in a lot of the stories, a Djinn can grant 1-3 wishes. But, there are usually caveats attached: no bringing back the dead, no creating love, and no killing being the three most common, afaik.
So, my question is: say Sam found a lamp that had a Djinn, and actually wished for someone to die: would that wish be counted towards their total, or not?
The stories/lore I've found on the subject are surprisingly vague...
in a lot of the stories, a Djinn can grant 1-3 wishes. But, there are usually caveats attached: no bringing back the dead, no creating love, and no killing being the three most common, afaik.
So, my question is: say Sam found a lamp that had a Djinn, and actually wished for someone to die: would that wish be counted towards their total, or not?
The stories/lore I've found on the subject are surprisingly vague...
The myth has mutated over the years. In general, the no bringing back the dead or creating love is a plot device (like in Disney's Aladdin). Other versions have different rules. I believe early wishes required the third wish to be used to seal the Djinn back in the bottle.
But on what you're talking about, it would again depend on the story. In general, I would say making wishes that can't be done generally don't count.
In the Arabian Nights, there are no particular rules for djinn. Some of them help you, some just try to kill you. Even the story of Aladdin, which is not original to the Arabian Nights but was inserted by a French guy, doesn't actually do the three wishes thing: the djinn (there are two) simply act as servants or slaves to Aladdin, doing whatever he wants that is within their power.
Also, the story is set in China.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
What I know of jinn are that they are pre-Islamic shapeshifting creatures made from smokeless fire that kind of wander about the world and cause mayhem. When a farmer came across the jars containing the Nag Hammadi texts, he was scared to open them because he thought they had a jinn inside that would cause him harm.
The Western conception of genies is odd to say the least. To take a creature that was once created by God and refused to bow to Adam come back in a lamp and grant wishes...it doesn't compute, but I don't know much about Aladdin.
"There are the angels, and there are men, who Allah made from mud, and then there are the people of the fire, the jinn," says Salim.
"People know nothing about my people here," says the driver. "They think we grant wishes. If I could grant wishes do you think I would be driving a cab?"
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We have laboured long to build a heaven, only to find it populated with horrors.
a creature that was once created by God and refused to bow to Adam.
That story in the qur’an refers to a very specific jinn: Satan himself. The other jinns (yes, apparently made of smokeless fire, even though fire is a chemical process) are free to worship allah as they like, just like humans.
Yes, they were pre–Islamic, but they were seen in a more numinous sort of a way. Except that, as desert dwellers, the Arabs associated spirits of nature with evil, hence the fear of jinns.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So, my question is: say Sam found a lamp that had a Djinn, and actually wished for someone to die: would that wish be counted towards their total, or not?
The stories/lore I've found on the subject are surprisingly vague...
"normality is a paved road: it is comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow there."
-Vincent Van Gogh
things I hate:
1. lists.
b. inconsistencies.
V. incorrect math.
2. quotes in signatures
III: irony.
there are two kinds of people in the world: those who can make reasonable conclusions based on conjecture.
The myth has mutated over the years. In general, the no bringing back the dead or creating love is a plot device (like in Disney's Aladdin). Other versions have different rules. I believe early wishes required the third wish to be used to seal the Djinn back in the bottle.
But on what you're talking about, it would again depend on the story. In general, I would say making wishes that can't be done generally don't count.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Also, the story is set in China.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
The Western conception of genies is odd to say the least. To take a creature that was once created by God and refused to bow to Adam come back in a lamp and grant wishes...it doesn't compute, but I don't know much about Aladdin.
Yes, they were pre–Islamic, but they were seen in a more numinous sort of a way. Except that, as desert dwellers, the Arabs associated spirits of nature with evil, hence the fear of jinns.