Ahmad al-Buni
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Sharaf al-Din,Shihab al-Din,orMuḥyi al-Din Abu al-Abbas Aḥmad ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Qurashi al-Sufi,better known asAḥmad al-Būnī al-Malki(Arabic:أحمد البوني المالكي,d. 1225), was amedieval mathematicianandIslamic philosopherand a well-knownSufi.Very little is known about him. His writings deal with'Ilm al-huruf(Arabic:علم الحروف,theesoteric value of letters) and topics relating tomathematics,siḥr"sorcery", andspirituality.[1][2]Born in Buna in theAlmohad Caliphate(nowAnnaba,Algeria), al-Buni lived inAyyubid Egyptand learned from many eminent Sufi masters of his time.[3] A contemporary ofibn Arabi,[4]he is best known for writing one of the most important books of his era; theShams al-Ma'arif,a book that is still regarded as the foremost occult text ontalismansanddivination.
Contributions[edit]
Theurgy[edit]
Instead ofsihr(sorcery), this kind of magic was calledIlm al-Hikmah(Knowledge of the Wisdom),Ilm al-simiyah(Study of the Divine Names) andRuhaniyat(Spirituality). Most of the so-calledmujarrabât( "time-tested methods" ) books on sorcery in the Muslim world are simplified excerpts from theShams al-Ma'arif.[5]The book remains the seminal work onTheurgyand esoteric arts to this day.
Mathematics and science[edit]
In c. 1200, Ahmad al-Buni showed how to constructmagic squaresusing a simple bordering technique, but he may not have discovered the method himself. Al-Buni wrote aboutLatin squaresand constructed, for example, 4 x 4 Latin squares using letters from one of the99 names of God.His works on traditional healing remain a point of reference among Yoruba Muslim healers inNigeriaand other areas of theMuslim world.[6]
Influence[edit]
His work is said to have influenced the Hurufis and theNew Lettrist International.[citation needed] Denis MacEoin,in a 1985 article inStudia Iranica,said that al-Buni may also have indirectly influenced theTwelver Shi'iradical movement known asBábism.MacEoin said that Bābis made widespread use oftalismans and magical letters.[7]
Writings[edit]
- Shams al-Maʿārif al-Kubrā[8](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 inDurham UniversityLibrary.
- Berhatiah,Ancient Magick Conjuration Of Power.
- Treatise on the Magical Uses of the Ninety-nine Names of Godin theKhalili Collection of Islamic Art[9]
References[edit]
- ^B. G. Martin, Muslim Brotherhoods in Nineteenth-Century Africa, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p.149
- ^Dietrich, A., “al-Būnī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, p. 149
- ^By C. J. Bleeker, G. Widengren,Historia Religionum, Volume 2 Religions of the Present,p.156,
- ^Vincent J. Cornell,Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism,University of Texas Press, 1998, p. 221
- ^Martin van Bruinessen, "Global and local in Indonesian Islam", Southeast Asian Studies (Kyoto) vol. 37, no.2 (1999), 46-63
- ^Sanni, Amidu (2002)."Diagnosis through rosary and sand: Islamic elements in the healing custom of the Yoruba (Nigeria)".Medicine and Law.pp. 295–306.
- ^Mac Eoin, D.M. (1985). "Nineteenth-century Babi Talismans".Studia Iranica.14(1): 77–98.doi:10.2143/SI.14.1.2014664.
- ^"Shams ul Maarif ul Kubra Urdu, شمس المعارف الکبریٰ, اردو, لطائف العوارف".
- ^Rogers, J. M.(2008).The arts of Islam: treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili collection(Revised and expanded ed.). Abu Dhabi: Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC). p. 170.OCLC455121277.
Notes[edit]
- Edgar W. Francis,Mapping the Boundaries between Magic. The Names of God in the Writings of Ahmad ibn Ali al-Buni
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