Abstract
<jats:p>Ahmad al-Buni al-Malki (Arabic: أحمد البوني المالكي, d. 1225) was a medieval Islamic Sufi philosopher and mathematician. In addition to his mathematical works, he wrote on ilm al-huruf (Arabic: علم الحروف, the esoteric meaning of letters), sihr (Arabic: سحر “magic”), and a number of religious issues. Above all, Ahmad al-Buni is known as the author of one of the most important books of his era, “Shams al-Ma’arif”, considered as an iconic work on talismans and fortune telling in the Arab world. This article is an attempt of the analysis of “Shams al-Ma’arif”, focusing on talismans and charms, many of which are still used in everyday life in Arab societies, the latter being also traced in social media. It is also noteworthy that popular tradition erroneously attributes talismanic texts to Ahmad al-Buni that do not belong to the author, which points to his authority as a key figure in Islamic esoteric literature.</jats:p>