''Sīmiyā’'' (from Arabic Simah سِمة which means sign
Greek: σημεία, "signs") also ''rūḥāniyya'', or ''‘ilm al-ḥikma'' ( ar, روحانية and علم الحكمة, lit. "spirituality" and "the epistemology of wisdom", respectively) is a doctrine found commonly within
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
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occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
traditions that may be deduced upon the notion of "linking the superior natures with the inferior...", and broadly described as
theurgy.
[Eric Geoffroy, ''Introduction to Sufism: The Inner Path of Islam'', World Wisdom, 2010 p. 21]["Rūḥāniyya". Encyclopædia of Islam. New ed.] This is confirmed further by
al-Majrīṭī, who claims to reveal the techniques by which it is possible to convoke the ''rūḥāniyya'' of the celestial bodies.
Theologian
Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, the preacher and writer
al-Kāshifī, and the Sufi
Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-'Arabī are amongst the most pre-eminent contributors. But
al-Būnī, author of the two-volume ''
Shams al-Ma‘ārif'', is as likely as not a considerable focal point for the craft. The 13th-century
Hermetic thinker had transcribed a whole corpus of material (called the ‘Corpus Būnianum’), all of which was subsumed under the spiritual science, and a majority of his works are still used as prototypes for present-day magical practice and literature. The term ''sīmiyā’'' was the synonym of ''rūḥāniyya'', which meant 'spirituality'. This was to be contrasted with the more lesser conformed sorcery (''siḥr''), deemed forbidden in
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
See also
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Alchemy and chemistry in Islam
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Islamic astrology
Some medieval Muslims took a keen interest in the study of astrology, despite the Islamic prohibitions (The Quran, points to the primary purpose of astrology as a means of providing physical guidance/navigation for an adherent, essentially conside ...
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Picatrix
''Picatrix'' is the Latin name used today for a 400-page book of magic and astrology originally written in Arabic under the title ''Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm'' ( ar, غاية الحكيم), which most scholars assume was originally written in the midd ...
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Shams al-Ma'arif
''Shams al-Ma'arif'' or ''Shams al-Ma'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif'' is a 13th-century grimoire on Arabic magic and a manual for achieving esoteric spirituality. It was written by the scholar Ahmad al-Buni who wrote it while living in Ayyubid Egy ...
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Notes
External links
Societas Occulta IslamicaAn academic society devoted to the study of the ''arcana'' and ''esoterica'' of the Islamicate Civilization
Sufism
Magic (supernatural)
Mythological powers
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