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A parī or peri is a supernatural entity originating from Persian tales and distributed into wider Asian folklore.Sherman, Josepha (2008). Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore. Sharpe Reference. p. 361. . The parīs are often described as winged creatures of immense beauty who are structured in societies similar to that of humans. Unlike jinn, the parīs usually feature in tales involving supernatural elements.
Over time, the depiction of parīs was subject to change and reconsideration. In early Persian beliefs, the parīs were probably a class of evil spirits and only later received a positive reception. In the Islam, the parī already developed into morally complex beings with a generally positive connotation of immense beauty,Abedinifard, Mostafa; Azadibougar, Omid; Vafa, Amirhossein, eds. (2021). Persian Literature as World Literature. Literatures as World Literature. USA: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 37–43. ISBN 978-1-5013-5420-5Aigle, Denise. The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological History. BRILL, 28.10.2014. p. 118. . and late in the tenth century, were integrated into the Arab houri-tale tradition. They are often contrasted by their nemesis the ugly dīvs.
Despite their beauty, the parīs are also feared because they are said to abduct people and take them to their home-world, Paristan, or punish people for social transgressions.
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:Seyed‐Gohrab, Ali Asghar. "Magic in classical Persian amatory literature." Iranian Studies 32.1 (1999): 71-97. the English term "fairy" deriving from fier (enchant) and the Persian term from par (enchant).Modi, Jivanji Jamshedji. "An Account of Comets as given by Mahomedan Historians and as contained in the books of the Pishinigan or the Ancient Persians referred to by Abul Fazl." (1917): 68-105. However, there is no consensus on either theory.
In popular literature of the Islamic period, parīs are non-human beings with wings and magical powers. They are often, though not necessarily, female and employ an erotic appeal to mortal men.Marzolph, Ulrich, and Richard van Leeuwen. "The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: The Survival of Ancient Iranian Ethical Concepts in Persian Popular Narratives of the Islamic Period." The Idea of Iran: Tradition and Innovation in Early Islamic Persia (2012): 16-29. 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.Boratav, P.N. and J.T.P. de Bruijn, “Parī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 31 January 2024
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.
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 parīs are usually considered benevolent in Turkish sources.Boratav, P.N. and J.T.P. de Bruijn, “Parī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 31 January 2024 . First published online: 2012. First print edition: , 1960-2007 Shamans in Kazakhstan sometimes consult parī for aid in spiritual rituals.Basilov, Vladimir N. "Shamanism in central Asia." The Realm of Extra-human. Agents and Audiences (1976): 149-157. Uyghurs use the aid of parī to heal women from miscarriage, and protect from evil jinn.ZARCONE, EDITED BY THIERRY, and ANGELA HOBART. "AND ISLAM." The Sufi orders in northern Central Asia. According to the Kho people, parīs are able to cast Love magic, sometimes used by a spiritual master referred to as "Master of Faries". p. 35-38
Sometimes the parīs would take interest in the life of humans and abduct them to invite them to weddings of fellow parī. Alleged 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.Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka Taylor & Francis, 2003 page 463
Parī were the target of a lower level of evil Dīvs (دیو), who persecuted them by locking them in iron cages.Olinthus Gilbert Gregory Pantologia. A new (cabinet) cyclopædia, by J.M. Good, O. Gregory, and N. Bosworth assisted by other gentlemen of eminence, Band 8 Oxford University 1819 digitalized 2006 sec. 17 This persecution was brought about by, as the Dīvs perceived it, the parī' lack of sufficient self-esteem to join the rebellion against perversion.
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 parīs 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.Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, and Mehdi Aminrazavi, eds. An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Vol. 2: From Zoroaster to Omar Khayyam. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007. pp. 320-323
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," 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 bubonic plague in the Mountains of the Moon (Rwenzori Mountains) 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 Zeus at Baalbek. Robert Schumann set Moore's tale to music as an oratorio, Paradise and the Peri, using an abridged German language translation.
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