Legends of the Fire Spirits Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar

by Lebling, Robert; Shah, Tahir

• ISBN13: 9781582436326
• ISBN10: 1582436320
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-08
• Publisher: Counterpoint

Summary

Supernatural, shape-shifting, intelligent, and blessed with free will and remarkable powers, jinn have over the ages been given many names-demon, spirit, ghoul, genie, ifrit, and shaitan. Neither human nor immortal, they roam the earth inhabiting dark and empty places, luring humans to their deaths or demonically possessing them if harmed or offended. Despite the fact they cannot be seen, jinn are said to be strangely humanlike-marrying, bearing children, forming communities and tribes, playing, and facing judgment like any other human.

Author Biography

Robert Lebling has lived and worked as a journalist in Egypt, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and is the author (with Donna Pepperdine) of Natural Remedies of Arabia. Married with two daughters, he is currently a writer and communications specialist based in Saudi Arabia.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xv
Notes on Transliteration	p. xvii
Introduction: The Nature of Jinn	p. 1
Origins	p. 7
Islam	p. 17
Early Legends	p. 24
Historical Encounters	p. 48
Al-Andalus	p. 48
Spirits of the Middle Ages	p. 53
Jinn in the Fihrist	p. 58
Genius or Jinn-Master?	p. 59
By Their Deeds: Jinn Behaviour	p. 64
Amid Ancient Ruins	p. 65
Human Possession and Exorcism	p. 72
Jinn Hauntings	p. 77
Jinn and Illness	p. 81
'The Condemned System'	p. 82
Abductions and Trials	p. 88
Shifting Shapes	p. 94
Jinn Living	p. 101
Sex and Marriage	p. 110
Jinn Geography	p. 115
Arabia: The Heartland	p. 115
Iraq: 'Pandemonium'	p. 127
Harran: The 'North'	p. 131
Palestine: Underground	p. 135
Syria: The Red King's Daughter	p. 143
Egypt: Ifrits and Ghouls	p. 148
Morocco: The 'Masters'	p. 159
Tunisia: Air, Sea and Land	p. 174
Turkey: Out of the Forest	p. 181
Iran: 'The Holy Jinn'	p. 185
Kurds: Children of the Jinn	p. 192
South Asia: Coat of Many Colours	p. 194
Zanzibar and Beyond: Spreading the Wealth	p. 203
Nigeria: 'Children of Jangare'	p. 207
Malays: Jinn in the Jungle	p. 210
Cultural Echoes	p. 216
How I Met the Ghul	p. 216
The Arabian Nights	p. 218
Southey's Genii	p. 227
Hugo's 'jinn'	p. 232
The Mystery of Ishmonia	p. 236
Arab Folktales	p. 239
Appendices
Edward Lane's Notes on the Jinn	p. 245
Muhammad Asad on the Jinn	p. 256
Jinn Physics	p. 259
Notes	p. 265
References	p. 289
Index	p. 297
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