What is a peri?
The peri (pari) is a spirit of the myths and folklore of Persia (today’s Iran). Described as having wings and a beautiful form, peris have been such a symbol of beauty that Persian literature compares beautiful women to having “a face like a peri.”
From evil being to beautiful spirit
In the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia, the beings from which the peri derives were feared as evil female spirits who led people astray. Over time, however, the image changed, and in Persian literature after the coming of Islam, peris came to be portrayed as good and beautiful spirits. They are sometimes told of as fighting the demons called divs.
Paradise and the Peri
The peri is sometimes told of as a being driven from paradise for a sin, who seeks the gift most precious to heaven in order to be forgiven and return. The 19th-century Irish poet Thomas Moore wrote a poem on this theme, and the composer Schumann based his oratorio Paradise and the Peri on it. Along with the Arabian jinn, peris are among the best-known spirits of the Middle East.
