Thread by @aaolomi

Middle Eastern and Islamic folklore is full of legendary beasts and creatures of all shapes and sizes. Some of the most unique are the winged creatures who fill the pages of epic tales, bestiaries, and encyclopedic works.

A thread on the creatures of sky and air-

The most famous in Persian lore, is the legendary Simurgh. An auspicious creature with stunning peacock-like plumes, this creature of the sky is an omen of wisdom and benevolence.

In artistic renderings it is depicted as either peacock-like or a composite creature made up of different animals.

It appears in the Shahnameh as a benevolent caretaker of a young abandoned prince while Attar’s work plays on its name; "si-murgh" meaning 30 birds.

Related, is Homa who never lands, but remains in the sky its whole life. An elusive creature, like the Simurgh it was interpreted as a benevolent force.

According to Batislam, in Ottoman literature the Homa is a creature of fortune and blessings.

According to Schimmel, the Mughals saw the Homa as a king-maker bestowing blessings to rule.

A similar legendary bird is the Anqa. Al Qazwini describes it as beautiful and multi-colored and related to or living at the mythic Mount Qaf.

According to him, the Anqa lives thousands of years and so accumulates great wisdom of life.

A more menacing bird is the Rukh, or the Roc. An enormous raptor capable of carrying off an elephant in its talons.

It is so massive that it has been mistaken for a flying island.

Among the godly creatures of the sky are the Ababil, a flock of birds sent by God to pelt the invading army of Himyar with rocks driving them away from the Ka’aba.

In the accounts of Muhammad’s night journey he is transported across the lands and the heavens by Buraq, a heavenly steed with a human-like face

In artistic renderings, it is often drawn as a light mule-like creature with a beautiful face and great wings.

See this great thread by @MENALibAHS on some artistic depictions of Buraq

https://twitter.com/MENALibAHS/status/1192530220479176704

In some narrations from ibn Abbas, the angel Jibr’ail has a celestial steed, Haizum, a winged-horse with fiery hooves who serves as battle mount and steed on divine missions

Then there are winged creatures with some human characteristics.

The Peri of Persian lore is one such being. Described as beautiful winged beings in Persianate epics, they were often depicted as fairy-like or angelic women.

Mischievous in nature, they are Islamized as a type of goodly jinn.

A similar being is found in Bengali lore, the Byangoma.

Described as birds with human faces they are endowed with great wisdom and the power of foresight.

There are also countless jinn which are said to possess wings.

One of the classes of jinn are said to fly through the air on wings in fact.

One type of mischievous jinn takes ravens as mounts flying through the air and pelting unsuspecting travelers with stones.

Others like the Sa’alin fly through the air on night horses, winged steeds formed of the midnight wind.

The greatest of the winged jinn is Maymum, the terror of the night and King of Saturn.

A great and powerful jinn potentate, he descends from the clouds to carry away hapless victims.

Under him is Kabus, the winged shadow who creeps through the house, perching the chest of the sleeping thus giving them night terrors.

And many others! The lore is deep and rich.

Medieval Muslims looked to the sky and its great expanse and were filled with awe, wonder, and even a little apprehension.

For them the heavens could bring blessed beings like the Simugh, wonderous creatures like the Peri, or terrors for the unsuspecting like Kabus

I'll be covering more legendary and mythic creatures in future threads

adding another brilliant thread of amazing depictions!

https://twitter.com/menalibahs/status/1494031079984009217

and more on the peri!

https://twitter.com/menalibahs/status/1494044263696551937