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Shams Al-Ma'arif Al-Kobra: v. 2: Illumination of Knowledge [Hardcover]

Ahmad Al-Buni (Author)
Book Description This is volume 2 a continuation of the original manuscript of Shams al-ma'arif al-kobra (The Illumination of Knowledge) by renowned Sufi Ahmed ibn 'Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni (d1225). It is one of the most widely read medieval treatise on talismans, magic square and prayers of protection against magic. It also includes a number of sciences including ilm al-Hikmah (knowledge of Wisdom), ilm al-simiyah (study of Divine Names) and Ruhaniyat (spirituality).

Al-Buni acquired his knowledge from a number of Sufi masters and scholars including Abu Abdillah Shams al-Din al-Asfahni. The knowledge traces back to a chain of well known Sufi masters including Jalal al-Din Abdullah al-Bistami, Shaykh al-Sarajani, Qasim al-Sarajani, Abdullah al-Babani, Asl al-Din al-Shirazi, Abu al-Najb al-Sahruwardi, Mohammad ibn Mohammad Al-Ghazali al-Tusi, Ahmad al-Aswad, Hamad al-Dnuri, master al-Junayd al-Baghdadi, Sari al-Din al-Saqati, Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, Dawd al-Jili, Habb al-A'ajami, and Imam Hasan al-Basri. Al-Buni also acquired his knowledge from Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad ibn Maymn al-Qastalni, who derived knowledge from masters going back to Dawd al-T'i, Habb al-A'jami, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Srn, and Malik ibn Anas.
From the Publisher This is a replica of the original manuscript written by the Sufi Master Ahmed al-Buni. Many of the mujarrabat (time tested methods) on various remedies in the Islamic world are simplified excerpts from the Shams al-Ma'arif.

This is a unique piece of work and is now available for the first time in its original form for all people to study and enjoy. Hardcover: 143 pages

 Publisher: FAR Ancient Publications Ltd; reproduction of original16th century ed edition (July 2006) Language Arabic ISBN-10: 1905934017 ISBN-13: 978-1905934010 Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item

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About Muhiuddin Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni (d. 622 AH / 1225 CE)
Precious little is known about the life of Ahmad al-Buni. He was an Arab (apparently Egyptian) Sufi of the 7th century AH, well known as a cabbalistic writer, who also wrote on mathematics, Ilm al-Hikmah (Knowledge of the Wisdom), Ilm al-Simiyah (Study of the Divine Names), and Ruhaniyat (Spirituality). Such terms were prefered by their advocates to Sihr (Sorcery). Buni lived in the Middle East and studied under some of the most famed Sufi Masters. A printed edition of Buni's Shams al-Ma'arif (Cairo, 1921), apparently a reproduction of the edition of 1874, seems to refer to later dates for his death such as 670 AH. Bunis mystical pedigree would suggest a late 7th century AH / 13th century CE date for him. However, there is a MS of one of his works in Berlin, No. 4126, dated 669. Thus, he probably lived c. 1200 CE. He left a bibliography of his writings. Unfortunately, very few of them have survived. He states in his work Manba Usul alHikmah (Source of the Essentials of Wisdom) that he acquired his knowledge of the esoteric properities of the letters through the following retrograde chain of teachers: Abu Abdillah Shams al-Din al-Asfahani Jalal al-Din Abdullah al-Bistami Shaykh al-Sarajani Qasim al-Sarajani Abdullah al-Babani Asil al-Din al-Shirazi Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi (founder of the Suhrawardiyya school of Sufism, not the Ishraqi school founded by his contemporary, Shihab ud-Din Suhrawardi) Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali al-Tusi (the famous scholar, often simply called Ghazali or Algazel) Ahmad al-Aswad Hamad al-Dinuri Al-Junayd al-Baghdadi Sari al-Din al-Saqati Maruf al-Karkhi

Dawud al-Jili Habib al-Ajami Hasan al-Basri. Buni states in the same work that he acquired his knowledge of magical squares through the following retrograde chain of teachers: Siraj al-Din al-Hanafi Shihab al-Din al-Muqaddasi Shams al-Din al-Farisi Shihab al-Din al-Hamadani Qutb al-Din al-Diyai Muhyiddin ibn Arabi Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Turizi Abu Abdullah al-Qurashi Abu Madin al-Andalusi. Buni states that he acquired additional knowledge about the esoteric art of letters and the magical squares through the following retrograde chain of teachers: Mohammad 'Izz al-Din ibn Jama Mohammad al-Sirani Shihab al-Din al-Hamadani Qutb al-Din al-Dhiyai Muhyiddin ibn Arabi. Buni states that he acquired his occult knowledge through the following retrograde chain of teachers: Abul Abbas Ahmad ibn Maymun al-Qastalani Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Qurashi Abu Madin Shu'ayb ibn Hasan al-Ansari al-Andalusi Abu Ayyub ibn Abi Sa'id al-Sanhaji al-Armuzi Abi Muhammad ibn Nur Abu al-Fadhl Abdullah ibn Bashr Abu Bashr al-Hasan al-Jujari Al-Saqati Dawud al-Tai Habib al-Ajami Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Sirin Malik ibn Anas. Buni also made regular mention of Plato, Aristotle, Hermes, Alexander the Great, and obscure names of Chaldan magicians. In one of his works, he recounted a story of his discovery of a cache of manuscripts buried under the pyramids, that included a work of Hermetic thinkers. His works on traditional healing remain a point of reference among Yoruba Muslim healers in Nigeria and other areas of the Muslim world. For information on his writings, see Ullmann, M. - Die Naturund Geheimwissenschaften im Islam, Handbuch der

Orientalistik, Abteilung I, Ergnzungsband VI, Abschnitt 2 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972), pp. 390-1; Brockelmann, C. Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur, 1st edition, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1889-1936). Second edition, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1943-49) [Page references will be to those of the first edition, with the 2nd edition page numbers given in parentheses], vol. 1, pp 497-8 (655-6); Brockelmann, C. Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur, Supplement, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1937-1942), vol. 1, p. 910; and Maddison, F. and Savage-Smith, E. - Science, Tools & Magic [Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, 12] (Oxford: Oxford University Press and London: Azimuth Edition, 1997), pp. 64-9. Buni authored approximately 40 texts on occultism. Among his most famous, besides the Shams al-Maarif and Manba Usul al-Hikmah, there are: Sharh Ism Allah al-a'zam fi al-Ruhani, printed in 1357 AH Kabs al-iktida, kept in Durham University Library Note: Our author is not to be confused with Ahmad ibn Qasim ibn Muhammad Sasi al-Buni al-Tamimi (1003/1594 1103/1691), who was born in Buna in North Africa, and was also a writer on occult and magical practices (several of his treatises are preserved today). For his writings and what little is known of his life, see Brockelmann, C. - Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur, Supplement, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1937-1942), vol. 2, p. 715.