Secret Knowledge among Arabs before Islam

A work based on original Arabic accounts, presenting elements of ancient religions and folk beliefs of the Bedouins in the pre-Muslim period

Magic and divination in pre-Islamic Arabia encompassed a wide range of practices, including belief in jinn, warding off the evil eye, the production of amulets and other magical equipment, conjuring, wonder-working, dream interpretation, predicting the weather, casting lots, astrology, and physiognomy.

The studies presented here are concerned with the pre-Islamic antecedents of such practices, and with the theory of magic in healing, the nature and use of amulets and their decipherment.

Some of the studies are highly detailed, some long out of print, some revised or composed for this volume, and one translated into English for the first time.