An excerpt taken from a fragmentary journal of an apprentice alchemist from the city of Ambar. The journal was found abandoned along the East- West trade route. Pages torn.
~
3192.4 Thul
Hearing stories about Jinn has always vexed me. I was always told two kinds of tales about Jinn. The first being the ones that were typical of the ghost story experience, ones where beings called "jinn" are dark ghost-like entities that haunt and linger in abandoned places or areas plagued by death. These stories were the ones whispered to children to keep them in line, to ward them away from mischief or dare them to venture into desolate buildings during moonless nights. These tales were intriguing, for a while, as they were the same age-old ghost stories that provoked shivers down the spine, promising a night of uneasy sleep. Ones I've heard across the world during my travels.
Amjad Ghannam, 1.32 Meter Square. 2014
However, it was the second kind of stories that stuck with me, burrowing deep into my consciousness. These were the stories that made me glance over my shoulder in the daytime, linger over my reflection in the mirror for seconds longer, rethink the fleeting shadows that danced at the periphery of my vision, and pause at the cool brush of air along my arm in a crowded market. These narratives weren't spun as mere stories; they were recounted to me by figures of trust - scholars, parents, those who bore the weight of experience. These were the stories of the Jinn, the ones that coexist with us in a reality that transcends our perception, not of the material plane, but of a shadow realm that mirrors our own.
Bibi Zogbe, Moonlight. 1940s. Barjeel Foundation
In mythology and faith, the true nature of the Jinn was unveiled by the teachers who spoke not of hauntings but of parallel existence, of beings who exist as a reflection of our own world and can manipulate their own shape. The fathers who consoled our childhood fears whispered that Jinn aren't creatures to dread, but entities that seek peace, indifference, and in some cases, protection. These narratives illuminated the realm of the Jinn, a realm that was not meant to haunt mortals but to occupy its own sphere, a spiritual plane intertwined with ours, like two layers of existence stacked one on top of the other. Or, perhaps, one up right and the other upside down. It's a world where, much like humans, Jinn exhibit both virtue and vice. There are virtuous Jinn, seeking to guard and live in peace, and then there are those Jinn who wander the darker paths, capable of causing harm through the arcane channels of forbidden sorcery and black magic, some that work in tandem with humans who work in the dark arts. What these Jinn could do, I was too afraid to ask those many years ago. However, my curiosity is getting the better of me these days, and this path seems too alluring not to prod further. With caution of course.
I was told once that some Jinn have chosen to live within our mortal realm - but the lands and cities they inhabit lie deep in the grey dunes and dry ashen planes beyond the western mountains. Far beyond the clusters of mortal civilization. It is in these faraway lands that Jinn can be seen, spoken to, touched. Where their society settles in shadow and dust. I knew of a man who met a Jinn once. I can't recall his name. Traded with him, he said. Traded silk for shadow, he said.
Remedios Varo, The Opposite Shadow / Shadow Man. 1963
During my studies and work at the archives, I learned that within their shadowed realm, the Jinn, too, have their own spectrum of beliefs. Just as the mortal world, there are believers and faithful Jinn, standing alongside infidels and treacherous beings. The nature of their devotion or rebellion remains a mystery to me, yet to be unraveled * - perhaps an ancient monarch of immense power or a lesser deity from the times of old watches over this enigmatic realm. These tales of the Jinn, which dance between myth and reality, unveil a realm beyond the superficial narratives of spooks and specters. It's a reality where the distinction between our world and theirs blurs, and the Jinn, as both protectors and mischief-makers, weave an intricate tapestry that speaks of an interconnectedness between our two worlds.
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More to come on their kind, the shadow/spirit realm that mirrors our own, and the human-kind who deal with the workings of Jinn.
*Not to get religious - purely thinking about all this from a mythological, fantasy roleplaying, and speculative fictional standpoint and not within the realm of religion or Islam or any other belief system.
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