PERFECT RELIGION 47
three kinds of creatures who belong to a different order from man, and yet are like him in some respects. These are angels, jinn, and devils. They are a species of spiritual creatures who have very direct relations with man, and touch him at many points in his daily life.
So it is that when a Moslem declares his belief in angels, as real beings, he means it literally. 1 He believes that there are unnumbered angelic hosts who were created from light. They have the power of speech, and are rational beings. There are four angels who rank highest among the messengers of God, and two recording angels for each single living individual. One sits on the right shoulder and records one's good deeds; the other sits on the left shoulder and records his evil deeds. At the close of the prayers which all Moslems must recite five times daily the worshiper turns his head to the right and then to the left in formal salutation of these angels. There are also two terrible black angels with blue eyes who meet men in the grave after burial, and ask them if they are Moslems. Should the reply be in the negative severe punishment is meted out to them then and there. There are guardian angels for man who take care of him in times of danger. Eight angels are mentioned who support God's throne, and the fires of hell are said to be in charge of nineteen.
Jinn, the genii of The Arabian Nights, are a sort of
1 Something similar to this belief is vividly portrayed in "Green Pastures" when one sees the idea of angels that the uneducated Negro of the deep South holds.
