Imagine a world that looks remarkably similar
to our own. You've got sprawling complex cities,
powerful kings ruling over these massive territories,
towering monuments reaching into the sky. Even
prophets preaching in the public squares. Exactly.
But here's the catch. This world exists 2 ,000
years before the very first human being. even
takes a breath. It is such a wild concept to
try and wrap your head around. It really is.
And the citizens walking those ancient streets,
they aren't made of flesh, blood, or bone. They
are sentient beings forged entirely from smokeless
fire. Right. Welcome to the world before humanity.
That is the mission of our deep dive today. We
are pulling from a massive stack of sources to
explore the world of Aljan, the mysterious ancient
ancestors of the Djinn. And this touches on so
many different areas. Yeah. We are looking at
linguistic histories, the Tassir, Epic, pre -Adamite
mythology, and even medieval Ashrite philosophy.
We're going to sift through all of it to uncover
who these beings were, what triggered the apocalyptic
collapse of their civilization, and what they
ultimately represent to us today. We'll even
get into some mind -bending rumors involving
the pyramids of Giza. Approaching the material
with that wide lens is essential, I think, because
when you delve into the specific cross section
of Islamic folklore and theology, you quickly
realize this is far more than just a collection
of campfire tales meant to keep travelers out
of the dark. Right. It's not just monster stories.
Not at all. The narrative of the John is really
a profound cosmological blueprint. It is an exploration
of how ancient cultures understood the mechanics
of creation, the inevitably cyclical nature of
corruption. and these invisible forces that constantly
shape the material world around us. Okay, let's
unpack this, starting right at the foundation,
which is the language itself. The word John originates
from the Semitic root J -N -N. The primary, most
fundamental meaning of that root is to hide or
to conceal. But woven right into the DNA of the
word is a secondary, highly specific meaning.
An agile snake. Yeah, that duality is incredible.
Right away, the linguistics establish this tension.
You have a concept of total invisibility paired
with the sudden kinetic slithering danger of
a serpent. It paints a picture of something that
is hidden, not because it is passive, but because
it is waiting. And the grammatical application
of the term adds a whole other layer of depth
to that. Well, John operates as a neuter singular
for the broader collective concept of djinn.
If a classical text refers to an individual,
it uses genie for the masculine or genia for
the feminine. But John is the overarching foundational
designator. And the scholar Amira Elzain pointed
out this brilliant nuance in how the term is
deployed in classical literature. She noted that
John is frequently used when an author needs
a single encompassing umbrella term for both
angels and gin. Wow. So it covers both sides
of the unseen. Exactly. It functions as the ultimate
linguistic container for all the hidden intelligent
forces operating behind the veil of the material
universe. That linguistic umbrella brings us
to a rather tragic piece of lore regarding their
current state. While Aujan is widely recognized
as the majestic, fiery ancestor of the jinn species,
certain traditions paint a much darker picture
of their present reality. Yeah, the folklore
takes a very grim turn here. It does. In various
strands of folklore, the Jian we might encounter
today are not viewed as powerful ancestors at
all. Instead, they are considered a devolved,
weakened, and heavily punished class of Jian.
The theological weight of that devolution is
massive. I mean, it implies a fall from a state
of grace that fundamentally altered their physical
and spiritual nature. And the sources offer this
really striking analogy for it. The degradation
of the John is directly compared to the legend
of the Dead Sea Apes. Oh, right. That is a very
specific, intense comparison. Very intense. In
that specific lore, A community of humans who
brazenly transgressed divine law weren't just
punished. They were ontologically downgraded.
They were transformed into apes, stripped of
their higher rational faculties and spiritual
rank. Stripped of their humanity, essentially.
Exactly. And the texts suggest a similar fate
befell the Jain. The slithering hidden entities
of the present day are the cursed, degraded remnants
of a civilization that used to command immense,
world -shaping power. What's fascinating here
is how the idea of hiding that core root meaning
of JNN we talked about connects directly to creatures
that literally had to be driven out of sight
by force. Yeah, they didn't just choose to hide.
No, not at all. The Lisan Arab, compiled by Ibn
Manzur, provides a definitive historical narrative
for this. It details how the creatures known
as the John originally lived completely openly
on the earth. They were walking around in plain
sight. They were the apex inhabitants. However,
they fell into intense corruption, caused rampant...
mischief and shed blood on a massive scale. In
response, divine armies of angels were deployed
to the Earth to physically drive them away. Just
a total planetary sweep. Exactly. They were forcibly
evicted into the most remote, hidden corners
of the world, and the angels temporarily took
over the administration of the Earth. So they
were basically the previous tenants of the planet,
and they were forcefully evicted for completely
trashing the environment and society they were
given. That eviction reshaped their entire identity.
They became the Hidden Ones not simply because
they were made of an invisible substance, but
by a rigid divine decree. Their concealment is
a perpetual exile. Which perfectly sets up the
elemental mechanics of their creation. When we
look at Sahih Muslim, we get this incredibly
elegant elemental trinity that structures the
entire cosmos. It is a beautiful framework. The
text lays out that humans were created from clay
or mud. something dense, heavy into the earth.
Angels were forged from light, and Aljan was
created from a mixture of fire. So you have earth,
light, and the volatile consuming energy of mixed
fire. Yeah, and that elemental breakdown fuels
one of the most persistent debates within chronic
exegesis. Oh, absolutely. The scholars are completely
united on the Quranic verses from Surah 15 and
Surah 55. Those explicitly state the Jan is created
from fire and serves as the ancestor of the jinn.
The point of friction, however, centers entirely
on the lineage of Iblis. Right. The question
is whether Iblis, the ultimate rebel, is the
exact same entity as Aljan, the father of the
jinn. It is a massive intellectual dispute in
the Tafsir. Hassan al -Basri argued forcefully
that Iblis and al -Jan are identical. In his
view, the father of the jinn and the ultimate
tempter are one and the same. But that's not
the majority opinion, is it? No, it's not. The
majority consensus draws a very distinct theological
line between them. They maintain that Iblis is
strictly the father of the shayatin, the actively
malevolent devils, while Jan is the father of
the jinn as a broader species. Which is a huge
distinction to make. It is crucial because it
allows the jinn to possess free will, moral ambiguity,
and varying religious alignments exactly like
humans, rather than just being this monolith
of pure evil. That nuance makes the unseen world
infinitely more complex. But I want to pull us
back to the JNN root meaning of the agile snake,
because the Quran utilizes this specific etymology
in a breathtaking way. Yes, the story of Moses.
Right. In Surah 27, we have the account of Moses
throwing down his wooden staff, which miraculously
transforms into a living serpent. The Arabic
word chosen in that specific verse to describe
the slithering, highly kinetic serpent is John.
It is such a brilliant textual echo. The linguistic
choice bridges the physical, material snake with
the unseen chaotic energy of the fire beings.
It implies the staff didn't just turn into a
garden variety reptile. It was temporarily imbued
with the terrifying volatile essence of the unseen
world. It underscores the suddenness. the raw
power, and the inherent danger associated with
these entities. They are framed as a highly active,
potent force. A force you need protection from.
Exactly. We see this urgency reflected in the
Al -Tirmidhi Hadith collections, which document
the Prophet Muhammad actively and constantly
seeking refuge in God from Aljan. This wasn't
some abstract theological exercise for him. It
was an active spiritual defense protocol. Yes,
and he maintained this practice until the specific
protective verses of Surah Al -Nas and Surah
Al -Fala. were revealed once that divine armor
was provided he utilized it illustrating that
the fiery forces of the unseen required literal
divine intervention to ward off here's where
it gets really interesting though everything
we have discussed up to this point the mixed
fire the hidden snakes the divine evictions is
merely the aftermath it is just the ruins it
is the radioactive fallout of an apocalyptic
world -spanning conflict if we wind the clock
back 2 ,000 years before the creation of Adam,
we enter the Persian Islamic legends detailing
the pre -Adamite era. This is the intersection
where formal theology really bleeds into grand,
sweeping mythology. The Persian texts describe
a global, technologically and socially advanced
civilization ruled by a king named Yan ibn Yan,
meaning son of Yan. And this wasn't a chaotic
horde of monsters. No, they had structure. They
had structured societies, strict laws, and the
heavy burden of free will. Because they possessed
that free will, they were sent their own prophets
to guide them, warn them, and attempt to keep
their society from fracturing. But the narrative
of Yon -Iv -Nyon is fundamentally a tragedy warning
about the cyclical nature of history. Despite
the prophets and the guidance, the John multiplied.
built their sprawling empire and ultimately succumbed
to their own arrogance. The power went to their
heads. The corruption became absolute. They began
shedding blood on an unimaginable scale, offending
the heavens so deeply that it left a permanent
psychological scar on the angelic host. You can
actually see the echoes of that trauma later
on in the text, right? Oh, clearly. When God
announces the creation of Adam as a new steward
for the earth, the angels immediately protest.
They question why God would place another being
on earth who will spread corruption They had
literal PTSD from witnessing the apocalyptic
self -destruction of the John. They really did.
So the corruption reaches a breaking point, and
God dispatches an army of angels to violently
chastise Jan Ibn Jan and his civilization. And
the commander of this angelic strike force is
Azazel. And for anyone familiar with the deeper
lore, Azazel is the entity who will eventually
fall from grace and become known as Iblis. The
irony embedded in that detail is just profound.
The being destined to become the great tempter
and enemy of humanity was originally utilized
as the divine instrument of wrath to cleanse
the earth of the pre -Adamite corruption. Azazel
looked at the sins of the John with absolute
self -righteous disgust, not realizing that very
pride would soon curdle into the arrogance that
would cause his own eternal exile. A young Ivanian
refuses to submit to Azazel's forces. This ignites
a literal globe -spanning war. Total devastation.
We even have accounts from Abu Bakr al -Shibli
detailing brutal skirmishes between the pre -Adamite
jinn and angelic jinn. It was a total cataclysmic
reset of the planet. And out of that reset, we
get some incredible folklore about what they
left behind. What stands out to you? I want you
listening right now to pause and picture the
sheer scale of the pyramids of Giza. They are
impossibly huge. For the medieval Arab scholars
and travelers traversing the deserts, staring
up at those massive stones, the sheer scale of
the architecture defied human capability. When
an ancient culture encounters ruins so grand
they shatter the boundaries of known engineering,
the human mind naturally attempts to fill the
void. Which brings us to one of the most incredible
details in the source material. A significant
body of medieval Arabic folklore attributes the
construction of the pyramids of Giza not to human
pharaohs, but direct... to the civilization of
Yan ibn Yan. They looked at the Great Pyramid
and concluded it was a pre -Adamite monument.
A surviving architectural relic built by the
beings of smokeless fire before the angels drove
them into the sea. It demonstrates an incredible
humility regarding human limitations, while simultaneously
showcasing a boundless cosmological imagination.
It is a way of acknowledging that the Earth possesses
a deep, violent history that predates humanity.
attributing the impossible architecture to the
supernatural forces that previously held the
lease on the planet. But as grand and cinematic
as this world -spanning mythological war is,
our texts take a massive unexpected turn. We
pivot from these external historical battles
of light and fire and move entirely inward. We
transition from myth to mind. Exactly. I want
to bring in the teachings of the medieval Asharite
mystic Ibn Arabi. In the realm of Islamic theology
and philosophy, Ibn Arabi is a towering intellectual
force. He's primarily known for his complex philosophy
regarding the unity of existence. He analyzed
all of these ancient accounts, the smokeless
fire, the rebellion, the war with the angels,
the exile to the far islands, and he internalized
the entire epic. It is a radical philosophical
shift. Ibn Arabi completely dismantles the idea
that the father of the jinn is an external monster
lurking on a remote, uncharted island. Let's
break down exactly how he structures this. Ibn
Arabi looks at the human condition and defines
it. The human exterior, the physical body, the
eyes that process light, the skin, the bones,
was forged from dense earth. It possesses a heavy,
dry solidity. You can feel its weight and its
limitations. But the interior of the human being,
the primal, invisible animal soul that exists
entirely outside the perception of our five senses.
According to Ibn Arabi, that unseen interior
is the John. Yes. He posits that God did not
create a John as a cryptozoological creature
hiding in the wilderness, but as the inner animalistic
drive hardwired into the chest of every single
human being. He transforms the ancient cosmology
into a map of human psychology. The John becomes
the origin point for our animal powers, our deepest
appetites, and our most primal, unfiltered instincts.
It's all happening inside us. And Ibn Arabi takes
the analysis a step further. He identifies the
strongest, most noble, yet immensely dangerous
power within this animal soul. That power is
illusion. It is the human capacity to imagine,
to be profoundly deceived by our own desires,
and to perceive a reality that simply does not
exist. This immense power of illusion is materialized
in the theological figure of Satan, or Iblis.
Because the texts establish that Iblis is a descendant
of the John. Exactly. Ibn Arabi highlights that
Iblis was created out of Marij, which specifically
translates to a subtle, pure, smokeless flame.
Therefore, the ultimate adversary isn't some
external entity with horns. It is the subtle,
fiery illusion constantly being generated by
your own internal animal soul. If we connect
this to the bigger picture, it fundamentally
changes how we interact with the entire pre -Adamite
legend. How so? Well, the ancient narrative of
the angels violently driving the John away from
the civilized earth into the remote wilderness
becomes an intricate metaphor. It represents
the human intellect and divine guidance constantly
working to suppress and exile our own pride.
primal animalistic urges. We are fighting our
own internal war. We are required to perpetually
banish our internal genre to the margins of our
consciousness so that the atom, the civilized,
rational, and spiritually elevated human, can
maintain control of the territory. So what does
this all mean for the listener? It means the
chaotic fire beings that supposedly waged war
against the heavens, shed blood, and corrupted
the pre -atomite earth are actually A mirror.
A reflection of ourselves. The texts warning
about the arrogance and destruction of Jean Avignon
are warning you about the chaotic, fiery potential
currently sitting right inside your own mind.
It brings our entire deep dive full circle today.
It really does. We started by examining a Semitic
root word meaning a hidden, agile snake. We expanded
that concept into a sprawling 2 ,000 year civilization
of fire that supposedly engineered the pyramids
and battled angels. And finally, through the
profound lens of Ibn Arabi, we realize that the
apocalyptic kingdom of Ibn Yan isn't a lost chapter
of ancient history. It is the primal animal soul
operating inside us every single day. We've spent
a lot of time discussing Ibn Arabi's concept
of the internal fire of illusion. But consider
how that ancient philosophical framework maps
onto our immediate reality today. Oh, that's
an interesting angle. We live in an era entirely
dominated by screens, algorithms, virtual realities,
and deep fakes. We are constantly interacting
with a world that isn't physically there. Right,
a world of pure illusion. If the legacy of the
John represents the supreme power of illusion,
deception, and the subtle flame of Marie, then
perhaps the far islands where the gene were banished
aren't in our subconscious at all. Where are
they? Perhaps the servers running our digital
lives, generating infinite illusions that consume
our attention and manipulate our desires, are
the new far islands. We might just be witnessing
the John building a brand new digital empire
of smokeless fire right in front of our eyes.
That is an incredibly unsettling. brilliant thought
to leave on. Thank you so much for joining us
on this deep dive into the pre -Adamite world.
Keep interrogating the ancient texts, keep searching
for the hidden histories beneath the folklore,
and maybe keep a very close eye on the subtle
illusions demanding your attention today. We
will catch you on the next deep dive.