http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shams-Al-Maarif-Al-Kobra-IlluminationKnowledge/dp/1905934017
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-Asfahâni. 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, Asîl
al-Din al-Shirazi, Abu al-Najîb al-Sahruwardi, Mohammad ibn Mohammad
Al-Ghazali al-Tusi, Ahmad al-Aswad, Hamad al-Dînuri, master al-Junayd
al-Baghdadi, Sari al-Din al-Saqati, Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, Dawûd al-Jili, Habîb
al-A'ajami, and Imam Hasan al-Basri.
Al-Buni also acquired his knowledge from Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad ibn Maymûn
al-Qastalâni, who derived knowledge from masters going back to Dawûd
al-Tâ'i, Habîb al-A'jami, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Sîrîn, 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
http://www.antiochgate.com/about_buni.htm
About Muhiuddin Abu’l 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. Buni’s 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
Ma’ruf 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-Diya’i
Muhyiddin ibn Arabi
Abu’l 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 Jam’a
Mohammad al-Sirani
Shihab al-Din al-Hamadani
Qutb al-Din al-Dhiya’i
Muhyiddin ibn Arabi.
Buni states that he acquired his occult knowledge through the
following retrograde chain of teachers:
Abu’l 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-Ta’i
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 Chaldæan
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, Ergänzungsband 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-Ma’arif 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.