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So what is in this book well at the center of Ahmad al-buni's, Shams al-Ma'arif and
really at the center of most of his writings at least the occult writings is the
theories and speculation around what is known as the science of letters.
" Ilm al-Huruf " the science of letters
This is an idea that we find in many medieval mystics especially at this time which
theories that the Arabic letters so the letters of the Arabic alphabet have magical
occult powers that can be employed. Different letters are often connected with
certain cosmological or metaphysical principles. One letter might be connected with
" the Throne of God " / " The Arsh " for example or with " the planetary spheres ".
And since they have these connections and especially since it is these letters that
make up " the names of God ". Which have enormous powers in themselves that can be
used in various ways for spiritual practices or when making talismans for instance.
IBN Arabi who held very similar ideas even went so far as to say that the entire
universe is essentially made up of letters and words. That God speaks in the
Eternal moment of creation. So the Syamsul Ma'arif talks about the science of
letters and some of the practical uses of these powers. The book also talk about
Jinn, the names of Jinn who were captured by the Prophet Solomon it talks about
angels and their natures as well as more practical instructions on how to construct
what is known as " Awfaq " or " Cryptograms " . This is essentially using letters
and numbers to create symbols that have certain powers. The most prominent example
of this is " the so-called magic square " which are well squares of numbers and
different rows. That add up to the same number regardless of which way you add the
numbers up they always add up to the same numbers that's the principles. And even
though al-buni never uses words like talisman or amulet or that is the Arabic
equivalent of those words he essentially gives us instructions on how to create
such objects using these cryptograms letters divine names and quranic verses.
Remember al-buni was a sufi and theories regarding these things appear to have been
rather common in esoteric sufi circles as we saw with IBN Arabic for example. And
in certain circles of shiism as well it wouldn't have been weird for a sufi master
at this time to be involved with these kinds of things especially in the Maghrib or
North Africa as we saw. Al-buni and his followers did not consider any of this to
be " Sihr " or " Magic " a word that has very controversial and negative
connotation in the Islamic world. Even if there have been nuances and different
usages of that word as we saw in previous episodes.
But a pious person like al-buni would not have seen himself as being involved with
quote-unquote magic. People have used other words like " Ruhaniyya " spiritual work
basically to denote these illicit practices that to us certainly appear magic
adjacent but which to them was abviosly very different. Using the Divine powers of
God to effect things in the world is very different from calling upon Jinn or
forces other than God. Nonetheless this was considered esoteric stuff. It was
something that was tough in sufi circles but was certainly not disclosed to the
uninitiated. If anything that is what makes al-buni and his writing unique that he
actually wrote about this stuff. Stuff that really only was tought orally from
teacher to student in a sort of initiotory context. But even then he makes it clear
that these writings are only meant for the elite sufi audience who can grasp its
meaning as he says in the introduction and here I'm quoting again, quote :
" Shame unto anyone who has this book of mine in hand and reveals it to a stranger,
divulging it to one who is not worthy of it ". - Ahmad al-buni
This was a book that was clearly meant for his students and for this spiritually
adept and not to be spread to the wider public. So how did Ahmad al-buni and the
Shams al-Ma'arif get the infamous reputation that they have today and what about
the modern Shams al-Ma'arif that we all know and love in the contemporary world.
Well aside from being a sufi teacher or master as we saw al-buni after his death
did become know as a kind of authority on occult sciences and occult matters.
Probably because he wrote these books on these topics which was relatively uncommon
as they would be spread orally most of the time. And so because these writings were
attributed to al-buni after his death he did become seen as a kind of authority on
occult sciences.
It doesn't seem like this stuff was rejected or seen as radically suspect by most
people or scholars. As his writings appear to have been rather popular among a wide
array of people religious scholars and other figures associated with political
leadership and the aristocracy mistics and philosophers etc. They all read this
book and it was quite popular. We see the relationship between al-buni and IBN
(ibnu) Arabi continuing in these contexts as it seems like people would read the
works.