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Iran / Persia: 'The King of the Jinn', from a Persian dawatnamah, c. 14th century, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

Iran / Persia: 'The King of the Jinn', from a Persian <i>dawatnamah</i>, c. 14th century, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

Jinn, also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies, are supernatural creatures in early Arabian and later Islamic mythology and theology. An individual member of the jinn is known as a jinni, djinni, or genie. They are mentioned frequently in the Quran (the 72nd sura is titled Sūrat al-Jinn) and other Islamic texts and inhabit an unseen world, another universe beyond the known universe.

The Quran says that the jinn are made of a smokeless and 'scorching fire', but are also physical in nature, being able to interact in a tactile manner with people and objects and likewise be acted upon. The jinn, humans, and angels make up the three known sapient creations of God. Like human beings, the jinn can be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have free will like humans.

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