Shams Al-ma'arif
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''Shams al-Ma'arif'' or ''Shams al-Ma'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif'' is a 13th-century
grimoire A grimoire ( ) (also known as a "book of spells" or a "spellbook") is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and ...
on Arabic magic and a manual for achieving esoteric
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
. It was written by the scholar
Ahmad al-Buni image:Shams al-Ma'arif.jpg, upShams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra, a manuscript copy, beginning of 17th century Sharaf al-Din or Shihab al-Din or Muḥyi al-Din Abu al-Abbas Aḥmad ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Qurashi al-Sufi, better known as Ahmad al-Buni ( ar, ...
who wrote it while living in Ayyubid Egypt, he died around 1225 CE (622 AH). The ''Shams al-Ma'arif'' is generally regarded as the most influential textbook of its type in the
Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
, and is arguably as important as, if not more than, the
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 ...
in both hemispheres. In contemporary form the book consists of two volumes; ''Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra'' and ''Shams al-Ma'arif al-Sughra'', the former being the larger of the two. The first few chapters introduce the reader to
magic square In recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diagonals are the same. The 'order' of the magic square is the number ...
s, and the combination of
number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...
s and the
alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...
that are believed to bring magical effect, which the author insists is the only way to communicate with
jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...
,
angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
and spirits. The table of contents that were introduced in the later printed editions of the work contain a list of unnumbered chapters (''faṣl''), which stretch to a number of 40. However, prior to the
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
and various other standardisations, there were three independent volumes that circulated, each one differing in length. While being popular, it also carries a reputation for being suppressed and banned for much of Islamic history, but still flourishes in being read and studied up to the present day. Some Sufi orders, such as the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order have recognised its legitimacy and use as a compendium for the occult, and hold it in high regard. Another title by the same author, namely '' Manba' Usool al-Hikmah'' ("The Source of the Essentials of Wisdom"), is considered its companion text.


Translations

Although full-volume translations into English are not known, there have been numerous renditions of a few of the more popular rituals found within the main treatise, as well as those that lie in its accompanying text. Some of these rituals have had various degrees of notability, but one of recurring presence in many publications is that of the '' Birhatiya'' (also known as ''The Ancient Oath'' or ''Red Sulphur''). In 2022 a partial English translation by Amina Inloes was published by Revelore Press as "Shams al-Ma’arif: The Sun of Knowledge An Arabic Grimoire: A selected Translation" Outside of the Arab and Western world, several editions of the book have been published in the
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
languages.


Controversies

The book is considered extremely dangerous and cursed by Muslims from across the world. Muslims believe the contents of the book to be black magic and anyone who seeks it out and then reads it would go insane, see
Jinns Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
or Shaytans or even die.


See also

*
Alchemy and chemistry in Islam Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world refers to both traditional alchemy and early practical chemistry (the early chemical investigation of nature in general) by Muslim scholars in the medieval Islamic world. The word ''alchemy'' was der ...
*
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 ...
* Ruhaniyya


Notes


External links


Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra wa Lataifu al-Avarif ( ar, مخطوط شمس المعارف الكبرى)

Partial Translation in Spanish and First Comparative Edition by Jaime Coullaut Cordero (from Universidad de Salamanca)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shams Al-Ma'arif Medieval Arabic literature Arabian mythology Arabic grimoires Islamic mythology 13th-century Islam 13th-century Arabic books