With these we may couple the Ghilman, the Jinns, the Angel of Death; and the Dharratu'l Kainat.
As examples of the descriptions which the Qur'an gives of Paradise, we may quote the following passages33:—
Surah LV., Ar Rahman, 46 sqq.: "And for him who feareth the tribunal of his Lord there are two gardens, dowered with branches. In each of them two fountains flow. In each of them there are of every fruit two kinds. They recline upon couches of which the inner lining is of brocade; and the fruit of the two gardens hangs low. In them are [maidens] restraining their glances, whom neither man nor demon hath approached before them. They are as it were rubies and pearls. Is the recompense for kindness other than kindness?
And besides these two there are two [other] gardens, dark green. In each of them are two fountains, flowing abundantly. In each of them are fruits and palms and pomegranates. In each are [maidens] good, beauteous, Huris enclosed in pavilions, whom neither man nor demon hath approached before them. [The Just] recline on green pillows and beautiful carpets."
Again, in Surah LVI., Al Warqi'ah, 11 sqq., we find a similar account of the delights reserved in Paradise for the "Companions of the Right Hand," — that is, the saved — on the Resurrection Day:— "These are those who are brought nigh, in gardens of delight ... upon bejewelled couches, reclining upon them, facing one another. Upon them wait immortal youths" (the Ghilman), "with goblets and beakers and a cup from a spring [of wine]34. They do not suffer headache from it, nor do they become intoxicated. And with fruit of whatever kind they choose, and birds' flesh of whatever sort they desire. And there are large-eyed Huris like hidden pearls, a recompense for what they used to do. They do not hear in it any vain discourse, nor any charge of crime, only the word ‘Peace, Peace.’ And the Companions of the Right Hand — what of the Companions of the Right Hand? In a thornless Lotus tree and a flower-bedecked Acacia and widespread shade and streaming water, and with abundant fruit not cut off and not forbidden, and in raised couches. Verily We have produced them" (these damsels) "by a [peculiar] creation. Therefore have We made them virgins, beloved, of an equal age [with their spouses] for the Companions of the Right Hand35."
We shall see that much of this description is derived from Persian and Hindu ideas of Paradise, though most of the more unpleasant details and conceptions are doubtless the offspring of Muhammad's own sensual nature.
The idea of the Huris is derived from the ancient Persian legends about the Pairakas, called by the modern people of Iran Paris. These the Zoroastrians describe as female spirits living in the air and closely connected with the stars and light. So beautiful are they that they captivate men's hearts. The word Hur, by which these damsels of Paradise are spoken of in the Qur'an, is generally supposed to be of Arabic derivation, and to mean "black-eyed." This is quite possible. But it is perhaps more probably a Persian word, derived from the word which in Avestic is hvare, in Pahlavi hur, and in modern Persian khur, originally denoting "light," "brightness," "sunshine," and finally "the sun." When the Arabs borrowed the conception of these bright and "sunny" maidens from the Persians, they also perhaps borrowed the word which best described them. It was natural for the Arabs to find a meaning in their own language for the word, just as in a similar way asparagus has become "sparrow-grass," renegade "runagate," the girasole a "Jerusalem" artichoke, or in Greek the Arabic word wadi, having become Hellenized under the form , was supposed to come from — doubtless on the lucus a non lucendo principle. Firdaus itself, one of the words in the Qur'an for "Paradise," is a Persian word; and several words from that36 language occur in the passages which we have translated above. It is not, however, of any real importance to ascertain the derivation of the word Hur. The beings whom the word is intended to express are of distinctly Aryan origin, as are the Ghilman. The Hindus believe in the existence of both, calling the Huris in Sanskrit Apsarasas, and the Ghilman Gandharvas. They were supposed to dwell principally in the sky, though often visiting the earth.
Muslim historians relate many tales which show how much the prospect of receiving a welcome from the Huris in Paradise cheered many an ardent young Muhammadan warrior to rush boldly to his death in battle. This belief is very similar to the ancient Aryan idea as to the reward of those who died on the field with all their wounds in front. For Manu says in his Dharmasastra :
"Earth-lords37 contending in battles, mutually desirous of killing one another, not averting their faces, thereafter through their prowess go to heaven." So also in the Nalopakhyanam we find Indra saying to the hero Nala: "Just38 guardians of the earth (i.e. kings), warriors who have abandoned (all hope of) life, who in due time by means of a weapon go to destruction without averting their faces — theirs is this imperishable world" — the heaven of Indra. Nor were such ideas confined to India, for our own northern ancestors used in heathen days to believe that the heavenly Valkyries, or "Selectors of the Slain," would visit39 the field of battle and bear thence to the heaven of Odhin, to Valhalla, the "Hall of the Slain," the spirits of brave warriors who fell in the strife.
The Jinns are a kind of evil and malicious spirits which have great power and are a source of terror in many parts of the Muslim world. We have already seen40 that they are said to have been subject to Solomon, and they are not unfrequently mentioned in the Qur'an41, where we are told that they were made of fire42, as were the angels and the demons. The word itself seems to be Persian, for the singular Jinni is the Avestic Jaini43, a wicked (female) spirit.
In examining the question of the origin of the Muhammadan legend regarding the "Balance," we saw that it is stated in the Traditions that in his Mi'raj Muhammad saw Adam weeping in heaven when he looked at44 the "Black Figures" (al aswidah) on his left hand, but rejoicing when his glance rested on those which stood at his right.
These black figures were the spirits of his descendants as yet unborn. They are generally termed "The Existent Atoms" (adu dharratu'l kainat). They differ from the beings mentioned in the "Testament of Abraham" (from which the main features of that portion of the tale are borrowed) in the fact that, in the latter book, Abraham sees the spirits of his descendants who had died, while in the Muhammadan tradition he sees those of men not yet born, in the form of "Existent Atoms." The name by which these beings are known in Muhammadan religious works is undoubtedly a purely Arabic one. But the idea seems to have been derived from the Zoroastrians, among whom these beings were called fravashis45 in Avestic and feruhars in Pahlavi. Some have fancied that possibly the Persians adopted this idea from the ancient Egyptians, but this hardly seems probable. Whether it be so or not, the Muslims are indebted for their belief in the preexistence of men's spirits to the Zoroastrians.
The Muslims speak of the Angel of Death very much as the Jews do, though the latter say that his name is Sammael, while the former call him 'Azrail. But this latter name is not Arabic but Hebrew, once more showing the extent of the influence exercised by the Jews upon nascent Islam. As this angel's name is not mentioned in the Bible, it is evident that what the Jews and the Muslims say about him must be borrowed from some other source. This is probably Persian, for the Avesta tells us of an angel called Astovidhotus or Vidhatus, "the divider," whose duty it is to separate body and spirit. If a man fell into fire or water and was burnt to death or drowned, the Zoroastrians held that his death could not be due to the fire or to the water — for these "elements" were supposed to be good and not injurious to man. It was the Angel of Death, Vidhatus46.