Asrar-i Qasimi
Asrar-i Qasimi
Secrets of Qasim.
This is a Persian treatise on the 5 Occult Sciences, the initials of which form an acrostic of "Kulluhu Sirr" ("All Of It Is Mystery"):
Kimiya (alchemy)
Limiya (talismanic magic)
Himiya (spellcrafting / subjugation of souls)
Simiya (letter magic / producing visions)
Rimiya (conjuration, trickery)
The author was Husayn ibn Ali al-Kashifi (d. 910 AH / 1504 CE), also known as al-Wa'iz al-Bayhaqi. The date of composition was 907 AH / 1501 CE.
The Asrar-i Qasimi (Farsi) and the Shams al-Ma’arif (Arabic) are archetypal Occult Science literatures from the lands of Islam. According to the colophon, this book is the first complete copy that is also in the right order.
۩ Farsi, facsimile PDF eBook, 64 Megabytes, 110 pages - £7
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Note: The sample page images from the text, shown above, are of deliberately reduced quality
Haza Kitab-i 'Asrar-i Qasimi
dar 'Ilm-i Kimiya va Simiya va Rimiya va Limiya va Himiya
Min Ta'lifat Janab-i Mulla Husayn al-Kashifi
Bumbay: Mirza Muhammad Shirazi, 1302 [1885 CE]
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Seyyed Hossein Nasr explains what these secret sciences are in Chapter 9 of his Islamic Science: An Illustrated Study (World of Islam Festival Publishing Co., 1976):
"Besides the 'open' and 'accessible' sciences...the Islamic sciences include a category called the hidden (khafiyyah) or occult (gharíbah) sciences, which have always remained 'hidden', both in the content of their teachings and in the manner of gaining accessibility to them, because of their very nature...Although dozens in number, the occult sciences were classified in the famous compendium of Husayn ‘Alí Wá’iz al-Káshifí into the five sciences of kímiyá’ (alchemy), límiyá’ (magic), hímiyá’ (the subjugating of souls), símiyá’ (producing visions) and rímiyá’ (jugglery and tricks)…The texts on the occult sciences contain numerous other branches. Probably the most popular of the occult sciences was jafr, dealing with the numerical value of the letters of the Arabic alphabet and said to have been first cultivated by ‘Alí ibn Abí Tálib. It is used to this day for purposes ranging from interpreting the opening letters of the verses of the Holy Qur’án to casting evil spells. Almost as widespread is raml, or geomancy, which is said to have come down from the Prophet Daniel. Although it originally made use of pebbles of sand, special instruments were later devised with various squares and dots from which future events are prognosticated."
Husayn ibn Ali al-Kashifi apparently also compiled the Rawzat al-Shuhada (The Garden of Martyrs), about the martyrdom of Husayn, at the beginning of the Shi'ite Safavid dynasty in Iran (1501-1722 CE), the Anvar-e Suhayli (Lights of Canopus) - a translation of Pilpay's Fables in Persian, dedicated to Amir Shaikh Ahmad Suhayli, which till recent times was a standard work included in the curriculum of all the schools in the Muslim world - the Tafsir Husaini (a Qur'an commentary), Akhlaq Muhsini, Lubb-i Labab (an abridgement of Rumi's Mathnawi), plus many other books and treatises.
