SHAMIR

SHAMIR

"And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. And when he fell, the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil."

The Quran 34:14

"Allah tells us how Sulayman, peace be upon him, died and how Allah concealed his death from the Jinn who were subjugated to him to do hard labor. He remained leaning on his stick, which was his staff, as Ibn `Abbas may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and others said. He stayed like that for a long time, nearly a year. When a creature of the earth, which was a kind of worm, ate through the stick, it became weak and fell to the ground. Then it became apparent that he had died a long time before. It also became clear to Jinn and men alike that the Jinn do not know the Unseen as they (the Jinn) used to imagine and tried to deceive people."

Ibn Kathir, The Death Of Sulayman

"They told him schamir was a worm of the size of a barley corn, but so powerful that the hardest flint could not resist him."

"Solomon cut the stones of the temple with the blood of a little worm called thamir, which when sprinkled on the marble, made it easy to split. And the way in which Solomon obtained the worm was this. He had an ostrich, whose chick he put in a glass bottle. Seeing this, the ostrich ran to the desert, and brought the worm, and with its blood fractured the vessel."

Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths Of the Middle Ages

 "In Arabic tradition Solomon, under instructions from Gabriel, has recourse to a worm when he desires to bore through a pearl, and to a white worm when he wishes to thread the onyx."

The Jewish Encyclopedia

BURAQ

 

BURAQ

"Buraq was a riding beast smaller than a mule and larger than an ass, having a face like that of a human being and ears like those of an elephant; its mane was like the mane of a horse; its neck and tail like those of a camel; its breast like the breast of a mule; its feet like the feet of an ox or, according to one tradition, like those of a camel; its hooves were like the hooves of an ox. Its breast looked just like a ruby and its hair resembled white armour, shining brightly by reason of its exceeding purity. On its flanks it had two wings which hid its legs. The swiftness of this riding beast was such that in a single stride it could reach as far as eye could see."

Muhammad Khwandamir, Habib As-Sijar Vol. I Part III

SI'LAH

SI’LAH

"The si‘lah is a variant of the ghul. This djinn is often referred to in the feminine. She resides in jungles and thickets and lays in ambush for her victims. She is described as a wicked and sadistic djinn who tortures her prey, plays games with him, and makes him dance before consuming him."

"The si’luwa is a variant of the s’ilah from Iraq. She is a water demon or water spirit that inhabits the rivers, streams, and canals of Mesopotamia. She has the shape of a woman and is covered in long hair, has pendulous breasts that hang down to her knees, and in some accounts, she is described as having a fishtail instead of legs. She both sets traps for and hunts humans to eat and also seeks human lovers. Local beliefs state that the si’luwa is the product of the intermingling of humans with river demons."
Adam Ali, Demons, Djinns, and Devils of the Medieval Islamic World

ROC

ROC 

"This is the name of an enormous bird, also known as the Rukh, in the legends of Arabia and Middle Eastern countries around the Persian Gulf. The Roc is described as a vast bird that resembled an enormous eagle or vulture, although some accounts say that it is part lion. It was said to have horns on its head and to have such a  huge wingspan and talons that it could grasp an elephant easily and transport it back as food for its young."

Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters and Dragons

DĪV

DĪV

“Dīv in Iranian folktales may act as villains, sorcerers, ogres, fools, or helpers of the protagonist. They may be summoned for help when a bit of their hair, which has been left with the hero for this purpose, is put into the fire. Demons of the folktales may be many headed and come in different colors: white, yellow, and black. They have a tendency to alternate long periods of wakefulness and sleep, each lasting several days, and to become sleepy in sunlight. Typically this unfortunate habit proves to be their undoing. They are capable of magic and transformation.”  Mahmoud Omidsalar, Encyclopaedia Iranica

MANTICORE

MANTICORE

"The martichora was allegedly a blue-eyed, human-faced wild beast, the size of the largest lion, with cinnabar-red fur. It has three rows of teeth, feet and claws like lions. It also had a scorpion-like tail with a (main) terminal sting that measured over 1 cubit, plus two rows of auxiliary stings, each a Greek foot long. The sting was instantly fatal. The stings could be fired sideways, forward, or backward, by orienting the tail accordingly, up to a 1 plethron distance range, and these stings regenerated afterwards. Only the elephant was immune to the poison. And it overcomes every beast except the lion."

Photius, Myriobiblon

GHADDAR

GHADDAR

"Al-Qazwini mentions this djinn briefly and states that its kind inhabits Yemen and the coastal regions of Egypt. It lures its victims to itself and then assaults them. The outcome of this assault could be mild or severe. Lebling states that this demon either tortures its victims viciously or just terrifies them. Al-Qazwini is more explicit, he says that this djinn is either satisfied by terrifying its victim into a state of shock."

"A more extreme outcome of an encounter with the ghaddar, according to al-Qazwini, is that this monster sexually assaults its victims and that there is seldom any hope for survivors of such an assault because the ghaddar has a phallus like a bull’s horn that can kill a human. This djinn must have a terrifying appearance, unfortunately as-Qazwini does not describe any of its physical characteristics other than its phallus."

Adam Ali, Demons, Djinns, and Devils of the Medieval Islamic World

COLOURED GAS BEING

COLOURED GAS BEING

"He had learned much of the Other Gods in distant parts of space, especially in that region where form does not exist, and coloured gases study the innermost secrets. The violet gas S’ngac had told him terrible things of the crawling chaos Nyarlathotep, and had warned him never to approach the central void where the daemon-sultan Azathoth

gnaws hungrily in the dark."

H.P. Lovecraft, Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

DWELLER

DWELLER

"It had been old when Babylon was new;

None knows how long it slept beneath that mound,

Where in the end our questing shovels found

Its granite blocks and brought it back to view.

There were vast pavements and foundation-walls,

And crumbling slabs and statues, carved to shew

Fantastic beings of some long ago

Past anything the world of man recalls.

And then we saw those stone steps leading down

Through a choked gate of graven dolomite

To some black haven of eternal night

Where elder signs and primal secrets frown.

We cleared a path—but raced in mad retreat

When from below we heard those clumping feet."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Fungi From Yuggoth

INVISIBLE THING

INVISIBLE THING

"55-Man followed by invisible thing."

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book