Terms and transliterations

05 · TERMS

Glossary

Jann al-jānn / الجَانّ

Qur'anic term for jinn generally, and in classical lexicons a name for a slender, hidden-dwelling snake — the linguistic root of this site's subject.

Dhawwābin al-buyūt ذَوَّابين البيوت

"The inhabitants/dwellers of houses" — the hadith term for the class of jinn believed to live inside homes, most often in the form of small snakes.

Abtar أَبتَر

Literally "short-tailed." In hadith, a specific type of snake — marked by two dark streaks along the back in most descriptions — named as an exception to the warning rule and permitted to be killed on sight.

Dhu-l-ṭufyatayn ذو الطُّفيَتَين

"The one with two streaks." Used in some narrations interchangeably with abtar, in others as a separate marking-based category; sources are not unanimous.

Istidhān استئذان

"Seeking permission" or "giving notice" — the general Islamic etiquette term applied to the act of warning a house-snake before harming it.

Ifrit عِفريت

A powerful, often malevolent class of jinn, distinct from the house-dwelling snake-form jinn discussed on this site. See Smokeless Fire for a full jinn reference.

Marid مارِد

A class of especially strong or rebellious jinn in folklore and later literature, again distinct from the household snake-jinn tradition.

Shiqq شِقّ

A half-formed jinn of pre-Islamic Arabian legend — one side of a body only — unrelated to the snake-form tradition but sometimes grouped with it in general "types of jinn" lists.

Shahmaran شاه‌مار / Şahmaran

The woman-serpent queen of Kurdish, Turkish, and Anatolian legend. A related but separate tradition from the Islamic house-jinn belief — see Folklore.

Naga

Serpent deities and spirits in South Asian religious traditions, whose household-snake customs overlap in practice, but not in origin, with the jinn belief discussed here.