Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá : manuscriptشمس المعارف الكبرى : مخطوطةBūnī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, -1225بوني، أحمد بن علي، -12251874.araShams al-maʻārif al-kubrá (Larger Sun of knowledge), by Abū al-ʻAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī al-Būnī (died 1225), a well-known Ṣufī scholar from the city of Būnah (Bône), now ʻAnnābah (Annaba, Algeria), who died in Cairo. This work is designated "al-kubrá" (the larger) to distinguish it from the author's two other treatises: "al-wusṭá"́ (the middle) and "al-ṣughrá" (the smaller). It is also listed in the text under the title "Shams al-maʻārif wa-laṭāʼif al-ʻawārif" (Sun of knowledge and intricacies of diviners), a treatise on magic, alchemy, astrology, divination, Islamic occultism, the name of God (including 'al-Asmāʼ al-Ḥusná', the 99 beautiful names of God), the magical use of the Arabic Alphabet, and talismans. The present work is a lithographed edition, printed from an original copy from India, in four parts, as follows: al-Juzʼ al-awwal (Part one: Pages 1-132), al-Juzʼ al-thānī (Part two: pages 1-116), al-Juzʼ al-thālith (Part three: pages 1-124), al-Juzʼ al-rābiʻ (Part four: Pages 1-148), followed by an index of contents for the four parts (Pages 1-7). The work was printed on 20 Shawwāl, 1291 of the Hijrah (30 November, 1874). Place and name of the printer not mentionedIn Arabic.Title from cover.Romanization supplied by cataloger.Incipit: "Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. Shahādat azal, fa-min nūr hādhihi al-shahādah ightarafa al-muṣannifūn ʻilman. Fa-ifham dhālik. Wa-al-tartīb al-abadī fī al-shahādatayn al-muttaṣilatayn bi-al-malāʼikah al-kirām. Wa-awwal al-ʻilm fa-hādhihi shahādat al-abad. Fa-man fahima sirr hātayn al-shahādatayn shāhad al-malakūtayn wa-mā awdaʻāhu bi-sirr al-ittiṣāl bi-al-kashfīyāt ..."Secundo folio: Ammā baʻd, fa-lil-ḥaqq aʻlām.16.5 x 23.5 cm; written surface: 12 x 20 cm; 31 lines per page.Binding: In green cardboard cover and dark brown paper on the spine.In naskh script, in black ink, on white paper; many illustrations and magic squares; text within double frames; catchwords. At the head of the opening page of each of the four parts is a decorative design.On cover: "Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá", printed in silver.On page 1 of al-Juzʼ al-awwal: "Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá wa-laṭāʼif al-ʻawārif, fī arbaʻat ajzāʼ, lil-Quṭb al-Imām Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī al-Būnī, wa-bi-nihāyat al-arbaʻat kutub, [al-kutub] al-ātiyah: 1. Kitāb Mīzān al-ʻadl fī maqāṣid aḥkām al-raml. 2. Kitāb Fawātiḥ al-raghāʼib fī khuṣūṣīyāt awqāt al-kawākib. 3. Kitāb Zahr al-murūj fī dalāʼil al-burūj. 4. Kitāb Laṭāʼif al-ishārah fī khaṣāʼiṣ al-kawākib al-sayyārah." "Maṭbūʻ ʻalá al-nuskhah al-Hindīyah al-aṣlīyah." These four books are not included in this codex and seem to serve as an advertisement for works to follow.al-Juzʼ al-thānī (Part two), starts with: "al-Faṣl al-khāmis ʻashar. Fī al-shurūṭ al-lāzimah li-baʻḍ dūna baʻḍ fī al-bidāyāt wa-al-nihāyāt."al-Juzʼ al-thālith (Part three), starts, after al-Basmalah, with: "al-Faṣl al-ḥādī wa-al-ʻishrūn. Fī Asmāʼ Allāh al-Ḥusná, wa-anmāṭihā, wa-mā li-kull namaṭ min al-daʻawāt."al-Juzʼ al-rābiʻ (Part four), starts, after al-Basmalah, with: "al-Faṣl al-thāmin wa-al-thalāthūn. Fī istikhdāmāt al-ḥurūf wa-khalawātihā."Colophon: "Tamma Kitāb Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá lil-Imām al-Būnī fī ʻishrīn min Shawwāl, sanat 1291 Hijrīyah. Wa-lammā kādat shams ṭabʻihā tabzughu lil-ṭulūʻ arrakhahā baʻḍ al-madmīyīn [al-mādiḥīn] bi-qawlihi, shiʻr [in Ḥisāb al-jummal (Alphabetical reckoninig)]: ... Wa-fīhā ará al-tārīkh jāda bi-qawlihi // yufīdu al-amānī ṭabʻu Shams al-maʻārif. Sanat 1291."Translation of the colophon: "The book 'Shams al-maʻārif al-kubrá' of al-Imām al-Būnī was completed on 20 Shawwal, 1291 of the Hijrah [30 November, 1874]. When the sun of its printing started to rise, someone praised it and mentioned the date of printing, in verse [using Ḥisāb al-jummal "Alphabetical reckoning"], saying: ... In it I see the date, saying generously: The printing of Shams al-maʻarif satisfies the wishes. The year 1291."