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

by Robert W. Lebling, Tahir Shah (Foreword)

When Westerners think of a genie, the first image that comes to mind may be Barbara Eden in her pink harem pants or the illuminated blue buffoon from the animated Disney film Aladdin . But to the people of the Arab and Islamic worlds, the picture is dramatically different. Legends of the Fire Spirits looks beyond Westernized caricatures to immerse the reader in the vibrant lore of the jinn—the wondrous, often troublesome, and sometimes terrifying spirit beings of ancient Arab and Islamic tradition.

Robert Lebling delves into long-lost accounts, medieval histories, colonial records, anthropologist’s reports, and traveler’s tales to explore the origin and evolution of legends that continue to thrive in the Middle East and beyond. He cuts through centuries of Orientalists’ cultural presumption to craft a study that stands apart from the overwhelming body of literature concerned with religion in the Middle East.

A captivating synthesis of history and folklore, this is the most diverse collection of jinn lore ever assembled in one volume. From ancient scriptures to The Arabian Nights and beyond, and with a foreword by acclaimed filmmaker Tahir Shah, Lebling has constructed a comprehensive account that not only transcends geographical borders but also spans some four millennia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mythology, History, Folklore, Research, Religion, Islam

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Steve Cran · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are only two books written about the Djinn that are widely available for Western audiences . This book and another called “The Vengeful Djinn” . I am going to recommend that you read this book. Robert Lelbling tackles the subject of the Djiin both in-depth and broadly. This book goes into the history of the Djin that predates Islam. The author covers the demons and spirituality of the civilizations that came before The Muslim Arab civilization. Such cultures would include Mesopotamians , Hebrews, Egyptians, Greek and Romans. The book also surveys a wide array of Islamic countries where the Djin have been know to appear.. Every Muslim country in North Africa, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Jordan Arabia , Yemen, Nigeria and Zanzibar all have Djinn stories.

The origin of the Djin predates Islam and were thought to have been started uder the Sumerians who believed in their share of night Demons. When the Chaldeans from the Arabian peninsula took over they brought with them an even deeper belief of Demons.
The Mesopotamians believed in lilin or night demons that drained the blood of humans and fornicated with them. This is where Lilith arose from. Another demon discussed was Pazuzu the demon of the south west wind. With him came disease and pestilence. The Djin are made of hot wind or smokeless fire. Their bodies are not dense like ours. Angels are made of light while we humans are made of clay.

Demonology went even further with Greeks and Romans who believed that everyone had a daimon that was for good and a daimon that was for bad. In Islam this translated to a Quarin for males and Quarina for females. Quarinas also cause discord between husband and wife and function much like Lilith did. The Romans also believed in Gennii or Genus that was in charge of watching an area. The Djion to watch areas. Some Djin live underground while others hover in the air. Many live in cave, latrines, graveyard and other desolate places.

There are several types of Djinm. Ghouls are flesh eaters and raid grave yards at night. They are also known to marry men. Shaitans are the offspring of Iblis. Ifrits stay with a person like a guardian angel and feed off blood. THE worst Djin are the Marids, who hate humans with a passion.

As noted before the Djin used to have control over the earth until God created man which everyone ws supposed to worship except that Iblis and the Djin would not have it. The Djin were driven from the planet by the angels and only a few remnants of them were left behind. Later on they formed a resistance on an island. Iblis lead them and changed his name to Azazil.

There are some good Djin that try to help people and who believe in Islam. THera re some that are Jews and Christians . In Andalusia they were knows for protecting Sufi saints and giving knowledge to people like Paracelsus and Pope Sylvester.. The book delineates some herbs like Dragon’s Blood and Asfoetida that help keep the Djinn away.
If you are interested in learning about the Djin and from knowledgeable Middle eastern sources then this is your book. No New Age hooey.

[Sharon Buchbinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book at the recommendation of a friend who knew of Mr. Lebling's ongoing research in this topic. As an author in the paranormal romance genre, I am always searching for solid works that will serve as resources for my fiction. Mr. Lebling's book did not disappoint in this goal. In fact, he cost me a lot more money in books (in a very good way) because this book is so well researched and well-referenced that I wanted his source materials, too. Mr. Lebling has provided an open-minded look into cross cultural phenomena. His treatment of the origins of the legends in middle eastern countries, as well as ethnic, religious and gender issues is sensitive, thoughtful and analytical. I applaud Mr. Lebling for making a significant contribution to the Jinn literature and to enlightening those of us who have little knowledge of the topic.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a detailed history of jinn and not the Robin Williams Hollywood version. Lebling is engaging and discusses many different sources while looking carefully at the stories. The book is full of interesting facts. The only draw back is that towards the end, it starts feeling like a list.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

The Hand of Fatima, shown painted on a house wall in Algeria, is a powerful charm and sacred symbol used in Arab and Muslim lands to protect the innocent from evil jinn or demons and from the effects of the ‘evil eye’. It symbolises generosity, hospitality, power and divine providence. As a whole, the hand represents the Muslim Holy Family: the thumb stands for the Prophet Muhammad, the index finger his daughter Fatima, the second finger her husband Ali, and the third and fourth fingers their sons Hassan and Hussein respectively.

[Azeezur Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable book and a definite must read for anyone interested about the Djinn. The book has so much information it is often times quite difficult to get one's head around it all, however, if read slowly and with a bit of thought - it's great.

[Hamza Sarfraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good read. A well-researched survey of Jinn mythology and its deeper connection to the socio-cultural milieu of the Islamic world.

[Jowel Uddin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legends Of The Fire Spirits:
Jinn And Genies From Arabia to Zanzibar
Book Review

To the Western half of the world, the creatures are known as genies –friendly, out of lamps, and wish granters. To the remaining part of the world, the same creatures are known as jinns –at times horrifying creatures much like demons or ghosts. Jinns and genies are one and the same and are evident throughout literature, film, and throughout cultures. Jinns are found in the realms of Islam as they were created before humans with a smokeless fire and have supernatural powers such as invisibility. Due to their rejection of Allah, they were ridden out by angels and humans were then put on Earth.

Now that the introduction of jinns has been covered in the earlier paragraph, there is much to say about Lebling's work. The work is extensively researched and this is evident due to the scholarly support or research provided by Lebling for all of his comments. The accounts are the interesting part of the book and the book gives justice to jinns. It accounts for the benevolent and malicious side of jinns, which was quite a revelation to me. Before this –even being a Muslim –I did not know that some jinns were believers of faiths and actually had lives. It was interesting how jinns are visible all around the world, even in parts where Islam isn't currently dominant, such as Spain. Even Europeans have noticed jinns such as Victor Hugo, the French novelist. The book covers jinns from around the world from Bangladesh in Southwest Asia to Spain and of course the Middle East. At times the text was frightening yet very hard to put down.


Lebling's work covers many interesting and intriguing facts about jinns or djinns and is a pleasure to read. At times it was frustrating as I would get scared and would need to put the book down for a few minutes and go find people to sit next to. The most frightening of all the stories were the ones about jinns abducting people and especially about jinns kidnapping children and replacing them with jinn children –especially in Egypt. The stories from Bangladesh about the benevolent jinns were neat as they depicted jinns as kind and perhaps even admirable creatures rather than malicious creatures who abducted humans and who possessed humans. Lebling's work has an underling message that there is a flip side to the world or duality. Like all things in life, jinns too are affected by duality. Some are disgusting, grotesque creatures who only wreck havoc. Others are benevolent, helpful, have faith, and live their lives much like us –with kids and wives. Overall, Lebling's book is a great read for those who love the supernatural and scary and even those who are virgins to the ultra frightening realm of jinns.

[Gavin White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I am very interested in this subject, this book didn't grab me in any way. It could easily have been 100 pages shorter and better for it. There is some useful information here but after a while it all seemed to be repeating itself.
The book would certainly be improved with some illustrations and a few maps to show the distribution of the tales. However my greatest criticism is that there was no analysis of the material presented nor any research into the origins of the Jinn.
Even a quick overview of the types of Jinn you get and their geographical distribution would have helped and added a deeper perspective to the material.
As far as I am concerned there is still plenty of scope for an author to write a first class book on this fascinating subject.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extensive look at the lore.

Discusses the oldest known lore from the region, the history, the patterns of behavior, and the regional beliefs. All sorts of things -- jinn belong to every religion that humans belong to, and some Muslims use crosses to ward off Christian jinn, and "Passover biscuit" to ward off Jewish ones; Egyptians identifying ghosts as jinn, and having one that exactly matches a description of Set; how jinn fear wolves; and a lot more.

Sometimes draws analogies between jinn and other folklore, but some you just have to know. (The midwife who got the kohl for the baby's eyes on one of her own, and so lost that eye later when she betrayed that she could see jinn.)

Concludes with some literary accounts and modern day tales.

[Shakalery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar

Robert Lebeling
Foreword by Tahir Shah

Great book to read
Found great material on the life of jinns their origins and their background
Jinns, angels and Stories from the time of HAzrat Solomon
The origins of Jinns from Iblees till now and their types

You will found it great helpfull if you want to know more about jinns, fire spirits

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting, scholarly book about everything related to jinn/genies. This book covers the nature of jinn, their origins (before and during Islam), jinn behaviors, types of jinn, historical encounters, locations and jinn in cultural contexts. No "new-agey", fluffy stuff.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good exploration of legends of the djinn.

[Julia Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique book that draws together and comments upon the stories and legends of Fire Spirits (Jinn and Genie). Very readable and a comprehensive study of the legends.

[Magnus Stanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I needed in terms of Jinn research for my new book. Expertly written, easy to read and full of pertinent information this is highly recommendable.
Great stuff

[Katrinka]

Interesting review of folklore, but I kept getting tripped up on beliefs/practices described as happening "today" that make reference to materials written in the 1930s—and on how weird it is that "man/mankind" was still being used in 2010 to refer humans/humanity.

[P · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are very few books on this topic so I'm glad this book exists. The author not only includes notes from medieval Islamic texts but also narrates interesting anecdotes from other modern texts written by British authors. Some of the tales are downright creepy, especially the one about the origins of El Ghouleh, the driver who was struck dumb by the female jinn in the desert, and the tale of the Bangladeshi student in the UK. The author delves deep into the types of jinns which I found fascinating. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in Arabian folklore.

[Amy Softa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently developed an interest in learning more about Jinn or Genies and picked up this book in order to satisfy some of that curiosity and use as reference in the future. On the whole I liked the book and it had a lot of useful information, coming to the subject with little for knowledge outside of Hollywood that is, but there were a couple problems I had with the book. Still I think if you are researching the topic, this is a book you should look into.

I found this book was very useful in helping to separate how all the different cultures that have Jinn in their folklore differ and how they influence each other. I also had not realized how many of these cultures continue to believe and have recent accounts of Jinn in modern-day. There is a lot of interesting insight as to Jinn origins and the common themes about the being that are present in most cultures. The very end, in one of the appendix the author even goes into how Jinn might be explained scientifically, this section I wish had been given more page time or even its own chapter.

My issues with the book. Too much repetition and it felt like he was going off topic sometimes. The names were also awful, while I am sure they are culturally accurate, they were difficult to understand and keep track of. Most of the time I just ended up glossing over them and it make everything quite confusing. The book was also a little dry, this might just be me though… I’m normally a fiction reader and sometimes I found myself getting bored, especially when it felt like the author was repeating stories of information we already knew. Still I am surprised at how quickly I read the book, most of the time non-fiction is a struggle for me unless it is a topic I am extremely fascinated by.

Good reference book, left wanting more though. Would have been nice to have a section on pop culture’s influence on the Jinn legends for comparison, to see how accurate or inaccurate Hollywood has represented the beings. Still I think it served as a good starting point. Will be reading more on the topic.

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of Jinn the Islamic world.

There were two main things that lost me.

The first was the deluge of Arabic names and titles. A background in Arabic would be helpful here.

Lebling usually used primary sources and this is good but would all too often rely on hearsay. It would be difficult to document some folklore certainly, but to rely on second hand information is difficult to accept.

With the above said this work would be helpful to the general reader interested in the subject. The notes detail sources for anyone interested in digging in more deeply.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched, well written, it is a great source of information on all things jinn.
The sheer volume of information is amazing but it can occasionally make a bit dry. For me the bigger issue is the repetitiveness of the information - I believe that the author anticipated that some readers would skip to particular chapters/sections so he repeated many facts many times.
Overall these issues are minor and regardless of whether it is read cover to cover or piecemeal, it is an excellent reference.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good on the whole. It has a wealth of ideas and stories that writers will find insipring, and is very interesting at the same time - particularly the country by country sections where real-life encounters are revealed.

Negatives: too many long foreign names make certain sections quite confusing. It's also a little repetitive at times. Better to read little by little alongside another book.

[Lionkhan-sama · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book looking into the literature of the ages concerning demons/jinn. An excellent compilation of information regarding these creatures, according to the writings of many, many geographic locations.
Overall an excellent general resource for this rather particular metaphysical topic.

[Michael Durant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative overview of Arabian folklore. Easy to understand, if a bit disorganized. I would have liked more information on most of the regions covered in the geography section.

[Erin Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! I first learned of Jinn while traveling through Morocco, and this book does an incredible job of diving into this fascinating subject.

[Carlos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although this book is certainly full of information on the local beliefs on jinni throughout the Muslim world it is sorely lacking stories and legends about them. Lebling takes the tone of a paranormal researcher and seems determined to convince the reader of the reality of jinni, by quoting “sober-minded” Muslim theologians on the reality of jinni as well including an entire appendix on the “physics” of jinni (based of course on hand-wavy “quantum mechanical” explanations). All this destroys the fun of jinni folk tales, never included but only referred to and analyzed, by attempting to make everything into proofs of their existence.

[Laya Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating, well researched and engagingly written. I scoured for a reliable source on djinn lore written in English and this book was a bit of a godsend. I love how it took the point of view of geographical survey, exploring traditions from across the Islamic world and across history. If you want to learn more about djinn than what Disney taught you, I cannot recommend this book enough. it is an excellent jumping off point for more in-depth research.

[D. Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been searching for a book on the Jinn for research and was very happy to have come across this book. The author did a fantastic job working through the history, culture, and differences between the stories of Jinn from around the world. The writing, description, and analysis are easy to follow and enjoyable to read. This book would be great for anyone seeking a compendium on the Jinn and their culture!

[Pasha Avicenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty informative book that talked about the Arabic and the more pronounced middle east of the region's mythology, while interwoven with actual apparitions that once arrived and happened in it.

While, there can be dispute towards the account made by writer, because his account was made from third or even fourth account of it and some of it may have been fabricated. With the time of the publication, the internet wasn't as tight regarding information verified information.

But, ignoring the verification problem, I do enjoy the learning of the new mythological being called the Jinn which are the fire spirit that are pronounced in the middle east region, with me take the more general explanation to heart, but made some doubt regarding the apparitions and Jinn interaction with human account, as I presumed that while some of this did happen, we can't be sure of if it works like that or not or we are facing a crazy person anyway.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was loaded with information and I really enjoyed it. I did feel that some of the information was repetitive and some needed more context but overall an interesting and informative look at jinn and the cultures surrounding them. Lots of research went into this book and the references and bibliography are extensive.

[Jesse James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but reaaaaally repetitive, I felt it could have been much shorter because in some areas it just repeated the same bits of information and points over and over and over again.

I ended up skimming it just to finish it, but the bits of information that were in there were worth their weight in gold.

[Shinji007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much would recommend this book.