Section: There are many winds, and one may infer [the Qibla] from four of them that blow from the corners of the sky. The South wind blows from the corner between the Qibla and the East, facing the palm of the praying person's left shoulder, from the direction of his face toward his right. The North wind is its opposite; it blows from the corner between the West and the North, passing toward the direction of the South. The Dabbur (West wind) blows from the corner between the West and the South, facing the right side of the praying person's face, passing toward the opposite corner. The Saba (East wind) is its opposite; it blows from behind the praying person. Sometimes winds blow between walls and mountains and thus swirl, so they are not to be relied upon. Between every two winds is a wind called the Nakba', so named because it deviates from the path of the known winds. Winds are known by their characteristics and properties; this is the most correct way to infer the Qibla. Our companions mentioned inferring [it] by waters, saying: All the large rivers flow from the praying person's right to his left, with a slight deviation, such as the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Nahrawan. No consideration is given to newly formed rivers, because they are formed according to needs in various directions, nor to small canals and rivers, because they have no fixed rule. Nor to two rivers that flow from the praying person's left to his right: one of them is the Orontes (al-'Asi) in the Levant, and the second is the Syr Darya (Sayhun) in the East. This which they have mentioned does not hold to a fixed rule, for many of the rivers of the Levant flow in a direction other than that which they mentioned. The Jordan flows toward the Qibla, and many of them flow toward the sea wherever it may be until they pour into it. If the indication were restricted to what they mentioned, then nothing of it would be in the Levant except the Orontes, and the Euphrates is the boundary of the Levant from the direction of the East.

Whoever knows these proofs is a mujtahid. The people of every town may infer [the Qibla] by proofs specific to their town, such as its mountains, its rivers, and others, just like one who knows that a specific mountain is in their Qibla, or to their right, or in other directions. Similarly, if one knows the course of a specific river. So whoever is among those capable of ijtihad, if the Qibla is obscured from him while traveling,