The Sun of Knowledge

Eight centuries ago, a North African mystic discovered that reality itself is written in a language we have almost forgotten how to read. His name was Ahmad al-Buni. His masterwork - the Shams al-Ma'arif, the Sun of Knowledge - became the most widely copied Arabic esoteric manuscript in history. Healers in Nigeria carried it across the Sahara. Sufi masters in Cairo studied it in secret. Ottoman scholars built entire schools of mysticism upon it. Eight hundred years later, it is still in print. Yet for most Western readers, al-Buni's name is unknown. Until now. In The Sun of Knowledge, scholar Narin Hikma opens the doors of al-Buni's extraordinary world for the first time in English - revealing a complete, rigorous, and breathtaking science of the sacred: divine names, living letters, celestial mathematics, spiritual healing, and the Sufi path that underlies it all. Discover the mystical properties of the 99 Names of God and how each one carries a specific divine power accessible through focused practice
Understand the sacred mathematics of Islamic magic squares - and why al-Buni considered them windows into the structure of reality
Explore the deep Sufi theology that transforms al-Buni's "occult" science into one of the most profound spiritual systems ever devised
Trace the astonishing journey of his ideas from medieval North Africa across continents and centuries to the present day
Learn what this ancient wisdom offers the modern seeker - and why it has never been more relevant
This is not a book about magic tricks. It is a book about meaning - about one of history's greatest minds wrestling with the deepest question a human being can ask: What is the universe made of, and how can I live in harmony with it? For readers of Rumi, Ibn Arabi, and the esoteric traditions of the world's great religions - this is the book you've been waiting for.