The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments

"Iblees," we are told by another authority, "was sent as a governor upon the earth, and judged among the Jinn a thousand years, after which he ascended into heaven, and remained employed in worship until the creation of Adam."[65] The name of Iblees was originally, according to some, 'Azázeel (as before mentioned); and according to others, El-Ḥárith: his patronymic is Aboo-Murrah, or Abu-l-Ghimr.[66]--It is disputed whether he was of the Angels or of the Jinn. There are three opinions on this point.--1. That he was of the Angels, from a tradition from Ibn-'Abbás.--2. That he was of the Sheyṭáns (or evil Jinn); as it is said in the Ḳur-án, "except Iblees, [who] was [one] of the Jinn:" this was the opinion of El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, and is that commonly held.--3. That he was neither of the Angels nor of the Jinn; but created alone, of fire.--Ibn-'Abbás founds his opinion on the same text from which El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree derives his: "When we said unto the Angels, Worship ye Adam, and [all] worshipped except Iblees, [who] was [one] of the Jinn" (before quoted): which he explains by saying, that the most noble and honourable among the Angels are called "the Jinn," because they are _veiled_ from the eyes of the other Angels on account of their superiority; and that Iblees was one of these Jinn. He adds, that he had the government of the lowest heaven and of the earth, and was called the Ṭáoos (literally, Peacock) of the Angels; and that there was not a spot in the lowest heaven but he had prostrated himself upon it: but when the Jinn rebelled upon the earth, God sent a troop of Angels who drove them to the islands and mountains; and Iblees being elated with pride, and refusing to prostrate himself before Adam, God transformed him into a Sheyṭán.--But this reasoning is opposed by other verses, in which Iblees is represented as saying, "Thou hast created _me_ of _fire_, and hast created _him_ [Adam] of _earth_."[67] It is therefore argued, "If he were created originally of fire, how was he created of light? for the Angels were [all] created of light."[68]--The former verse may be explained by the tradition, that Iblees, having been taken captive, was exalted among the Angels; or perhaps there is an ellipsis after the word "Angels;" for it might be inferred that the command given to the Angels was also (and _à fortiori_) to be obeyed by the Jinn.