Brewer's: Eblis

or Ibleis. A jinn, and the ruler of the evil genii, or fallen angels. Before his fall he was called Azazel or Hharis. When Adam was created, God commanded all the angels to worship him; but Eblis replied, “Me thou hast created of smokeless fire, and shall I reverence a creature made of dust?” God was very angry at this insolent answer, and turned the disobedient fay into a Sheytân (devil), and he became the father of devils.

“His majesty was a hundred feet in height; his skin, striped with red, was covered with small scales, which made it glisten like armour; his hair was so long and curly a snake might have lost its way in it; his flat nose was pierced with a ring of admirable workmanship; his small eyes assumed all the prismatic colours; his ears, which resembled those of an elephant, flapped on his shoulders; and his tail, sixty feet long, terminated in a hooked claw.” —Croquemitaine, ii. 10.

“When he said unto the angels, `Worship Adam,' all worshipped him except Eblis.” —Al Koran, ii.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

Ebony

Ebionites