An opinion quoted by a celebrated author respecting the G͟hūl is, that it is a demoniacal animal, which passes a solitary existence in the deserts, resembling both man and brute; that it appears to a person travelling alone in the night and in solitary places, and, being supposed by him to be itself a traveller, lures him out of his way. Another opinion stated by him is this: that, when the Shait̤āns attempt to hear words by stealth [from the confines of the lowest heaven], they are struck by shooting stars, and some are burnt; some falling into a sea, or rather a large river (baḥr), become converted into crocodiles; and some, falling upon the land, become G͟hūls. The same author adds the following tradition: “The G͟hūl is any Jinn that is opposed to travels, assuming various forms and appearances; and affirms that several of the Companions of the Prophet saw G͟hūls in their travels; and that ʿUmar among them saw a G͟hūl while on a journey to Syria, before Islām, and struck it with his sword.”
It appears that “G͟hūl” is, properly speaking, a name only given to a female demon of the kind above described; the male is called “Qut̤rub.” It is said that these beings, and the G͟haddār, or G͟harrār, and other similar creatures, which will presently be mentioned, are the offspring of Iblīs and of a wife whom God created for him of the fire of the Samūm (which here signifies, as in an instance before mentioned, “a smokeless fire”); and that they sprang from an egg. The female G͟hūl, it is added, appears to men in the deserts, in various forms, converses with them, and sometimes prostitutes herself to them.
The Siʿlāt, or Siʿlāʾ, is another demoniacal creature, described by some [or rather, by most authors] as of the Jinn. It is said that it is mostly found in forests; and that when it captures a man, it makes him dance, and plays with him as the cat plays with the mouse. A man of Isfahan asserted that many beings of this kind abounded in his country; that sometime the wolf would hunt one of them by night, and devour it, and that, when it had seized it, the Siʿlāʾ would cry out, “Come to my help, for the wolf devoureth me!” or it would cry, “Who will liberate me? I have a hundred dīnārs, and he shall receive them!” But the people knowing that it was the cry of the Siʿlāʾ, no one would liberate it; and so the wolf would eat it.
An island in the sea of China (Ṣīn) is called “the island of the Siʿlāʾ,” by Arab geographers, from its being said to be inhabited by the demons so named; they are described as creatures of hideous forms, supposed to be Shait̤āns, the offspring of human beings and Jinn, who eat men.
The G͟haddār is another creature of a similar nature, described as being found in the borders of al-Yaman, and sometimes in Tihāmah, and in the upper parts of Egypt. It is said that it entices a man to it, and either tortures him in a manner not to be described, or merely terrifies him, and leaves him.
The Dalhān is also a demoniacal being, inhabiting the islands of the seas, having the form of a man, and riding on an ostrich. It eats the flesh of men whom the sea casts on the shore from wrecks. Some say that a Dalhān once attacked a ship on the sea, and desired to take the crew; but they contended with it; whereupon it uttered a cry which caused them to fall on their faces, and it took them.
The Shiqq is another demoniacal creature, having the form of half a human being (like a man divided longitudinally); and it is believed that the Nasnās is the offspring of a Shiqq and of a human being. The Shiqq appears to travellers; and it was a demon of this kind who killed, and was killed by ʿAlqamah, the son of Safwān, the son of Umaiyah, of whom it is well known that he was killed by a Jinn. So says al-Qazwīnī.
The Nasnās (above mentioned) is described as resembling half a human being; having half a head, half a body, one arm, and one leg, with which it hops with much agility; as being found in the woods of al-Yaman, and being endowed with speech; “but God,” it is added, “is all knowing.” It is said that it is found in Ḥaẓramaut as well as al-Yaman; and that one was brought alive to al-Mutawakkil. It resembled a man in form, excepting that it had but half a face, which was in its breast, and a tail like that of a sheep. The people of Ḥaẓramaut, it is added, eat it; and its flesh is sweet. It is only generated in their country. A man who went there asserted that he saw a captured Nasnās, which cried out for mercy, conjuring him by God and by himself.
A race of people whose head is in the breast, is described as inhabiting an island called Jabah (supposed to be Java), in the sea of Hind, or India. A kind of Nasnās is also described as inhabiting the island of Raij, in the sea of China, and having wings like those of the bat.
The Hātif is a being that is heard, but not seen; and is often mentioned by Arab writers. It is generally the communicator of some intelligence in the way of advice, or direction, or warning. (See Lane’s Modern Egyptians; Lane’s Notes on the Arabian Nights.)