Samūm is a demon in Ancient Arabic lore and later Islamic beliefs. As a kind of fire, it is also the origin of some kinds of evil spirits and further identified with both the fires of hell and the fire of the sun. The Samum probably originated from Jewish lore as an anthropomorphization of poisonous wind, which was probably also the origin of the concept of Samael and his lesser devils. Islam further develops the relation between the fires of Samum and Satan by asserting, that he or at least his minor devils, are created from the fires of Samum.
Etymology
The term Samūm derives from the root s-m-m سم, which means "to poison". It is also used of referring to a hot, dusty desert wind. In Talmudic and post-Talmudic literature the wind of Samum became a demon and the name of the Midrashicdevil Samael is linguistical related to it. Johann Gottfried Eichhorn relates the term to the Three Days of Darkness in Book of Exodus. Accordingly, the darkness comes just with the tempest of Samum. In the Quran the term appears in as the tormenting fires of Jahannam. Another time it occurs in as the origin of Jann. In Islamic traditions, it is usually interpreted as a kind of fire, which penetrates through the skin of human body in contrast to marijin min nar. However, both fires became usually associated with dangerous spirits. Later, Manichaeans referred to the pestilential wind in one of the five Kingdoms of the Prince of Darkness as Samum.
Composition
offers many interpretations for the nature of samūm. In one interpretation he provides, samūm is "hot wind which kills" and in another "the flame of the fire of the hot wind" and yet in another he relates it to "night-wind" in opposition to harur. Further, he states, some hold samūm to be the hell-fire. On the authority of Abu Ubaidah, samūm is the fire that "penetrates the pores due to its fineness in the day-time as well as at night". Abu Sãlih is reported as saying that samūm is smokeless fire located between the heavens and the veil. Tabari concludes, it is the heart of a flame and not wind, as others indicated. According to Ibn Abbas, the samūm is "the worst hot fire which kills". On the authority of 'Amir ibn Dinar, samūm is the fire of the sun. Most mufassirs repeat the mentioned interpretations, but usually more briefly.
Spirits
The Pre-Islamic Bedouins believed in various spirits, such as jinn, afarit and demons. One of these spirits is the whirlwind Samum and the belief in this demon persisted throughout Islamic history. Turkish sources describe the Samum as a creature, which grew envious of mankind and their love for God turned into hatred. Whereupon they had been cast out of God's mercy and joint Satan and his demons, honouring him as their new deity. Many mufassirs however, do not refer to Samum as a creature on its own but to the origin of a specific entity. Authorized by Ibn Abbas, Tabari distinguishes between angels created from light, the jinn created from a mixture of fire, and Iblis and the angels among him as created from the Fires of Samum. In some accounts, this tribe of angels is called Al-Hinn. Another story regards the Fires of Samum as the origin of a wife for Iblis, created by God after Iblis was banished from heaven, with whom he begot the demons. According to Al-Suyuti, Samum is the primogenitor of spirits.
Popular culture
The 2008 Turkish horror filmSemum is about a Samūm, allegedly based on different independent narrations about possessedpeople, claiming to encountered a Samūm. This Samum is depicted as a creature from hell itself, summoned by a witch and was forced to possess a woman.
