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, أحمد البوني), born in Buna, in present-day

Annaba Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, died 1225, was a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and philosopher and a well known Sufi and writer on the

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

value of letters and topics relating to mathematics, ''sihr'' (

sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...

) and spirituality, but very little is known about him. Al-Buni lived in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and learned from many eminent Sufi masters of his time. A contemporary of

Ibn Arabi Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , ' Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influen ...

, he is best known for writing one of the most important books of his era; the ''

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 Eg ...

'', a book that is still regarded as the foremost occult text on

talismans A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

and divination.

Contributions

Theurgy

Instead of ''sihr'' (Sorcery), this kind of magic was called ''Ilm al-Hikmah'' (Knowledge of the Wisdom), ''Ilm al-simiyah'' (Study of the Divine Names) and ''Ruhaniyat'' (Spirituality). Most of the so-called ''mujarrabât'' ("time-tested methods") books on sorcery in the Muslim world are simplified excerpts from the ''Shams al-ma`ârif''. The book remains the seminal work on

Theurgy Theurgy (; ) describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more deities, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting w ...

and esoteric arts to this day.

Mathematics and science

In c. 1200, Ahmad al-Buni showed how to construct magic squares using a simple bordering technique, but he may not have discovered the method himself. Al-Buni wrote about

Latin squares In combinatorics and in experimental design, a Latin square is an ''n'' × ''n'' array filled with ''n'' different symbols, each occurring exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column. An example of a 3×3 Latin s ...

and constructed, for example, 4 x 4 Latin squares using letters from one of the

99 names of Allah Names of God in Islam ( ar, أَسْمَاءُ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ , "''Allah's Beautiful Names''") are names attributed to God in Islam by Muslims. While some names are only in the Quran, and others are only in the hadith, th ...

. His works on traditional healing remains a point of reference among Yoruba Muslim healers in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and other areas of the Muslim world.

Influence

His work is said to have influenced the

Hurufi Hurufism ( ar, حُرُوفِيَّة ''ḥurūfiyyah'', Persian: حُروفیان ''hōrufiyān'') was a Sufi movement based on the mysticism of letters (''ḥurūf''), which originated in Astrabad and spread to areas of western Iran (Persia) ...

s and the New Lettrist International. Denis MacEoin in a 1985 article in '' Studia Iranica'' said that Al-Buni may also have indirectly influenced the late Shi'i movement of Babism. MacEoin said that Babis made widespread use of

and magical letters.

Writings

Khalili Collection Islamic Art mss 0300 fol 108b-109a

* ''Shams al-Maʿārif al-Kubrā'' (''The Great Sun of Gnosis''), Cairo, 1928. * ''Sharḥ Ism Allāh al-aʿẓam fī al-rūḥānī'', printed in 1357 AH or in Egypt al-Maṭbaʿa al-Maḥmudiyya al-Tujjariyya bi'l-Azhar. * ''Kabs al-iktidā'', Oriental Manuscripts in Durham University Library. * ''Berhatiah'', Ancient Magick Conjuration Of Power. * ''Treatise on the Magical Uses of the Ninety-nine Names of God'' in the

Khalili Collection of Islamic Art The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art includes 28,000 objects documenting Islamic art over a period of almost 1400 years, from 700 AD to the end of the twentieth century. It is the largest of the Khalili Collections: eight collections ...

References

Notes

* Edgar W. Francis, ''Mapping the Boundaries between Magic. The Names of God in the Writings of Ahmad ibn Ali al-Buni''

External links

Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra - شمس المعارف ولطائف العوارف

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Buni, Ahmed 1225 deaths 13th-century Algerian people 13th-century Arabs Magic squares Medieval Egyptian mathematicians

Buni Buni ( ur, ; also spelled Booni) is a town and the headquarters of Upper Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Demography The residents of Buni are Kho people, Khos, and they speak Khowar language, Khowar which is spoken and understoo ...

Sufi writers Year of birth unknown People from Annaba People from the Almohad Caliphate