Ahmad al-Buni
Illustration — Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra, a manuscript copy, beginning of 17th century Sharaf al-Din, Shihab al-Din, or Muḥyi al-Din Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni al-Maliki al-ifriqi, better known as Aḥmad al-Būnī al-Malki, was a medieval mathematician and Islamic philosopher and a well-known Sufi. Very little is known about him. His writings deal with 'Ilm al-huruf (the esoteric value of letters) and topics relating to mathematics, siḥr "sorcery", and spirituality.
Also recorded as Albūnyالبشريه ذبانات 1
Ahmad al-Buni
Danieliness · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1200
- Died
- 1225
- Nationality
- Almohad Caliphate
- Occupation
- writer · mathematician
- Fields
- Occult science
- Languages
- Arabic
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wikidata · Q4695507 · wikipedia · Ahmad al-Buni
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Theurgy
Theurgy
Ahmad al-Buni was born in Buna in the Almohad Caliphate (now Annaba, Algeria), al-Buni lived in Ayyubid Egypt and learned from many eminent Sufi masters of his time. A contemporary of ibn Arabi, he is best known for reputedly writing one of the most important books of his era; the Shams al-Ma'arif, a book that is still regarded as the foremost occult text on talismans and divination, though his authorship of the text has been questioned.
Instead occult (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'arif. The book remains the seminal work on Theurgy and esoteric arts to this day.
Documentary record
Ahmad al-Buni, died in 1225, is documented in the authority records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The death is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Mathematics and science
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 and constructed, for example, 4 x 4 Latin squares using letters from one of the 99 names of God. His works on traditional healing remain a point of reference among Yoruba Muslim healers in Nigeria and other areas of the Muslim world.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1200
Ahmad al-Buni born.
1225
Ahmad al-Buni died.
Writings
• Illustration — Pages from Al-Buni's Treatise on the Magical Uses of the Ninety-nine Names of God • 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
Influence
His work is said to have influenced the Hurufis and the New Lettrist International. Denis MacEoin, in a 1985 article in Studia Iranica, said that al-Buni may also have indirectly influenced the Twelver Shi'i radical movement known as Bábism. MacEoin said that Bābis made widespread use of talismans and magical letters.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Ahmad al-Buni, revision 1372641910 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.B. G. Martin, Muslim Brotherhoods in Nineteenth-Century Africa, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p.149
- 2.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
- 3.By C. J. Bleeker, G. Widengren, Historia Religionum, Volume 2 Religions of the Present, p.156,
- 4.Vincent J. Cornell, Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism, University of Texas Press, 1998, p. 221
- 5.Coulon, Jean-Charles. Amulets and Talismans of the Middle East and North Africa in Context. BRILL. 230–252. 2022-04-19. 978-90-04-47147-4.
- 6.Martin van Bruinessen, "Global and local in Indonesian Islam", Southeast Asian Studies (Kyoto) vol. 37, no.2 (1999), 46-63
- 7.Sanni, Amidu. Diagnosis through rosary and sand: Islamic elements in the healing custom of the Yoruba (Nigeria). Medicine and Law. 21. 2. 295–306. 2002.
- 8.Mac Eoin, D.M. Nineteenth-century Babi Talismans. Studia Iranica. 14. 1. 77–98. 1985. 10.2143/SI.14.1.2014664.
- 9.Shams ul Maarif ul Kubra Urdu, شمس المعارف الکبریٰ, اردو, لطائف العوارف. 27 June 2021.
- 10.Rogers, J. M. The arts of Islam : treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili collection. Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC). 170. 2008. 455121277.
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Elsewhere in Books
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