DIV FACE

With the broader meaning of demons or fiends, Div or dev are monstrous creatures within Middle Eastern lore. Most of their depictions derive from Persian mythology, integrated into isam, and spread to surrounding cultures, including Armenia, Turkic countries, and Albania. Although they are not explicitly mentioned within canonical Islamic scriptures, their existence was well accepted by most Muslims like that of other supernatural creatures. They exist alongside jinn and shaytan within South- and Central Asia demon beliefs.

They are described as having a body like a human, only of gigantic size, with two horns upon their heads and teeth like the tusks of a boar. Powerful, cruel, and cold-hearted, they have a particular relish for the taste of human flesh. Some use only primitive weapons, such as stones: others, more sophisticated, are equipped like warriors, wearing armor and using metal weapons. Despite their uncouth appearance and great physical strength, many are also masters of sorcery, capable of overcoming their enemies by magic and afflicting them with nightmares.

Their origin is disputed, although it may lie in the Vedic deities (devas) who were later demonized in the Persian religion (see daeva). In Ferdowsi's tenth-century Shahnameh, they are already the evil entities endowed with roughly human shapes and supernatural powers familiar from later folklore, in which the divs are described as ugly demons with supernatural strength and power, who, nonetheless, may sometimes be subdued and forced to do the bidding of a sorcerer.