Having completed his description of the angelic realm and its relation to the life of the human being, Hazrat Inayat Khan now begins an explanation of the sphere of the Jinn.
The soul which has passed through the angelic heavens in its descent to earth comes next into the sphere of the Jinn or genius. This is the sphere of mind, and may be called the spiritual sphere, for it is mind and soul which make spirit. The souls who halt in this sphere, being attracted by its beauty, settle there; also the souls who have no power to go further into outer manifestation become the inhabitants of this sphere. Therefore there are three kinds of souls who touch this sphere on their way to manifestation, the souls who are attracted to this sphere, and who decide to remain there, the souls who are unable to go farther, and who have to settle there, and the souls who are continuing their journey towards the earth-plane, and who are there on their way to the earth.
The jinn is an entity with a mind; but not a mind like that of man, a mind more pure, more clear, and illuminated by the light of intelligence. The mind of the jinn is deeper in perception and in conception because it is empty, not filled with the thoughts and imaginations as is that of man. It is the mind of the jinn which may be called the ’empty cup’; a cup into which knowledge can be poured, in which there is accommodation. It is for this reason that the Teachers on the spiritual path appreciate the quality of the jinn in the minds of their pupils, in which they find accommodation for knowledge. A cup which is already filled, or even partly filled, does not give free accommodation for that knowledge which the Teacher wishes to pour into the heart of his pupil. As the jinns are keen in perception and conception, so they are keen in expression either in word or deed. The action of the jinn extends as far as the mind can reach; and the word of the jinn reaches even farther than the voice, for it takes as its route the mental sphere, which is above the airwaves.
The jinn comes closer to man than the angel; for in the jinn there is something like the mind that is completed in man. All the intuitive and inspirational properties are possessed by the jinn, because that is the only source that the jinn have of receiving its knowledge. Subjects such as poetry, music, art, inventive science, philosophy and morals are akin to the nature of the jinn. The artist, the poet, the musician and the philosopher show in their gifts throughout their lives the heritage of the jinn. The words genius and jinn come from a Sanskrit word Jnana, which means knowledge. The jinns, therefore, are the beings of knowledge, whose hunger is for knowledge, whose joy is in learning, in understanding, and whose work is in inspiring, and bringing light and joy to others. In every kind of knowledge that exists, the favorite knowledge to a jinn is the knowledge of truth, in which is the fulfillment of its life’s purpose.
The sphere of the jinn is the universe of minds. It may be called a mental world, and yet the soul is with the mind. The soul with the mind is called spirit, and therefore it may also be called a spiritual world. The questions, ‘What are the jinns like? What do they look like?’ may be answered in the same way as in explaining the forms of angels, that things are not always as they are, but as we see them. Man always pictures the beings he imagines and cannot see with his physical eyes as something like himself; or man’s imagination may gather together different forms: for instance, wings from the birds, horns from the oxen, hooves from horses and paws from tigers. He puts them all together and makes a new form.
To be continued…