Shams al-Ma'arif

The authorship of the Shams al-Ma'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif was historically attributed to the North African late 12th- early 13th century Sufi scholar Ahmad al-Buni who purportedly wrote it while living in Central Maghreb (modern-day Algeria); he died around 1225 CE (622 AH).Owen Davies, Grimoires: A History of Magic Books, Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 27. However, Buni's authorship of the work is disputed. It has been suggested that another text, also known as the Shams al-Ma'arif found in the National Library of Damascus represents an authentic work of al-Buni, but its is very different from the more famous text of the same name, focusing on cosmology rather than magic, and works undoubtedly authored by al-Buni do not focus on magic, with the exception of Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt briefly mentioning esoteric properties of Arabic letters. Jean-Charles Coulon has argued that Shams al-Ma'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif cannot be an authentic work of al-Buni due to the presence of anachronisms within the text that are inconsistent with al-Buni's known authentic works, thus making it pseudepigrapha. Coulon argues that the work is part of a "corpus Buniam" of authors working in the tradition of al-Buni, some of which was falsely attributed to al-Buni himself. Al-Buni's reputation for esoteric magic was later further enhanced by the 15th century Ottoman scholar Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Bistami, who extensively commentated on Buni's works, with a particular focus of al-Bistami being instructions for creating magical amulets and talismans. This was later followed by the composition of the expansive compilation work Shams al-maʿārif al-kubrā containing the Shams al-Ma'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif as well as other esoteric magic works including those by al-Bisṭāmī’, alongside authentic texts by al-Buni himself, which circulated in elite circles of the Ottoman Empire.

Scholars like Ibn Taymiyya have criticized the book and labeled the author, Al-Buni, as a deluded devil (Shaytan) worshipper;Gardiner, Noah (2017), Esotericist Reading Communities and the Early Circulation of the Sufi Occultist Aḥmad Al-Būnī’s Works, Arabica 64 (2017), p. 405-441.{{Cite web|date=June 30, 2022|title=Narratives of Danger: The Sun of Knowledge in Arabic Occulture|url=https://www.leidenislamblog.nl/articles/narratives-of-danger-the-sun-of-knowledge-in-arabic-occulture|website=Leidenislamblog|access-date=June 1, 2023}} However, it continues to persist, and is still being read in public and studied in the present day, despite its questionable reputation.{{Cite web|date=June 30, 2022|title=Narratives of Danger: The Sun of Knowledge in Arabic Occulture|url=https://www.leidenislamblog.nl/articles/narratives-of-danger-the-sun-of-knowledge-in-arabic-occulture|website=Leidenislamblog|access-date=June 1, 2023}} Some Sufi orders, such as the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order have occasionally recognised its potential spiritual value, provided that the reader understands it.{{cite web |url=http://eshaykh.com/halal_haram/shamsul-maarif/ |title=Shamsu'l-Ma'arif |publisher=eshaykh.com |accessdate=July 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023182733/http://eshaykh.com/halal_haram/shamsul-maarif |archivedate=October 23, 2011 }}

After its first modern era printing in Beirut on 1985, the government of Saudi Arabia imposed a ban on the book.{{cite news |author1=Didin Muhtadin |title=Kitab Syams Al Ma'arif Karya Ahmad Bin Ali Al-Buni, Benarkah Kitab Sihir Paling Berbahaya? |trans-title=The Book of Shams Al Ma'arif by Ahmad Bin Ali Al-Buni, Is It Really the Most Dangerous Book of Magic? |year=2023 |url=https://kabarbanten.pikiran-rakyat.com/hiburan/pr-597286241/kitab-syams-al-maarif-karya-ahmad-bin-ali-al-buni-benarkah-kitab-sihir-paling-berbahaya?page=all |access-date=10 August 2024 |agency=Kolaborasi Mediapreneur Nusantara |publisher=Pikiran Rakyat Media Network |location=Bandung, East Java, Id |language=Id}} Ibn Jibrin, a Saudi scholar member of the Council of Senior Scholars and of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta; has issued Fatwa which forbid certain books, including the Shams al-Ma'arif.{{cite web |title=رأي العلامة ابن جبرين في كتب ومصنفات |trans-title=The opinion of the scholar Ibn Jibrin on books and publications |year=2021 |url=https://ar.islamway.net/article/84530/ |website=islamway.net |access-date=10 August 2024 |language=Ar}}{{cite web |author1=Abu Ubaidah as-Sidawi |title=Waspadailah Kitab-Kitab Berbahaya Berikut Ini… |trans-title=Beware of These Dangerous Books… |year=2009 |url=https://abiubaidah.com/mewaspadai-kitab-kitab-bermasalah/ |website=abiubaidah.com |publisher=Ustadz Yusuf Abu Ubaidah official |access-date=10 August 2024 |language=Id}}

In the 20th and 21st century AD, Shams al-Ma'arif grew in recognition and was adopted by the Order of Nine Angles, a global terrorist Satanist organization, as one of their influences.{{sfn |Monette|2013 |p= 106}} Although a translation into English has not been undertaken, 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 BirhatiyaNineveh Shadrach, Magic That Works: Practical Training for the Children of Light, Ishtar Publishing, 2005, p. 228.Nineveh Shadrach, Ancient Magick Conjuration of Power: Beginners Guide to the Berhatiah, Ishtar Publishing, 2011. (also known as The Ancient Oath or Red SulphurNineveh Shadrach, Magic That Works: Practical Training for the Children of Light, Ishtar Publishing, 2005, p. 48.).

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"{{Cite web|url=https://revelore.press/product/shams-al-maarif-the-sun-of-knowledge/?mc_cid=582ed42a26&mc_eid=3b1ef5a702|title = Shams al-Ma'arif (The Sun of Knowledge)}}

In 2023, another English translation of the Shams al Ma'arif was published by Johann Voldemont as "Shams al-Ma'arif: Talismans and Magic Squares" which focuses primarily on the talismans and magic squares contained within the text.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://www.amazon.com/Shams-al-Maarif-Talismans-Magic-Squares/dp/B0CJXGKBQF/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1ZXYN6EC2L09S&keywords=shams+al+maarif&qid=1698173983&sprefix=shams+al+maarif,aps,148&sr=8-8 |title=Shams al-Ma'arif:Talismans and Magic Squares |last2= |first2= |publisher= Independently published|year=2023 |isbn= 979-8-8626-1047-5|language=English}} Outside of the Arab and Western world, several editions of the book have been published in the Urdu and Turkish languages.Iqbal al-Din Ahmad, Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra Wa Lata'if al-'Awarif. Urdu, Darul Ishaat, Karachi, Pakistan: 1978.Basir Ahmad Hadrat Kalianwala, Shams al-Ma'arif Lata'if al-'Awarif. Urdu Tarjama, Kutub Khana Shan-e-Islam, Lahore, Pakistan.Selahattin Alpay, Sems’ül Maarif. Büyük Bilgiler Güneşi, P.K. 157 Beyazid, Istanbul 1979.

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In contemporary form, the book consists of two volumes, Shams Al-Ma'arif al-Kubra{{Efn|{{langx|ar|شمس المعارف الكبرى}}}} and Shams Al-Ma'arif al-Sughra,{{Efn|{{langx|ar|شمس المعارف الصغرى}}}} the former being the larger of the two.Shams Al-Ma‘aref al-Kubrah, Al Nour Library, Beirut, Lebanon 2006.Shams Al-Ma‘aref al-Sughra, Al Nour Library, Beirut, Lebanon 2005. The first few chapters introduce the reader to magic squares, and the combination of numbers and the alphabet that are believed to bring magical effect, which the author claims is the only way to communicate with Jinn, angels and spirits. The table of contents that was introduced in the later printed editions of the work contains a list of unnumbered chapters (faṣl), which stretch to 40. However, before the printing press and various other standardisations, there were three independent volumes that circulated, each one differing in length.Francis Maddison, Emilie Savage-Smith, Ralph H. Pinder-Wilson, Tim Stanley, Science, Tools And Magic Vol. 12, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 65.

Another title by the same author, namely Manba' Usul al-Hikmah "The Source of the Essentials of Wisdom", is considered its companion text.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

• Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world
• Astrology in the medieval Islamic world
• Simiyya
• Witchcraft in the Middle East

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• {{Cite book |last=Monette |first=Connell |title=Mysticism in the 21st Century |publisher=Sirius Academic Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-940964-00-3 |location=Wilsonville, Oregon}}

• [http://digitaloccultmanuscripts.blogspot.com/2008/08/shemsu-al-ma-wa-lataifu-al-avarif-gold.html Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra wa Lataifu al-Avarif]
• [https://archive.org/details/al-buni/ Partial Translation in Spanish and First Comparative Edition by Jaime Coullaut Cordero (Universidad de Salamanca)]

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Category:Medieval Arabic literature

Category:Arabian mythology

Category:Arabic grimoires

Category:Islamic mythology

Category:13th-century Islam

Category:13th-century Arabic-language books