Jinn

jinni

 or genie plural jinn

In Arabic mythology, any of the supernatural spirits less powerful than angels or devils. Evil spirits of air or fire, they could take animal or human form and could dwell in inanimate objects or under the earth. They had the bodily needs of human beings and could be killed but were otherwise free of physical restraints. Jinn delighted in punishing humans for any harm done to them, but people who knew the proper magical procedure could exploit them to their own advantage. The jinn were popular subjects for folklore, notably in the tale of Aladdin in The Thousand and One Nights.

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jinn

(genii) class of demon assuming animal/human form. [Arab. Myth.: Benét, 13, 521]

See : Demon

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Jinn

(Arabic, literally “spirit”), in the Koran a fantastic substance created by Allah from pure, smokeless fire. There are two types of jinns: those converted to Islam that do good deeds and those that are faithless deluders of people and bearers of disease. According to believers, jinns are capable of assuming various forms and living inside of people, animals, and plants. The concept of the jinn existed in pre-Islamic Arabic pagan mythology. With the spread of Islam, belief in jinns became partially incorporated into other peoples’ beliefs (for example, the Persians).