The Arabic magic is a mysterious occult science with a complex history. Coming from the exotic lands of the Orient and described in the tales of 1001 Nights, it remains shrouded in secrecy to present days. Although it is closely related to Islam and its mystical branches, its roots can be traced to the pagan beliefs of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations. Subsequently developed and practiced by the Chaldeans, Sabean, and Nabataeans, who were called “stars worshipers” and were considered the wisest of their time. Pre-Islamic beliefs paid homage to many deities who were closely related to the seven celestial bodies. With the advent of Islam, some of these beliefs were lost or destroyed, and others were incorporated and absorbed by various early Islamic religious and spiritual cults. The great development of these occult teachings took place in the Middle Ages with the flourishing of Islamic culture, when remarkable and famous philosophers, scholars, and sages, including Al-Buni, Ibn Arabi, Al-Biruni, and Al-Ghazali, wrote and transcribed in Arabic numerous magical treatises and works with esoteric knowledge, astronomy, astrology, philosophy, and a number of other sciences for their students and the future generations. Some of them were translated into Latin, and a small part of these teachings passed into the Western occultism. From the whole blend of magical beliefs, spiritual and religious-philosophical teaching later is formed a complex system of rites and magical practices which in the Middle Eastern world is called with the generic term Rouhaniya that means Spirituality, and this term is used to denominate the Arabic magic. Among the initiates, it is also called Simiya or Ilm al-Hikma “Knowledge of Wisdom”. Those who practice these teachings are called mukarribun or “seekers of Divine closeness.” In the occult Western traditions, this...
