Noah Gardiner
University of South Carolina, Religious Studies, Faculty Member
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Manuscript Studies, Arabic, Medieval Islam, History of the Book, History of Anthropology, Mamluk Studies, and 49 moreActor Network Theory, Magic, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni, Sufism, Islamic History, Middle East History, Medieval Studies, Ayyubid history, History of the Mediterranean, Fatimids, Almohad Empire, Islamic Occult Sciences, Manuscripts of the Islamic Maghreb, Near Eastern Studies, Medieval Islamic History, Islamic Manuscripts, Medieval Magic, Occult Sciences in Islam, Islam and Magic, Kabbalah, Occult Sciences, Lettrism, Shi'ism, Tariqa Sufism, Dimitri Gutas, Islamic philosophy in the post-classical period, Arabic Manuscripts, Islamic Codicology, Arabic Codicology, Craft Guilds, Craft Guilds in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Medieval Prosopography, Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion), Cosmology, Islamic cosmology, Medieval Cosmology, Renaissance magic and astrology, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Ontological Turn, Bruno Latour, Philippe Descola, Cosmopolitics, New Materialism, History of Reading and Writing, Diagrammatic Reasoning, Almohads, Sultan II Bayezid, Jeanne Favret-Saada, and Jan Assmann edit
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Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of South Carolina.edit
This brief monograph is a close examination of the chapter dealing with the occult “science of letters and names” (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ) in the sixth faṣl of Ibn Khaldūn’s (d. 808/1406) famous al-Muqaddimah. It is argued that his... more
This brief monograph is a close examination of the chapter dealing with the occult “science of letters and names” (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ) in the sixth faṣl of Ibn Khaldūn’s (d. 808/1406) famous al-Muqaddimah. It is argued that his views on this Sufi occult discourse are best understood in light of a rising tide of interest in lettrism, other occult disciplines, and millenarianism among the learned classes of eighth/fourteenth century Cairo, especially at the court of his patron, the Mamluk sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Barqūq. On the basis of multiple recensions of the work, the text is approached as one that the author adapted over time according to his shifting personal situation and contentions with various interlocutors. Particular attention is paid to Süleymaniye MS Damad Ibrahim 863, the recension prepared for donation to Barqūq’s sultanal library. A critical edition of the chapter on lettrism as it appears in that manuscript is included, as well as a new translation of the chapter.
86 pages.
ISBN 978-3-86893-290-4.
Available from EB Verlag: https://www.ebv-berlin.de/epages/15494902.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/15494902/Products/%22ISBN%20978-3-86893-290-4%22
86 pages.
ISBN 978-3-86893-290-4.
Available from EB Verlag: https://www.ebv-berlin.de/epages/15494902.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/15494902/Products/%22ISBN%20978-3-86893-290-4%22
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Special double issue of Arabica, 64/3-4 (2017), 287-693
https://brill.com/view/journals/arab/64/3-4/arab.64.issue-3-4.xml
https://brill.com/view/journals/arab/64/3-4/arab.64.issue-3-4.xml
Research Interests:
Intellectual History, Ottoman History, Material Culture Studies, Renaissance Studies, History of Science, and 61 morePhysiognomy, Astrology, Alchemy, Mamluk Studies, Manuscript Studies, Ottoman Studies, Ibn Khaldun, Islamic Art, History of Astronomy, History of Astrology, Islamic Studies, Ottoman Empire, Islam, Timurids (Islamic History), History of Physiognomy, Western Esotericism (History), Occultism, Kabbalah, Talismanic Art, Empire, History of Islamic Astronomy, Material Culture, Islamic Intellectual History, Ibn Arabi, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni, Orientalism (Art History), Picatrix, Astronomy, Decolonial Thought, Arabic Manuscripts, Orientalism, Otherness, Imperialism, Esotericism, Western Esotericism, Positivism, Decolonization, Islamic Manuscripts, Occult Sciences, Islamic textiles, Mamluk Cairo, Oneiromancy, Occult Sciences in Islam, Philosopher-Kings, History of alchemy, Islamic Occult Sciences, Sultan II Bayezid, Timurid Iran, Whig History, History of Philosophy, Religion, Post-Religionism and Religioning’ in Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, Murad III, Brethren of Purity, Circle of Justice, Persian History of the Turko Mongol Period, Muqaddimah, Arabic Alchemy, Persianate Arts of the Book, New Brethren of Purity, Talismanic shirts, and Science, magic and religion
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Cosmology (Anthropology), Magic, Mysticism, Islamic Art, Islamic Studies, and 12 moreSufism, Islam, Islamic Mysticism, Islamic Intellectual History, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni, Medieval Magic, Arabic Manuscripts, Diagrams, Occult Sciences, philosophical Sufism (school of Ibn 'Arabi), Islamic Occult Sciences, and Islamic Occultism
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Mamluk Studies, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Islamic Esotericism, Islamic Intellectual History, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni, and 6 morephilosophical Sufism (school of Ibn 'Arabi), Islamic Occult Sciences, Islamic occult sources, Ottoman Intellectual History, Islamic Occultism, and Abd al-‐‑Rahman al-‐‑Bistami
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The Antiochene occultist, littérateur, and professional court intellectual ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bisṭāmī (d. 858/1454) is best known as someone whose writings influenced Ottoman thought and ideologies of rule during and beyond his lifetime.... more
The Antiochene occultist, littérateur, and professional court intellectual ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bisṭāmī (d. 858/1454) is best known as someone whose writings influenced Ottoman thought and ideologies of rule during and beyond his lifetime. It is argued here that al-Bisṭāmī’s writings shed important light on Mamlūk intellectual history as well, particularly regarding the rising interest in occultism in the Mamlūk cities of the late-fourteenth and fifteenth centuries—including at the court of the sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Barqūq. Attention is paid to al-Bisṭāmī’s major work on the occult “science of letters and names” (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-al-asmāʾ), Shams al-afaq fī ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-al-awfāq, which is approached as an “encyclopedic” work structurally reflective of major trends in Mamlūk thought and literature despite its seemingly obscure topic. The focus is on al-Bisṭāmī’s account of his initiation into the science of letters and names among various teachers in Cairo, Damascus, and Alexandria, and what this account reveals not only of the bustling occult scene in these cities, but also of broader changes that were afoot in Mamlūk learned society, especially with regard to issues of manuscript culture.
Research Interests:
Religion, Ottoman History, Magic, Islamic Philosophy, Mamluk Studies, and 23 moreOttoman Studies, Islamic Studies, Sufism, Mamluk History, Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion), Occultism, Mamluks (Islamic History), Encyclopedism, Religious Studies, History of Arabic Science. Islamic Instruments. Astronomy under the Mamluks, Islamic Manuscripts, Arabic/Persian Manuscripts, codicology, Islamic philosophy, early Islamic history and thoughts, Mamluk Cairo, Cosmopolitan Sufism & Religiosity, philosophical Sufism (school of Ibn 'Arabi), Medieval Encyclopedia, Islamic Occult Sciences, Intellctual and social history of the Mamluk Period, Mamluk Literature, The Mamluk Sultanate, Ottoman Intellectual History, Islamic Occultism, and Religious and Magical Practices
The Ifrīqiyan cum Cairene Sufi Aḥmad al-Būnī (d. ca 622/1225 or 630/1232-1233) is a key figure in the history of the Islamicate occult sciences, particularly with regard to the " science of letters and names " (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ).... more
The Ifrīqiyan cum Cairene Sufi Aḥmad al-Būnī (d. ca 622/1225 or 630/1232-1233) is a key figure in the history of the Islamicate occult sciences, particularly with regard to the " science of letters and names " (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ). Drawing on textual and manuscript evidence, this paper examines the role of esotericism—religious secrecy and exclusivity—in al-Būnī's thought and in the promulgation and early circulation of his works in Egypt and environs. It is argued that al-Būnī intended his works only for elite Sufi initiates, and that, in the century or so after his death, they indeed circulated primarily in " esotericist reading communities, " groups of learned Sufis who guarded their contents from those outside their own circles. This tendency toward esotericism, and the eventual exposure of al-Būnī's texts to a wider readership, are contextualized in relation to broader developments in late-medieval Mediterranean culture. Résumé Le soufi ifrīqiyien puis cairote Aḥmad al-Būnī (m. ca 622/1225 ou 630/1232-1233) est une figure clef de l'histoire des sciences occultes islamiques, en particulier en ce qui concerne la « science des lettres et des noms » (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ). En s'appuyant sur des données textuelles et manuscrites, cet article examine le rôle de l'ésotérisme—
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The Ifrīqiyan cum Cairene Sufi Aḥmad al-Būnī is a key figure in the history of the Islamic occult sciences, particularly with regard to the “science of letters and names” (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ). This paper examines his lettrist... more
The Ifrīqiyan cum Cairene Sufi Aḥmad al-Būnī is a key figure in the history of the Islamic occult sciences, particularly with regard to the “science of letters and names” (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ). This paper examines his lettrist treatise Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt fī al-ḥurūf al-ʿulwīyāt (The Subtleties of the Allusions regarding the Superior Letters) to argue that parts of it amount to an esotericist unveiling of the hidden realities underlying “profane” astrology. In doing so al-Būnī identifies the world-shaping efflux of forces from the celestial spheres with the continuous flow of the letters of God’s creative speech, and implies a central role for Sufi saints and adepts in mediating these astral-lettristic radiations, adding a uniquely occult-scientific twist to views deeply embedded in Sufi tradition of the saints as key executors of God’s word and will on earth. In the conclusion, al-Būnī’s approach to astrology is discussed as part of a transconfessional wave of esotericism in the late-medieval Mediterranean, one that heralded shifting ideas about the order of nature and the relationship between divine and human agency.
Keywords:
Al-Būnī, astrology, esotericism, occultism, science of letters, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Arabic manuscripts, Kabbalah, 13th century, Mediterranean, intellectual history
Keywords:
Al-Būnī, astrology, esotericism, occultism, science of letters, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Arabic manuscripts, Kabbalah, 13th century, Mediterranean, intellectual history
Research Interests:
Intellectual History, Astrology, Mamluk Studies, Ayyubid history, Islamic Studies, and 19 moreSufism, Islamic History, Astral Magic, Intellectual and cultural history, Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion), Witchcraft, Religion and Magic, Islamic Intellectual History, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni, Medieval Magic, Arabic Manuscripts, Renaissance magic and astrology, Islamic Manuscripts, Islamic intellectual history, medieval political thought,Islamic philosophy and mysticism, Cosmopolitan Sufism & Religiosity, Astral Magic, Medieval Astrology and Magic, Sufisme, Islamic Occult Sciences, Islamic Occultism, and Religious and Magical Practices
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This roundtable brings together contributions from nine senior, mid-career and junior scholars who work on the history of science in pre-1800 Islamicate societies.
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The online home of the international workshop Islamic Occult Studies on the Rise. https://islamicoccult.org
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Astrology, Alchemy, Kalam (Islamic Theology), Islamic Studies, Sufism, and 11 morePersianate Sufism, Islamic History, Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion), Occultism, Medieval Islamic History, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Occult Sciences, History of Islamic science, Occult Sciences in Islam, Islamic Occult Sciences, and Islamic Occultism
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Medieval History, Manuscript Studies, Medieval Islam, Sufism, Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion), and 11 moreKabbalah, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni, Arabic Manuscripts, Islamic Manuscripts, Occult Sciences, philosophical Sufism (school of Ibn 'Arabi), Islamic Occult Sciences, Al Buni, Lettrism, Islamic occult sources, and Islamic Occultism
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islamicoccult.org