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>Indeed, the daevas were seen as ahuras who had fallen from grace to become earth-bound devils (dev or div in Persian, from which we get the word devil), 'begotten' of Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, the 'wicked spirit'. Despite the dark nature of the daevas, their name actually derives from the word devata, meaning, as in the case of the ahuras, the 'Shining Ones'
>Once the Arabs had cut their way across Persia in the seventh century AD, Angra Mainyu became transformed into a character named Eblis, or Iblis - an angel 'born of fire', who was said to have refused to bow down before Adam at the command of God, and as a result had been cast out of heaven. Before his fall through pride, however, Eblis had been known by the name Azazel, the name given to one of the leaders of the Watchers in the Book of Enoch; a strange connection not explained in Islamic myth. In Arabic folklore Eblis was seen as the father of the divs, or djinn, and from him sprang the evil Peri (pari in Persian, Pairika in the Zend-Avesta), beautiful angels who disguised 'their malevolence under their charming appearance'
>Tales concerning divs proliferate in ancient Iranian mythology, where they are portrayed as essentially human-like, yet of great height with horns, large ears and tails. They were often sorcerers or magicians who possessed 'superior power and intelligence' beyond that of mortal beings. In spite of the fact that they could vanish at will, their clear physical nature was displayed on the battlefield, where they were frequently dispatched by sword or battleaxe.'
>If one takes away the horns, long ears and tails, which were undoubtedly added at a later stage in the development of these legends to demean the character of the divs, then you are left with very human-like individuals. Indeed, a div is described as 'a god, or personage of a higher class in the scale of earthly beings'
