al-Hamal) lasts twelve thousand years, Taurus (al-Thawr) eleven thousand years, and likewise consecutively, until the share of Pisces (al-Hut) is one thousand years, bringing the grand total to seventy-eight thousand years. When this period elapses, the realm of generation and corruption comes to an end.

He said: This is the statement of Hermes, who claimed that during the era of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, there were no animals upon the earth. When the era of Cancer arrived, aquatic creatures and terrestrial insects were formed; when the era of Leo arrived, four-legged beasts were formed; and when the era of Virgo arrived, the first two human beings, Adam-nous and Eve-nous, were brought forth.

Some of them claimed that the duration of the world is equivalent to the traversal of the fixed stars through the degrees of the celestial sphere. Each star traverses a zodiacal sign in three hundred years, which amounts to thirty-six thousand years, and they comprise one thousand and twenty stars.

It is stated in 'Jami al-Funun': 'None knows the exact number of fixed stars except Allah the Exalted; however, the philosophers cataloged one thousand and twenty-two stars among them.' Other opinions have also been asserted regarding the lifespan of this worldly realm, and Allah knows best.