Excerpt for Epistles of the Brethren of Purity

Excerpt for Epistles of the Brethren of Purity

This passage shows that jinn--despite western conceptions of daemonic characters--are not always good or bad. This gives us clues to the Arabic attitude towards the supernatural, suggesting that they see the supernatural world as morally complex, and filled with morally complex characters.

From Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa

Tenth century CE/Fourth century AH

Arabic translated to English

“The leaders and the learned among the animals went to see the wise Byorasp, king of the good jinn on the island, who then summoned the humans as well. Byorasp was a fair, generous, and tolerant king, hospitable to strangers and merciful to the beleaguered.”