Book Discussion Shams Al Ma'Arif

[GreyBird]

Sorry about that. I was talking about.

Ahmad al-Buni & John Friend - Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra: The Complete Sun of Divine Knowledge. (link does not work)
Not​

The Sun of Knowledge (Shams al-Ma'arif): An Arabic Grimoire in Selected Translation​

It's my fault.
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[Ombriel]

Reading through this thread, especially the breakdown of elemental interactions by Angelkesfarl and the talismans shared by MacLu69, I see so many parallels with the martial mysticism we practice here in Southeast Asia.

The Staff of Moses talisman for authority and stopping enemies in their tracks uses the exact same energetic architecture as our local invulnerability and martial initiation rites. Striking the earth to establish a boundary and command the space is a foundational physical and spiritual mechanic in our folk magic. The earth grounds the charge and the strike directs the will.

Angelkesfarl also made a great point about the cross fertilization of elements like fire and air acting as heat and breath while earth and water form the clay and blood of the living vessel. That maps perfectly onto our microcosm philosophy. We use that exact same elemental alchemy in our inner power breathwork. You pack the fire and air into the clay of the lower abdomen to generate martial heat and authority.

It is wild to see how a 13th century Arabic framework and Southeast Asian folk mysticism arrive at the exact same mechanical conclusions about how the human body holds and projects power. This really makes me want to dig deeper into the geometry of his squares. Thanks for sharing those rare excerpts.

 

[Lion]

Who uses the Shams often as part of their practice? I am trying to work out what exactly needs to be done with number squares...what names do we cosde into it? ours? the spirits? both ? and how to activate them

 

[yourfantasyjulianna]

Many Arab practitioners I know consider this a closed practice. So the dissemination of this knowledge is discouraged as a whole, and even when practices are taught or shown to outsiders, many names or words are intentionally changed.

 

[L’chaimGoldberg]

It seems like there is a new transaltion of the Shams here, with all 40 chapters:

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I can't exactly verify if the source manuscripts for this version constitute a "critical edition" like what you might get with Joseph Petersons stuff, but it is the only one I see that is a complete english translation. It is a 1978 page beastie and hopefully contains everything unlike previous versions that provided only limited translations in parts. It certainly is expensive, but this is probably the one OP might be looking for.

This is the new translation I just discovered, I wonder has anyone bought it yet and looked through it?
The only other English versions Ive seen are selected parts, basically an abridged version, and reading Arabic wasn’t my strong point. I saw an Arabic version on amazon and thought about getting it and using Google translate but then I read that most copies available aren’t even the real version, even if they’re in Arabic.

I’d just like to know before I spend 150 dollars, kinda steep. I saw the translator, John Friend, has a couple translated books on jinn magic that look really interesting

 

[Ntea]

Im interested in magical squares. You can do squares with the 99 names of Allah abjad (numerological calculation for the name). I wonder if the use of number squares could be used more in Kabbalah? it seems so suited considering the meticulous attention to gematria in Kabbalah. They do yse number squares but not as systematically as the Islamic people did. Has anyone used number squares a lot in their workings?

Number squares are a part of primordial truth

 

[Lion]

Number squares are a part of primordial truth

In what way? Im so curious about how this works. I know that pythagoras thought the uni verse is made up of numbers... but how do number squres bring about change in Magick? I think there is something powerful about using different abjads for different names and divine qualities as part of a 'magic square'... but how to do this and how they work intrigues me. Have you used number squares at all?

 

[CapriciousAMA29]

My guess would be that there are less scholars fluent in Arabic vs Latin that take occult manuscript study seriously. We haven't a proper transcription of The Picatrix from Arabic yet, although Dr. Laina Saif is working on one. My hope is that she will continue to be very successful in this area and one day also give the Shams Al Ma'arif a full critical edition

I had no clue this was in the works!? thank you for sharing that.. needed the extra bit of lightness!

 

[Ntea]

In what way? Im so curious about how this works. I know that pythagoras thought the uni verse is made up of numbers... but how do number squres bring about change in Magick? I think there is something powerful about using different abjads for different names and divine qualities as part of a 'magic square'... but how to do this and how they work intrigues me. Have you used number squares at all?

They're invoked for each element by practicing or redoing one element multiple times (there's a fixed number for doing it and then disposing it according to the element/theme of square), yes they do are assigned with words (they create divine names or divine energies with it) but the squares and position of numbers themselves have a meaningful impact as well.
Similarly each number holds a significance and meaning but the actual working mechanism is said to be hidden. Some may suggest that repetition of such pattern with deep concentration on each number would bring you the ability to unlock the energies of the numbers or make the numbers possess with the energies.

This practice also requires some concentration practices beforehand/reaching gnosis.

 

[Lion]

Thanks for this, much appreciated.... Is there a book that captures the nuts and bolts of this practice?

 

[Ntea]

Thanks for this, much appreciated.... Is there a book that captures the nuts and bolts of this practice?

The knowledge like this is considered to travel in oral chains in sufi congregations or via hidden volumes. If you do come across any such book elaborating any tradition/practice with sciences; kindly do share it with me asw.

 

[dzb10035]

The knowledge like this is considered to travel in oral chains in sufi congregations or via hidden volumes. If you do come across any such book elaborating any tradition/practice with sciences; kindly do share it with me asw.

I think that is the problem with oral traditions and closed practices; it is bloody difficult to get your hands on actual verifiable documents that contain authentic lineages of practice. The best sources of these are usually private manuscript collectors / sellers, high level auctions (e.g. Sotheby's), and maybe trawling the internet for ancient documents relating to the various Sufi orders. For example, it is evident that Nineveh Shadrach gets some of his materials from documents digitised online and others from contacts he has in the Maghreb region of African. He just has the ability to read and translate this while contextualising it in practice. For people who are not learned Arabic (or other relevant languages), you are left with a lot of limited tools.

But TLDR - lots of manuscript documents online do contain traces of these lineages and authentic oral traditions. Some might be correct, others are not, but your guidance is experimentation. Even taking a look at religious documents and unrelated Sufi practices could be a good place to get hints on these oral traditions.

 

[L’chaimGoldberg]

I think that is the problem with oral traditions and closed practices; it is bloody difficult to get your hands on actual verifiable documents that contain authentic lineages of practice. The best sources of these are usually private manuscript collectors / sellers, high level auctions (e.g. Sotheby's), and maybe trawling the internet for ancient documents relating to the various Sufi orders. For example, it is evident that Nineveh Shadrach gets some of his materials from documents digitised online and others from contacts he has in the Maghreb region of African. He just has the ability to read and translate this while contextualising it in practice. For people who are not learned Arabic (or other relevant languages), you are left with a lot of limited tools.

But TLDR - lots of manuscript documents online do contain traces of these lineages and authentic oral traditions. Some might be correct, others are not, but your guidance is experimentation. Even taking a look at religious documents and unrelated Sufi practices could be a good place to get hints on these oral traditions.

If we look at things now is really an anomaly in history, the levels of information that are just available to anyone with an internet connection or credit card and Amazon. People used to travel extensively and search high end low to meet anyone who had a book or teaching about magic or mystical traditions. And I just accept that certain information simply isn’t going to be available. People are entitled to their privacy and cultural boundaries, and while I’m curious about everything on this planet, if the actual caretakers of certain cultural treasures say it’s off limits then I respect their boundaries.
I’m still just trying to find someone who has read this john friend translation of the complete text. Fingers crossed, before I shell out 150 bucks.

 

[Ntea]

I think that is the problem with oral traditions and closed practices; it is bloody difficult to get your hands on actual verifiable documents that contain authentic lineages of practice. The best sources of these are usually private manuscript collectors / sellers, high level auctions (e.g. Sotheby's), and maybe trawling the internet for ancient documents relating to the various Sufi orders. For example, it is evident that Nineveh Shadrach gets some of his materials from documents digitised online and others from contacts he has in the Maghreb region of African. He just has the ability to read and translate this while contextualising it in practice. For people who are not learned Arabic (or other relevant languages), you are left with a lot of limited tools.

But TLDR - lots of manuscript documents online do contain traces of these lineages and authentic oral traditions. Some might be correct, others are not, but your guidance is experimentation. Even taking a look at religious documents and unrelated Sufi practices could be a good place to get hints on these oral traditions.

I consider sufi silsilas a hub for this wisdom and micro explaination to a good extents but it's passed down to special disciples mostly.