Context

The Quran contains a rather curious narrative in which the stars serve as a barrier against demons coming to spy on the divine assembly to extract information. Some demons, however, manage to circumvent the trap and seize a few bits of information. They are then pursued with meteorites: We have decorated the nearest sky with a scenery: the stars, in order to protect it against any rebellious devil. They will not be able to listen in on the assembly; for they will be harassed from all sides, and repelled. And they will have a perpetual punishment. Except for those who seize some [information] in passing; they then are chased by a piercing meteor (37:6-10). The source of this story comes from various Near Eastern myths.

The divine assembly

To better understand this story of demons chased by meteorites, let us take things in order. The Quran first mentions the celestial assembly where the chiefs of the angels gather to decide on human affairs 1. This idea is indirectly derived from Mesopotamian mythology, where texts mention a gathering where divinities assemble to make decisions concerning the fate of certain humans, or even all of humanity. Corinne Bonnet clarifies that “this notion is probably a kind of projection of human assemblies presided over by the king. In other words, the representation of the divine kingdom is modeled after that of humans” 2. The theme of the celestial assembly is also found in many other Near Eastern traditions, for example among the Phoenicians or the Hebrews 3, which likely served as a bridge between Mesopotamian myth and the Quranic milieu. It is also possible that “this heavenly court” could be linked to pre-Islamic pagan myths about nature, which contain similar imagery and where the sky is a central theme 4. In both cases, it is clear that the Quran adopts a mythologically derived concept.

A Zoroastrian myth

It is then said that demons try to approach the celestial assembly to listen to the decisions. To prevent this, Allah placed stars in the sky serving as a barrier. Interestingly, the constellations of the zodiac are sometimes referred to in the Quran by the term burûj (15:16; 25:61; 85:1), which means “towers” (see for example 4:78). This confirms that, for the Quranic authors, stars are literally fortifications. Moreover, the Arabic burûj derives from the Greek purgos (πύργος) which precisely means “tower, citadel” 5. The term appears in Homer’s Odyssey where it is used to denote city defensive towers: “When we enter the city, surrounded by a wall flanked by high towers [...]” (Book VI, 262). Curiously, the star-fortresses erected by Allah do not seem to function, as some demons still manage to obtain information from the celestial assembly. These are then stoned with shooting stars (37:10). This time, the source of the Quranic story must be sought in Zoroastrian mythology 6. According to Zoroastrian texts 7, the god Ohrmazd resides in the upper part of the sky, which is supposedly inaccessible to evil forces. These forces are in the lower sky but attempt to ascend in order to fight Ohrmazd, who created the stars as soldiers to assist him in his struggle. It is this tradition that the Quran alludes to when it states that “We protected it against every rebellious devil” (15:6), the protection being of course the stars: “We have decorated the nearest sky with a decor: the stars, to protect it from any rebellious devil” (37:6-7). In both the Quran and Persian mythology, stars primarily serve to prevent demons from reaching the upper sky.

The spying demons

However, there is a difference between the Quran and Zoroastrian texts: in the Quran, demons seek to penetrate the sky to access celestial information, not to harm the deity. This leads us to now consider apocryphal and Talmudic texts. In the Testament of Solomon, an apocryphal book written between the 1st and 3rd centuries by a Christian author, there is a dialogue between the demon Ornias and the prophet Solomon. The demon tells him: “We, the demons, ascend to the firmament of the sky, we fly among the stars, and we hear the decisions that emanate from God concerning the life of men” (20:12). The idea that demons listen to information coming from God (or angels) is also found in the Talmud (Gittin 68a; Chagigah 16a) and in the writings of Church Fathers. In his Divine Institutions, the Christian theologian Lactantius (d. 320) writes that demons have access to certain knowledge of the future, though he clarifies that “it is not given to them to know exactly the divine dispositions, which is why they often give ambiguous oracles” (Book II, 16.4).

Conclusion

The Quranic story of the somewhat too curious demons who are chased away by stars is rooted in many myths and traditions of the Near East. First, the Mesopotamian texts that mention the assembly of gods deciding human destiny, similar to the celestial gathering of angels in the Quran. Then, we saw the role of star-soldiers in Persian mythology, serving as a barrier against evil forces. Finally, several Jewish and Christian authors mention demons attempting to intercept celestial information — though the idea does not appear in the biblical Scriptures. The Quran thus forms a mixture of legends and myths from various origins.