The great Mystic was also superstitious. Some of his books deal with magical formulæ taken from the Koran and the medicinal use of its text or of the names of God. One of the most celebrated magic squares used on amulets, etc., is called the “Square of Al-Ghazali” or _Al-Buduh_. It may interest in conclusion to give an account of this form of magic, approved by Al-Ghazali, because it is one of the things by which he is best known among the masses in the world of Islam. In the older Arabic books on magic this formula plays a comparatively minor part; but after it was taken up by Al-Ghazali and cited in his _Munkidh_ (pp. 46 and 50 of ed. of Cairo, 1303) as an inexplicable, but certain assistance in cases of difficult labour, it came to be universally known as “the three-fold talisman, or seal, or table of Al-Ghazali” (_al-wakf_, _al-khatam_, _al-jadwal_, _al-muthallath lil-Ghazali_) and finally has become the starting point for the whole “Science of Letters” (_ʿIlm ul-huruf_) (_e. g._, Cf. Al-Buni’s Shems ul Muʿarif, A. H. 622). Al-Ghazali is said to have developed the formula, under divine inspiration (_ilham_), from the combinations of letters which open Suras xix. and xlii. of the Koran, and which by themselves are also used as talismans.[55] Others trace the formula back to Adam, from whom it passed down to Al-Ghazali.[56] For the popular mind _Buduh_ has become a Jinn whose services can be secured by writing his name either in letters or numbers. The uses of the word are most varied to invoke both good and bad fortune. It is used against menorrhagia, against pains in the stomach, to render oneself invisible, against temporary impotence, etc. Lane’s Cairo magician also used it with his ink mirror (“Modern Egyptians,” chap. xii.). We find the same in magical treatises. It is also engraved upon jewels and metal plates or rings which are carried as permanent talismans, and it is inscribed at the beginning of books as a preservative. But by far the most common use is to ensure the arrival of letters and packages.[57] No letter from one pious Moslem to another is ever posted in the Near East without putting the figure 8642 in Arabic on the outside of the envelope where it is sealed. And one may see thousands of children in Egypt who have never heard of Al-Ghazali and cannot read the letters of his name wearing his magic square on lead or silver amulet to protect them from the hideous power of the Child-Witch (Um-as-Subyan). In the Azhar University men study his creed but in the villages they follow his credulity and to all the _fellahin_ of Egypt _Buduh_ has become a guardian Angel! +---+---+---+ | 4 | 9 | 2 | +---+---+---+ | 3 | 5 | 7 | +---+---+---+ | 8 | 1 | 6 | +---+---+---+ Each letter stands for the number as indicated. +---+---+---+ | ‎‏د‏‎ | ‎‏ط‏‎ | ‎‏ب‏‎ | +---+---+---+ | ‎‏ج‏‎ | ‎‏ه‏‎ | ‎‏ز‏‎ | +---+---+---+ | ‎‏ح‏‎ | ‎‏ا‏‎ | ‎‏و‏‎ | +---+---+---+ VI His Writings