Shams al-Ma'arif - The Most Dangerous Book in the World?

in previous episodes in this series we have begun exploring the fascinating world of the islamicut occult Sciences we have been given an introduction to the topic we have explored the World of talismanic Magic we have looked into astrology in the early Islamic world and we will eventually also dive into books like the famous Hakim or the pikatrix and its Latin title but the most famous or should I say Infamous book of occult Sciences in the history of the Islamic and arabic-speaking world is probably the mysterious work entitled The shamsalm Arif or the son of knowledge a book that is revered by some as a useful book for Spiritual practices and esotericism but by others it is feared as the most dangerous book in the world a cursed book that just owning a copy of this book will bring on evil forces or gin that will mess up your life so what is this book who wrote it and what kind of things do we find in it [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign is probably the most famous occult book in all of the Arab and Islamic world it is a big text and indeed it is a kind of Encyclopedia of all kinds of occult practices that have been common in the Islamic World historically it covers everything from talismans and amulets to how to construct them theories of the science of Arabic letters and their magical powers magic squares how to summon Jinn and much else the book is attributed to the 13th century figure Ahmed al-buni often popularly described as a magician and as the source for much of these Sciences but when we explore this figure and the history of the text itself we find that things are a bit different from how they are usually portrayed little is known about Ahmed al-buni's life his full name seems to have been Abu Abbas Ahmad IBN Ali IBN Yusuf Al Qureshi al-buni and he probably lived from the late 12th century to the mid 13th although his year death is disputed as we will see the name or nispah al-buni suggests that he originated from the city Buna which is in modern-day Algeria and the sources we have indicate the same thing that he came from and spent most of his life in North Africa he is primarily associated with Egypt after all this places him in a very interesting and significant time and place he was a contemporary of the very famous Sufi figure muhedin IBN Arabi and came from roughly the same region indeed al-buni was a Sufi and he was known throughout his life primarily as a Sufi teacher and not as anything like a magician or something like that furthermore in one of his writings al-buni says that one of his own Sufi sheikhs or Masters was Abdul azizawi who led a Sufi Center in the city of Tunis and who was also one of the primary masters of IBN Arabi further connecting the two figures this becomes even more interesting as we find many similarities between the teachings of IBN Arabi and al-buni like the theories about the science of letters and certain cosmological and metaphysical principles and this is important we should look at Ahmad al-buni as a Sufi master who came specifically from the heavily speculative Sufi culture of the maghreb which is Western North Africa and Al andalus this region was ripe with Sufism but it was a Sufism that was to generalize more theoretical more concerned with metaphysical and cosmological speculation on top of these spiritual practices and psychological Transformations associated with Sufism more so in the East you could say this is an environment that brought great Mystics with a speculative philosophical quote-unquote band like IBN Arabi IBN sabahin ibnbarajan and indeed Ahmed al-buni himself and we do in fact find many similar ideas in these writers because importantly all sources indicate that Ahmad al-buni later in his life became seen particularly as a great and revered Sufi teacher and master who led a group of disciples or students primarily in Cairo Egypt they would have performed all the practices associated with Sufism such as vicker remembrance and khalwa spiritual Retreats and most of albuni's writings attest to this very strong Sufi connection and the fact that he was a spiritual Master to several students even after his death which is sometimes said to have been in the year 1225 but other times we see the years 12 31 or 12 32 nonetheless after his death his tomb became a place of pilgrimage which show process the kind of status he had as a Sufi teacher and that he was maybe even seen as a kind of Saint or Wali Ahmed al-buni also left behind writings which have collectively come to be called the Corpus bonionum by academics and it is here that we find those occults and esoteric aspects that he has become so strongly associated with now most of albuni's writings are simply books on Sufism similar to many other books from that tradition talking about these stages of the Sufi path practices like the good and as well as the powers of reciting the Divine names even books that are more quote-unquote occult or magical which do exist are all essentially within a Sufi framework specifically speculative Sufi Traditions associated with the Islamic West as we saw the problem with these writings at least in relation to the subject of this episode is that none of them are the shams at least not as we know it recent scholarship by people like Noah Gardner and John Charles colon have studied the ibonian Corpus and its relationship with the popular sham Salma Arif and suggests that around five works attributed to albuni can with some certainty be considered to be his authentic work these include works of a more traditional Sufi nature such as the element a commentary on the names of God there is writings also include books that are decidedly more occult and which deals with topics that are associated with things like esotericism and maybe even that controversial word magic which of course albuni himself would not have used as a name for what he was doing these are primarily the Lata if the subtleties of the science on the celestial letters and in the lead and this is where it gets interesting a work entitled the Sham Salman that most famous book whose title translates to something like the son of knowledge and the subtleties of elevated things more often known simply under the shorter title the son of knowledge so Ahmed al-buni did write a book called The Shamus and according to certain medieval sources it seems that this might have been his most famous and widespread work the problem is this is not the Shams that we have today indeed they differ in some dramatic ways actually the Shams as we know it today and which is so famous were Infamous around the world is a large text that is often seen as a cursed book as the most dangerous book in the world and for those of you out there that take that stuff seriously you should know that I will be quoting from this book in this video in an English translation so not the original Arabic but in an English translation it will be pretty clear when I am quoting from it but that's my warning to you so you can either choose to just not watch the video if you are legitimately concerned about that or just sort of keep a lookout for when I'm going to court these these passages don't be mistaken though albuni's is definitely a work including descriptions of practical occult Sciences indeed alboon himself writes in the introduction that the book contains and here I'm quoting quote secrets of the wielding of occult powers and the knowledge of hidden forces so what is in this book well at the center of Ahmad al-buni's 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 this is an idea that we find in many medieval Mystics especially at this time which theorizes 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 Shams talks about the science of letters and some of the practical uses of these powers the book also talks 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 alpha 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 squares 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 number that's the principle and even though albuni 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 albuni and his followers did not consider any of this to be Ser or magic a word that has very controversial and negative connotations 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 albuni would not have seen himself as being involved with quote-unquote magic people have used other words like rouhania spiritual work basically to denote these illicit practices that to us certainly appear magic adjacent but which to them was obviously very different using the Divine powers of God to affect 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 taught in Sufi circles but was certainly not disclosed to the uninitiated if anything that is what makes albuni and his writings unique that he actually wrote about this stuff stuff that really only was taught orally from teacher to student in a sort of initiatory context but even then he makes it clear that these writings are only meant for the elite Sufi audience who can grasp its meanings 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 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 Ahmed al-buni and the Shams get the infamous reputation that they have today and what about the modern shamsalm Arif that we all know and love in the Contemporary World well aside from being a Sufi teacher or Master as we saw albuni after his death did become known 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 and so because these writings were attributed to albuni 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 Mystics and philosophers Etc they all read this book and it was quite popular we see the relationship between albuni and IBN Arabi continuing in these contexts as it seems like people would read The Works of the two side by side he was often thought that IBN Arabi provided the theoretical and metaphysical side of the science of letters while al-buni's writings provided the Practical descriptions on how to actually use them we do have critical voices like ibentamia and IBN khaldoon who both lumped together IBN Arabi and al-buni as quote-unquote extremist sufis and equated things like these signs of letters with seher or magic in an attempt to Outlaw it and its practitioners these two are perhaps the most prominent critics of the popular forms ever called Sciences in the Middle Ages but even though these figures are often upheld today as representatives of Islamic civilization and its intellectual tradition they did not represent the majority at the time and the writings of albuni continue to be popular in various circles people studied his Works wrote commentaries on them and they developed a kind of boonian occult tradition over the 14th to 16th centuries and this is where we get to the real sham research has shown that the shamsalm Arif as we know it today which is often known as the great son of knowledge the version that is printed and spread around and considered so dangerous first appears in the 17th century and its contents are radically different from the medieval Shams al-madev actually traceable to Ahmed al-buni himself so what's going on here what is this book The scholarly consensus today is that even though it is attributed to albuni the shamsubra is a compilation created by one or multiple writers around the early 17th century now the book is based on albuni's writings for sure indeed there seems to be a core portion of the text that actually comes directly from albuni's different occult writings including of course the original sham silma Arif but a large part of the work probably the majority of the work is from elsewhere probably from later writings by figure in that what we call the boonian tradition that had developed over the centuries right for example a lot maybe most of the non-bunian parts of the Shams seem to be from the figure abdulrahman al-bistami one of the major commentators on albuni's works and a famous occultist himself so the modern sham Salman is indeed a kind of encyclopedic work it is a compilation of different writings from various authors there is a core aspect of the book that might be traceable to Ahmed al-buni himself but a lot of it perhaps the majority of it is interpolations from later writers and it is after all this modern text that is the most famous it is this text that is spread around printed in different versions and that has this incredibly Infamous reputation of being like the most dangerous book in the world for example and so for that reason is of course this version of the book that will be the main focus of our discussion today so what is in the Shams El Cobra it is a large text one that features many chapters and sections dedicated to all kinds of occult Sciences it is often called a grimoire or a book of magic and that label isn't entirely wrong of course but calling it that also neglects some of the core features of the text indeed most of it remains within a strong speculative Sufi framework the Shams had a complex and intricate cosmology where everything is connected to everything else a framework in which all of these so-called magical aspects figure now the book isn't always terribly consistent in its ideas which is one of the main reasons we can be sure that it is a compilation but nonetheless there is an intricate system of threads where everything from the Divine names the letters that make them up the stars and Heavenly spheres the human soul and every other aspect is a part when you read the book you will find sections about the powers of the Arabic letters how the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet are connected to the 28 Mansions of the Moon as well as specific planetary spheres this is all connected to the four elements the signs of the zodiac different angels and much else it is really esoteric stuff where as we've said everything has a correspondence to everything else numbers also play a major role especially in the construction of talismans and magical objects instructions for which can be found in the text especially in the form of Gematria the common idea that each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a certain number so the letter alif corresponds to one the letter ba corresponds to two Gene corresponds to three Dal corresponds to four and so on and when you write out words using these letters the word as a whole has a numerical value too where the numbers of the letters are added up which leads to some really juicy esoteric stuff these connections and correspondences become Central when you are for example making a Talisman these can take many forms but often involve invocations or magic square so for example to harness the power of Jupiter which has a kind of protective and fortunate quality you can construct a magic square so take the letter associated with Jupiter Dal which has the numerical value of 4. thus you make a four by four magic square where the numbers in any straight line add up to the same number whichever direction you count like I said before then you write the letter itself Dal 35 times which is the numerical value of the letter dull when written out as it is pronounced using Dal alif and Lam around the magic square you can also write various names of God that include that letter such as al-wadud in this case the loving you then inscribe this talismatic symbol when the moon is in a good and fortunate mansion in the sky on a parchment or an iron object or any object really that you can carry with you or that you can hang over your door and similar things you can also write it out with ink then wash off that ink with water and drink the water thus one has harnessed the fortunate powers of Jupiter by using the intricate thread of correspondences from the sphere of Jupiter to the letter associated with that sphere to the numerical value of that letter to the names of God that include that letter and so on you see there is a connection between all these different aspects as well as the lunar Mansion connected to these various things it's all connected according to the Shams this can be used for a spiritual benefit but also for more worldly concerns it instructs on how these things can be used to get people to like you including getting women to be attracted to you of course to cure a fever or a scorpion sting and even some of the more nefarious things such as destroying your enemies although the author also tends to discourage people from doing these things saying things like you know here is how you destroy your enemy but just remember that all these actions will be judged on the day of judgment so he gives instructions but also is like you probably shouldn't be doing this stuff for example then if you have have a fever then do this again I'm quoting here quote if you write it then wash off the ink with water and give the water to an ill person to drink that person will be protected from fever if you get stung by a scorpion quotes again write them upon a piece of copper then heat the copper in a fire this protects against the scorpion sting this must be written while the Moon is in Scorpio and in an unfortunate astrological aspect with Mars then after the seal has been constructed dip it in water and drink the water and even if your intentions are less noble and you want personal benefit quotes you may also write it in a piece of yellow silk do this while the Moon is in cancer it's domicile or else in the house of Jupiter and secure from any unfortunate aspects with Jupiter any Pleasant smelling incense may be burned if you do that and carry it with you you shall accomplish all your goals and attain what you want from Kings judges and officials women will also love you very important don't forget to report there at the end these are just some examples to show you how this text works and describe these practices if you want to invoke Saturn rather which is associated with other effects you do the same but instead with the letter G which is a letter that is associated with Saturn this letter has the numerical value of three so in this case you make a three by three magic square you write the the letter G and you write out the letter G with the three letters or G ya and Meme and you write letters or names of God using that letter answering the whole process but instead all the aspects have changed because of the different correspondences in the case of Saturn rather than Jupiter the Sufi orientation of this book becomes clearest when it discusses the very strong powers of the Divine names all the names of God have powers and can be vocally recited or written down to have different effects the merciful has effects that correspond to the attribute of Mercy as Salam The Giver of Peace can be helpful to end conflict and so on the name Allah is the most powerful of the names since it encompasses them all although there is also talk about a secret greatest name of God Ismail Azam a hidden name supposedly composed of 73 letters that is known only to the prophets just knowing a few letters of this name is said to give the person the ability to perform Miracles and there's an account of knowing this secret name that figures like Jesus were able to raise the dead I'm gonna quote here again quote through these names Jesus used to raise the dead and cure the Blind and the lepers these names are written in the heavens phrases can have similar effects especially the phrase Bismillah which has a whole chapter of the book dedicated to its powers this phrase which means in the name of God the most merciful and compassionate begins every Surah of the Quran except for one and is recited by Muslims before any major tasks such as holding a speech for example this chapter on the Bismillah explains that it is one of the most powerful sentences in existence it includes three names of God and is the very first lion in the Quran the Shams mentions a tradition where all of reality is said to be contained in the Quran the entire Quran in turn is contained in the first chapter the entire Al Fatiha is contained in the opening sentence and the entire Bismillah is contained in the letter ba even more so the entire ba is then contained in the dots underneath the letter this dot thus contains the whole Quran and metaphorically the whole universe it is the point from which the entire book of God is then written the point from which the vast threads of the universe are sown it is really breathtaking stuff this phrase Bismillah brings Lakwan just saying it but can also be used as a kind of talisman writing the phrase on an object or washing it off with water and all these things that we've already mentioned also have these incredibly powerful occult effects I'm quoting again quotes was written across Adam's forehead 500 years before he was created was inscribed on Moses's staff in Syriac had it not been it would not have part of the sea Bismillah was inscribed on Jesus's tongue when he spoke in the Cradle he used to speak it when raising the Dead who sprung back to life through the permission of God Rahim was engraved upon Solomon's Ring and for some more particular examples quote reciting it before sleeping 121 times will draw down Divine protection God will protect you from Satan theft and sudden death all misfortunes shall be averted or quote if it the Bismillah is written on a paper 101 times and buried on a form the crops will be fruitful and will be protected from pestilence and danger as you can tell the book is pretty Pious in a way it focuses primarily on God his names the Quran and the letters that make it up and everything in the book is somehow connected to these very sort of religious and Islamic themes of course as we saw all of these things receive esoteric interpretations and readings all aspects have connections to some Angelic concept or letter or planetary sphere and that kind of thing even as we get into topics that are a little more dark you could say these themes remain as they are the glue that really keeps it all together throughout the book after all the book does describe how one can summon the good Jinn to do one's bidding and this is done primarily through using the Bismillah or quranic verses to call upon these hidden forces boonie if he is the author of these sections cautions against doing these things carelessly without proper protection from God since one can for example accidentally call upon an evil gin or something as we saw in an earlier episode about gem they can be both good and evil they aren't exclusively evil as some people may think and so all these practices are aimed at summoning the good gin through the power of God but albuni also cautions that one must be very careful with this because one can perhaps accidentally call upon an evil gin that would bring you Misfortune and these kinds of things and so you need to be very careful and protect yourself against those kinds of things through the protective power of God by saying the Bismillah or writing the names of God and all these kinds of things there's really so much stuff that this book contains that we can't go through here it dives into the Ring of Solomon the powerful ring given to this Islamic Prophet that allowed him to control the Jinn and many other impressive miraculous Powers it talks about the staff of Moses and all of the other topics that one has come to expect from the Islamic that are called tradition you can kind of see why it has become the most famous book of occult Sciences in the history of the Islamic world as it covers such a broad range of topics it really any kind of Topic in the occult sciences that you can think of and does so pretty comprehensively while also of course remaining firmly rooted in the vocabulary and and cosmology of Islam and the Quran this is indeed one of those things that set the Shams apart from that other most famous islamicult book The Hakim or the pikatrix namely that while the Raya or pikatrix is primarily a text on astrology and astral magic being based on theories and traditions dedicated primarily to that and from a scientific perspective the Sham Salma Arif is more visibly based on the Quran and on Sufi Concepts some would even refer to it as more Pious or outright Islamic even though these terms are problematic of course so how come this book has received such an Infamous reputation today as we saw in most of history with a few exceptions like IBN tymia and IBN khaldon the book wasn't necessarily seen as problematic in any major way right people studied it and and used it in various ways so what's going on today why is it that this book is so feared and Infamous today a development that seems to be one of the modern world that has appeared in the last century or so so what's going on here well there are probably multiple answers to this question in general we have seen a sort of shift in the Islamic intellectual world in the last century or two as well as a shift in the general scientific Paradigm of the world of course we now live in a world that is much more materialistic than the context in which the book was written we have certain ideals about what counts as quote-unquote real rational science and often deem anything else with terms like superstition the concept of magic has had an especially rough time in this new paradigm and this has affected the Islamic world too of course we saw in the 19th to 20th century the rise of modernistic movements within Islam that have since become very influential one has tried to emphasize the rationality of true Islam and in that process rejected all aspects of the tradition that is deemed superstitious it is this that has affected the role of Sufism from being a majority form of Islam basically to being relatively marginal today Muslims have wanted to distance themselves from Superstition to counter arguments by orientalist Scholars and thus the role of much of these things in the Islamic world have been increasingly looked down upon and downplayed so this General trend is one factor The Scholar lyanna seif has also argued that during the 20th century possibly connected to what we have said there has been a quote de-esoterization of albuni's writings that the Sham Selma Arif and its contents have been stripped of their connection to Sufi cosmologies and metaphysics which as we saw earlier is the brief framework and threat upon which basically all aspects of the book is based removing Sufism from the Shams takes away all its connection with spiritual and religious practice it takes the complex and intricate cosmology where everything fits together and strips it of its essential core grimoires and books of magic written by controversial occultists in Egypt in the 20th century whose ideas became connected and traced directly to albuni and Shams also contributed to this General trend for these reasons and probably many others too the shamsalm Arif has become something very controversial today in the Islamic world it is often seen as a book of pure black magic a cursed book that will bring you Misfortune a book that promotes devil worship as I said in the beginning it is often said that it is the most dangerous book in existence on the other hand we have other groups that have a relationship with the book that is a bit more kinner similar to how many in history have studied this book seeing it as a tool for Spiritual Development and esoteric Sufi ideas but of course while keeping a very strong emphasis on the fact that it needs to be studied with a proper teacher so that there can't be any misunderstanding of what the book teaches in other words it is a book that evokes many different kinds of emotions from different kinds of people regardless it is clear that there is a great interest in this book and an increasing one it seems recently the first English translation of a significant chunk of the book was made by Amina inlos and JM hamadi published by revolor press which has gained some attention and for good reason it is also this translation that I've relied on for the most part in this episode it is clear that the occult Sciences has been a prominent part of the Islamic at World historically and in many places still today remember that we are using the word Islamic kit rather than Islamic to avoid stating that these things are part of the Islamic religion per se it is up to Muslim Scholars and theologians to make statements on the normative status of the shamsalem Arif and its contents in Islam but we can at least be sure that these are ideas that have been widespread and popular in parts of the world dominated by the religion of Islam it nuances our understanding of History religion and the Occult which is after all a good thing and in understanding the history of the occult Sciences there are few texts as significant as the shams and its author Ahmed al-buni or at least it's attributed author Ahmed al-buni now we hopefully have a better grasp of this fascinating topic one of talisman's gin and magical words all things fitting for the spooky month of October I'll see you next time foreign

Channel: Let's Talk Religion

Views: 2,043,241

Keywords: Shams al-Ma'arif, Sun of Knowledge, cursed book, dangerous book, most dangerous book in the world, Islamic Occult sciences, Islamic magic, Islamic philosophy, Sufism, Talismans, Islamic talismans, Arabic grimoire, grimoire, book of magic, Occult books, occutlism, occult, Science of letters, Ahmad al-Buni, Islamic mysticism, mysticism, history, religion, middle east, philosophy, Persian, Egypt, North Africa, Islamic occultism

Id: kAzdgYl0-lQ

Length: 35min 13sec (2113 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 29 2022