Ahmed al-Buni (Arabic:أحمد البوني) (d.1225) was a well known Arab Sufi and writer on the esoteric value of letters and topics relating to mathematics, Siher (sorcery) and spirituality.
He wrote one of the most famous books of his era, the Shamsu al-Ma'aref al-Kubra (Sun of Knowledge). This book was later banned by orthodox Muslims as heresy, but continues to be read and studied. This kind of magic was called, instead of Siher (Sorcery), Ilm al-Hikmah (Knowledge of the Wise), Ilm Shem Yah (Study of the Divine Name), and Rouhaniat (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`ârif.[1] In c. 1200, Ahmed al-Buni showed how to constructmagic 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 Allah. His works on traditional healing remains a point of reference among Yorouba Muslim healers in Nigeria and other areas of the Muslim world.[2]
Writings
- Edgar W. Francis, Mapping the Boundaries between Magic. The Names of God in the Writings of Ahmad ibn Ali al-Buni
- Ahmad al-Buni, Sharh Ism Allah al-a`zam fi al-Ruhani, printed in 1357 AH or in Egypt al-Matba`at al-Mahmudiyyat al-Tujjariyyat bi'l-Azhar.
- Ahmad al-Buni, Kabs al-iktida, Oriental Manuscripts in Durham University Library