Parī

Parī is a supernatural entity originating from Persian tales and distributed into wider Asian folklore. They are often described as winged creatures of immense beauty who are structured in societies similar to that of humans. Unlike jinn, the Parī usually feature in tales involving supernatural elements.

Over time, the depiction of parī was subject to change and reconsideration. In early Persian beliefs, the parī were probably a class of evil spirits and only later received a positive reception. In the Islamic period, the parī already developed into morally complex beings with a generally positive connotation of immense beauty, and at latest in the tenth century, being integrated into the Arab houri-tale tradition. They are often contrasted by their nemesis the ugly dīvs.

Despite their beauty, the parī are also feared because they are said to abduct people and take them to their home-world (Pariyestân) or punish people for social transgressions.

Etymology
The Persian word پَری parī comes from Middle Persian, itself from Old Persian *parikā-. The word may stem from the same root as the Persian word 'wing', although other proposed etymologies exist.

The etymological relation to the English word "fairy" is disputed. Some argue that there is no relation and that both words derive from different meanings.Marzolph, Ulrich (08 Apr 2019)."The Middle Eastern World’s Contribution to Fairy-Tale History". In: Teverseon, Andrew. The Fairy Tale World. Routledge, 2019. pp. 46, 52, 53. Accessed on: 16 Dec 2021. https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315108407-4 - "Turkish peri masalı is a literal translation of the term 'fairy tale,' the originally Indo–Persian character of the peri or pari constituting the equivalent of the European fairy in modern Persian folktales (Adhami 2010). [...] Probably the character most fascinating for a Western audience in the Persian tales is the peri or pari (Adhami 2010). Although the Persian word is tantalizingly close to the English 'fairy', both words do not appear to be etymologically related. English 'fairy' derives from Latin fatum, 'fate', via the Old French faerie, 'land of fairies'. The modern Persian word, instead, derives from the Avestan pairikā, a term probably denoting a class of pre-Zoroastrian goddesses who were concerned with sexuality and who were closely connected with sexual festivals and ritual orgies. In Persian narratives and folklore of the Muslim period, the peri is usually imagined as a winged character, most often, although not exclusively, of female sex, that is capable of acts of sorcery and magic (Marzolph 2012: 21–2). For the male hero, the peri exercises a powerful sexual attraction, although unions between a peri and a human man are often ill-fated, as the human is not able to respect the laws ruling the peri's world. The peri may at times use a feather coat to turn into a bird and is thus linked to the concept of the swan maiden that is wide-spread in Asian popular belief. If her human husband transgresses one of her taboos, such as questioning her enigmatic actions, the peri will undoubtedly leave him, a feature that is exemplified in the widely known European folktale tale type 400: 'The Man on a Quest for His Lost Wife' (Schmitt 1999)." Others argue that both terms share a common origin: The English term "fairy" deriving from fier (enchant) and the Persian term from par (enchant). However, there is no consensus on either theory.

Persian literature
Originally, the parī have been considered a class of dēvatā and the term dīvānah refers to a person who lost reason because they fell in love, as the beloved steals the lover's reason. In this regard, the parī features similar to the Arabic jinn. The jinn, unlike the parī, does not have connotations of beauty however. In Middle Persian literature, comets have been identified with parī. Comets and planets were associated with evil, while the Sun, the Moon, and the fixed stars, with good. Such negative associations of the planets, however, are not supported in Avestan languages.

In popular literature of the Islamic period, parī are non-human beings with wings and magical powers. They are often, though not necessarily female and employ an erotic appeal to mortal men. As early as the tenth century, parī feature as a template for the exquisite beauty of "the beloved" in Persianate folklore and poetry, echoing an identification with the Arabic Houri. However, the term has also been used as a synonym for jinn.

At the start of Ferdowsi's epic poem Shahnameh, "The Book of Kings", the divinity Sorush appears in the form of a parī to warn Keyumars (the mythological first man and shah of the world) and his son Siamak of the threats posed by the destructive Ahriman. Parīs also form part of the mythological army that Keyumars eventually draws up to defeat Ahriman and his demonic son.

In the stories of One Thousand and One Nights, a parī appears only in the story of Ahmad and Pari Bānu. The tale is a combination of originally two separate stories; the parī features in the latter, when Prince Ahmad meets the beautiful princess Pari Banu. Ahmad has to deal with difficult tasks he manages to comply by aid of his fairy-wife.

Folklore
From India, across Northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran to Central Asia, and Turkey, local traditions variously acknowledge the existence of a supernatural creature called parī. The term parī is attested in Turkish sources from the 11th century onward and was probably associated with the Arabic jinn when entering the Turkic beliefs through Islamic sources. Although jinn and parī are sometimes used as synonyms, the term parī is more frequently used in supernatural tales. According to the book People of the Air, the parī are morally ambivalent creatures, and can be either Muslims or infidels.

According to Turkologist Ignác Kúnos, the parī in Turkish tales fly through the air with cloud-like garments of a green colour, but also in the shape of doves. They also number forty, seven or three, and serve a Fairy-king that can be a human person they abducted from the human world. Like vestals, Kúnos wrote, the parī belong to the spiritual realm until love sprouts in their hearts, and they must join with their mortal lovers, being abandoned by their sisters to their own devices. Also, the first meeting between humans and parī occurs during the latter's bathtime. The parī are usually considered benevolent in Turkish sources. Shamans in Kazakhstan sometimes consult parī for aid in spiritual rituals. Uyghur shamans use the aid of parī to heal women from miscarriage, and protect from evil jinn. According to the Kho, parī are able to cast love spells, sometimes used by a spiritual master referred to as "Master of Faries".

Sometimes the parī would take interest in the life of humans and abduct them to invite them to weddings of fellow parī. Alledged abductions can be either physical or psychological, in which case their victims lose consciousness. During the periods of abductions, people claim to be able to see, hear, and interact with parī, and sometimes even report their words and appearance.

Parī were the target of a lower level of evil Dīvs (دیو), who persecuted them by locking them in iron cages. This persecution was brought about by, as the Dīvs perceived it, the parī' lack of sufficient self-esteem to join the rebellion against perversion.

Islamic scripture and interpretations
Abu Ali Bal'ami's interpretation of the Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ History of the Prophets and Kings, God creates parī at some point after the vicious dīvs. They ruled the world until it was given to a tribe of angels called al-jinn (fereštegan), those leader was Iblis. Although the parī lose their rank as representatives of the earth after the creation of Adam, they are still present during the time of Keyumar. It is only after the flood that they became hidden from the sight of humankind.

Isma'ilite scholar Nasir Khusraw (1004 – between 1072–1088) elaborates on the concept of parī in his explanation of angels, jinn, and devils. He asserts that parī is the Persian term for jinn. Then, he proceeds that the parī are divided into two categories: angel and devil. Each parī would be both a potential angel and a potential devil (dīv), depending on obedience or disobedience.

Western representations
Arthur de Gobineau tells in his travel report about his 'three years in Asia' a story involving Fath-Ali Shah Qajar and parī. Shah Qajar is said to have had a strong inclination towards the Occult and had hold high respect for experts in the supernatural such as darvīshes. One day a darvīsh warned him that the prince needs precautions to meet the parī. The affection of parī might soon turn into wrath, when he acted in a way which might offend him. He then prepares for a meeting at a pavilion outside the city. For the special occasion, the Garden was adorned with precious golden and silver vessels, jewellery, and costly furniture. After the sunset he fell asleep. When he woke up again, he found that there was that not only there was no parī but also that the darvīsh was gone. The author of the tale was probably familarized with the tale on his travels to Tehran at orders of Napoleon III in 1855. The authors leaves a mark of mockery and used as a sign of the Persian's gullibility. Whether Gobineau's remark holds true or not, the story reflects the popularity of such belief in Iranian consciousness.

In Thomas Moore's poem Paradise and the Peri, part of his Lalla-Rookh, a peri gains entrance to heaven after three attempts at giving an angel the gift most dear to God. The first attempt is "The last libation Liberty draws/From the heart that bleeds and breaks in her cause", to wit, a drop of blood from a young soldier killed for an attempt on the life of Mahmud of Ghazni. Next is a "Precious sigh/of pure, self-sacrificing love": a sigh stolen from the dying lips of a maiden who died with her lover of plague in the Mountains of the Moon (Ruwenzori) rather than surviving in exile from the disease and the lover. The third gift, the one that gets the peri into heaven, is a "Tear that, warm and meek/Dew'd that repentant sinner's cheek": the tear of an evil old man who repented upon seeing a child praying in the ruins of the Temple of the Sun at Balbec, Syria. Robert Schumann set Moore's tale to music as an oratorio, Paradise and the Peri, using an abridged German translation.