Al-Buni’s great innovation—and what would later be called his transgression—was to map these divine names onto numbers, letters, celestial bodies, and even sounds. He argued that if you understood the hidden mathematical structure of God’s speech (the Qur’an), you could align yourself with the universe’s secret rhythms.
Al-Buni had ventured into ‘ilm al-huroof (the science of letters) and ‘ilm al-awfaq (the science of magical squares). He detailed how to summon spiritual entities—not angels, but mardat al-jinn (rebellious jinn) — by combining divine names in incorrect, forceful orders. One recipe read: “Write the isolated letters ‘Tā, Hā, Shīn’ on a shard of unbaked clay. Bury it at a crossroads under a waning moon. Recite the 72nd Name 41 times. A servant of the wind will appear. Do not blink.” This was not theology. It was theurgy—attempting to compel the unseen world. Mainstream Islam condemns this as shirk (associating partners with God), because it treats divine names as mere tools of power rather than objects of worship. the sun of knowledge (shams al-ma'arif) pdf
In the labyrinthine alleyways of Fez, Morocco, during the scorching summer of 1840, a young scholar named Idris stumbled upon a locked cedar chest in his late grandfather’s library. The old man, a respected talib (student of religious sciences), had whispered a warning on his deathbed: “Open the chest only if you are willing to carry a weight darker than lead.” He detailed how to summon spiritual entities—not angels,
Inside, wrapped in frayed silk, lay a single leather-bound manuscript. Its title, embossed in faded gold, read: Shams al-Ma‘arif wa Lata’if al-‘Awarif — Recite the 72nd Name 41 times
Idris slammed the door. He wrapped the Shams in its silk, replaced the lock on the chest, and buried the key in a cemetery at dawn. He never touched it again.
The Shams al-Ma‘arif was his masterwork. Part one is breathtakingly beautiful: a detailed guide to Tasawwuf (Sufism), meditation, and the purification of the soul. It explains how reciting certain divine names 1,000 times at dawn can open the heart’s eye. For centuries, mainstream scholars praised this half.