This exegesis of the divine name Al-Alim, the All Knowing, is of great interest. The author notes the standard understanding, which remains true today, the more knowledge one obtains, the wiser one is, and at knowledge consists of concepts and the outward appearance of things. The author contrasts this knowledge of the scholars with true knowledge, the all encompassing knowledge of the inner realities of things. This wisdom is exemplified by the figure of Khizr whose wisdom surpassed even Moses, not because Khizr had more knowledge than Moses, but because he understood the hidden secrets and inner nature of all things. Khizr was superior to Moses in gnosis, not knowledge. 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 Shams al-Ma'arif or Shams al-Ma'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif (Arabic: كتاب شمس المعارف ولطائف العوارف‎, lit. "The Book of the Sun of Gnosis and the Subtleties of Elevated Things") is a 13th-century grimoire written on Arabic magic and a manual for achieving esoteric spirituality. It was written by Ahmad al-Buni in Ayyubid Egypt, who died around 1225 CE (622 AH). The Shams al-Ma'arif is generally regarded as the most influential textbook of its type in the Arab and Muslim worlds,[1] and is arguably as important as, if not more than, the Picatrix in both hemispheres. Verily! Allâh forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners (in worship) with Him, but He forgives whom He wills sins other than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allâh, has indeed strayed far away Modern-day Jews reject Jesus (as a Prophet and Messenger), modern-day Christians accept Moses as a Prophet and Messenger, elevate Jesus beyond his noble status (taking him as a deity) and reject Muhammad. Islam accepts, appreciates and reveres all three of these noble Prophets and Messengers, accepts all of the revealed scripture (in its original form) and Muslims make no distinction between them. There message was the same, their religion, one religion, that of Islam - the submission to Allah (the One true God) alone.

The sincere person is the one who understand, acts according to its requirements, invites others to it, and gives it presidents over all other issues, because it is the concise formula of Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) for which human beings are created. Ibn Abbass (a companion of the Messenger of Allaah narrated: When Allaah’s Messenger sent Mu’aadh (his Companion) to Yemen, he said, "You will come upon the people of the book (Christians and Jews), let your first act be to call them to testify that - There is nothing worthy of worship in truth but Allaah." (Al Bukhari #1389) The names of the letters of His Name 'Alīm add up to 302, alluding to His Name Basīr "the Seer". And since science 'ilm is an inherent sign of the external appearance of the object of knowledge, and that the acquisition of a concept involves the totality of its visible aspect, that is, it is the acquisition of the external image of the object in the mind, the meaning of 'Alīm as the Knower of All is necessarily the one before whom the essence of each thing manifests itself in the totality its hidden essence as well as its external form. That is one of the secrets of 'Alīm for intensification is not possible through the letter wāw, due to its importance and its height that reaches the end of the limits and reaches the totality of existence. So intensification is possible by one of these two options: either with the reduplication of a consonant, as in saying allām, which refers to the one who has acquired a large amount of knowledge or with the letter yā which refers to the revelation of the most subtle details of a notion and the perception of its hidden aspects. For this reason only Al-Alīm knows the details of a concept in the same way that He knows its most general aspects, and knows its hidden aspects in the same way that its aspects are visible. That is why Allah said, exalted be he! "Above all, possessor of science there is a knower." Noble Quran, Yusuf, Surah, 12, verse 76, so the possessor of science ū-l-'ilm is the one who knows the general aspects of things and the knower alīm is the one who knows its particular aspects. The possessor of science is the one who knows the external aspects of things and the knower is the one who knows their internal aspects; the possessor of science is the one who knows the evident aspects of things and the knower is the one who also knows their hidden aspects. The meaning of this yā has been indecipherable for many sensible people, because the most unknown of His Science are the most particular aspects, and this is evident in His words, "over every possessor of knowledge is one more knowledgeable". Noble Quran, Surah 12, verse 76. 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. [17] Outside of the Arab and Western world, several editions of the book have been published in the Urdu and Turkish languages. [18] [19] [20] See also [ edit ]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

Shams al-Ma'arif or Shams al-Ma'arif wa Lata'if al-'Awarif [a] is a 13th-century grimoire centered on Arabic magic and claimed to be a manual for achieving esoteric spirituality. It was written by the scholar Ahmad al-Buni who wrote it while living in Algeria; he died around 1225 CE (622 AH). [1] The book is a patchwork of bits and pieces of al-Buni's authentic works, and texts by other authors. [2] Scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah have criticized the book and labeled al-Buni as a deluded devil worshipper. [3] [4] Michael Ipgrave, Scriptures in Dialogue: Christians and Muslims Studying the Bible and the Qur'an Together, Church Publishing Inc, 2004, p. 42

shams al ma'arif english translation pdf

While being popular, it also carries a reputation for being suppressed and banned for much of Islamic history. The Sun of Knowledge ( Shams al-Ma‘arif) is one of the most revered historical grimoires of the Arabic corpus. Feared by some, hallowed by others, it is one of the most famous – or infamous – books in the Arabic-speaking and Islamicate world. Written in Egypt in the thirteenth century by a Sufi mystic and mage of Algerian origin, the Shams presents the fundamentals of Arabic-Islamic occult work – from spiritual cosmology and astrology (including various particularly lunar magics) to working with spirits and jinn, magical employment of letters and numbers, and the occult applications of the Qur’an – thereby comprising a veritable encyclopedia of Islamicate magical wisdom and formulae. Images and descriptions of amulets and talismans adorn it. Numerous beautiful manuscripts of the Sun of Knowledge have survived, various of which have been used as a basis for this present work.