Created from smokeless fire before the creation of humans, Iblis stood among the angels in station through his devotion. When God created Adam from clay and commanded prostration, Iblis refused, claiming superiority by nature of his origin. He was cursed and cast out, but was granted respite until the Day of Judgment.
Has no fixed form. Described in some traditions as beautiful before his fall, now monstrous — but most accounts emphasize his invisibility and ability to approach from any direction unseen.
Whispers directly into the hearts of humans. Commands legions of lesser jinn and shayatin. Can appear in dreams. Approaches from front, behind, right, and left simultaneously. Cannot be seen by ordinary perception.
Weaknesses
- mantraAudhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim
Wards
- mantraReciting Ayat al-Kursi (Quran 2:255)
- ritualAblution (wudu)
Djinn
The class of supernatural beings created from smokeless fire in Islamic cosmology — a parallel civilization to humanity, capable of belief or unbelief, with their own prophets, society, and judgment before God.
Shaitan
A class of corrupted djinn who follow Iblis and dedicate themselves to leading humans astray — distinct from Iblis himself, the Shayatin are a species of evil djinn who whisper doubts and temptations into the minds of the living.
Jann
The weakest class of djinn in Islamic tradition, associated with desert winds and taking the form of snakes or whirlwinds, dwelling in empty wilderness and posing little threat to those who know the proper invocations.
Sila
The master shapeshifters among the djinn — female trickster beings of great power who can assume any form with perfect fidelity and are regarded as the most treacherous class because their disguises are impossible to detect.
Nasnas
A half-human djinn creature of Arab folklore — possessing only half a face, one arm, one leg, and half a torso — descended from the union of a shaitan and a human, moving by leaping and highly dangerous to encounter.
Ifrit
One of the most powerful classes of jinn in Islamic and pre-Islamic Arab tradition — a fire-born being of immense strength and cunning, capable of great works of engineering and terrible violence.
Marid
The most powerful class of jinn in Islamic tradition — beings of the sea, associated with the deep ocean, storms, and the granting of wishes at terrible cost. The classic genie of the Arabian Nights.
Community Record
- [1]The Quran. Surah Al-Baqarah 2:34; Surah Al-Araf 7:11-18; Surah Al-Hijr 15:28-44literary
- [2]Satan and Sovereignty: Iblis in Islamic Thought. Awn, Peter J. 1983. Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology. Brill.academic