PERI

In Persian mythology and Armenian mythology, the Peri (Persian: پری‎‎ pari) are exquisite, winged fairy-like spirits ranking between angels and evil spirits. They sometimes visit the realm of mortals.

In earlier sources, they are described as agents of evil who have been denied paradise until they have done penance; later, they are benevolent.

At the start of Ferdowsi's epic poem Shahnameh, "The Book of Kings", the divinity Sorush appears in the form of a peri to warn Keyumars (the mythological first man and shah of the world) and his son Siamak of the threats posed by the destructive Ahriman. Peris also form part of the mythological army that Kaiumers eventually draws up to defeat Ahriman and his demonic son. In the Rostam and Sohrab section of the poem, Rostam's paramour, the princess Tahmina, is referred to as "peri-faced" (since she is wearing a veil, the term Peri may include a secondary meaning of disguise or being hidden).

Peris were the target of a lower level of evil beings called دیوسان divs (دَيۋَ daeva), who persecuted them by locking them in iron cages. This persecution was brought about by, as the divs perceived it, the peris' lack of sufficient self-esteem to join the rebellion against perversion.

Jinn, notably evil ones, are called Dev by the Persians, and the most powerful referred to as Narahs (which signifies males though there are said to be females too). The good Jinn are the Piri (or Peri in Turkish) which is usually applied to the female. There are lower orders of Jinn, one of which is called Gul or Ghul (from which the English word Ghoul is derived). These are regarded as a kind of female Sheytan or evil Jinni (the male is called Qutrub). Guls are said to be solitary demonic creatures resembling both man and animal; they inhabit cemeteries where they feed on the dead, or lie in wait for a traveler to pass where from they entice and trick him by changing their shape (shape-shifting) to resemble another traveler, and lead him from his course till lost.

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