What You Should Know About the Shams Al-Ma’arif

Indeed, the Shams al-Ma’arif (شمس المعارف) book has been considered one of the most contentious Arabic books that occupy the space of history. This book is in itself a grimoire, which explores the magic in the context of demons, angels and other spirits. However, the contentions about this particular text spring up from two different points, which will be explored.

The Exact Author of the Text

While it is widely accepted that the authorial figure for this text is Ahmed Al-Boni, others want to think of it quite differently. There have been authorities that have debated the fact that Al-Boni is the author of the text, simply because there is a wide time gap between the death of Al-Boni and the first original publication of the text. In lieu of this, there have been other names that have credited with authoring this text. Most popular of such names is Abdul Qader Al-Husseini. This has become an issue of contention, as there is no figure that is totally agreed on as the author, even though it is widely accepted that Al-Boni is.

Textual Originality

Another major ground of contests is whether or not the general public has access to the original of the real text published. This is because it is upheld by a school of thought that this publication is presumably banned and locked up somewhere by the British Library of books. The Shams al-Ma’arif (شمس المعارف) is believed to have been placed in hidden vaults. Hence, what is accessible to the public, can only be a façade.

Even though the Muslims do not practice magic, this book has been said to occupy a great deal of influence in the Arab world at the time. Hence, there has been a wide circulation of the proposed text, as well as consumption by a wide audience all over the world. The text is believed to be science, just as it is spiritual. Hence, it shows how a combination of letters and numbers can help gain access to the realms of magic, as well as the realm of spirits. The text is also produced in two different volumes of unnumbered chapters. One is recognized as the Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra, while the other is recognized as the Shams al-Ma'arif al-Sughra. The first stated volume is the larger one.

While there are different schools of thought of what the text is and what it isn’t, it is good that a good researcher and reader makes use of reliable online sources to gather what the facts really are. There are websites that do well to explore the historical facts of both suggested authors, as well as the influence of this work, has had over the people at the time of the initial publication. This is one way to know the facts and dismiss the farce.