Jinni Quotes

He makes a face and tosses the flower at me. It lands on my cheek, and I pick it up and twirl it between my fingers. I could lie out here all day, not moving an inch, feeling the sun above and the grass below. With a contented sigh, I stretch my arms wide, raking the grass with my fingers - and find myself brushing Aladdin's hand with my own. I pull it away quickly, my cheeks warming. He laughs a little.
"Sometimes," he says, "I forget you're supposed to be four thousand years old. You act as shy as a girl of sixteen."
"I do not!" I sit up and glare at him.
He grins and shrugs, sliding his hands under his head. There are bits of grass stuck in his hair, and after a moment's hesitation, I reach over and flick them away.
Aladdin watches me silently, his throat bobbing as he swallows. I drop my gaze. ~ Jessica Khoury

You lent me The Golden Compass! It's full of jinni trickery, and you were angry at me when I told you that made it dangerous! Why do you get mad when religion tells you that the things you want to be true are true?
When it's true, it's not fun anymore. All right? When it's true it's scary. ~ G. Willow Wilson

Her eyes. The Jinni watched the girl sprint excitedly back the way she'd come, driving her goats before her. He smiled, and wondered what a girl such as she might dream about. ~ Helene Wecker

Jinni and lost jannahs are less to him than dust. ~ Hannu Rajaniemi

You're a - you're a - "
Say it, boy. Demon of fire. Monster of smoke. Devil of sand and ash. Servant of Nardukha, Daughter of Ambadya, the Nameless, the Faceless, the Limitless. Slave of the Lamp. Jinni.
". . . a girl!" he finishes. ~ Jessica Khoury

Even a thief may have honor, and even a jinni may have a heart. ~ Jessica Khoury

Your master is weak because he loves. You are strong because you hate. In the end you are winner, jinni-girl. ~ Heather Demetrios

Use your wish," I whisper to Aladdin, opening my eyes. "Please."
"If I do," he replies softly, "I'll lose you. ~ Jessica Khoury

I think I'd miss the dreams.
Wecker, Helene (2013-04-23). The Golem and the Jinni (P.S.) (p. 59). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. ~ Helene Wecker

There you are," the man said. A small plate and a fork were in his hands. Irritated, the Jinni said, "Yes, here I am, enjoying a moment of solitude. ~ Helene Wecker

The Doper's Dream

Last night I dreamed I was plugged right in
To a bubblin' hookah so high,
When all of a sudden some Arab jinni
Jump up just a-winkin' his eye.
'I'm here to obey all your wishes,' he told me.
As for words I was trying to grope.
'Good buddy,' I cried, 'you could surely oblige me
By turning me on to some dope!'
With a bigfat smile he took ahold of my hand,
And we flew down the sky in a flash,
And the first thing I saw in the land where he took me
Was a whole solid mountain of hash!
All the trees was a-bloomin' with pink 'n' purple pills,
Whur the Romilar River flowed by,
To the magic mushrooms as wild as a rainbow,
So pretty that I wanted to cry.
All the girls come to greet us, so sweet in slow motion,
Mourning glories woven into their hair,
Bringin' great big handfuls of snowy cocaine,
All their dope they were eager to share.
We we dallied for days, just a-ballin' and smokin',
In the flowering Panama Red,
Just piggin' on peyote and nutmeg tea,
And those brownies so kind to your head.
Now I could've passed that good time forever,
And I really was fixing to stay,
But you know that jinni turned out, t'be a narco man,
And he busted me right whur I lay.
And he took me back to a cold, cold world
'N' now m'prison's whurever I be...
And I dream of the days back in Doperland
And I wonder, will I ever go fr ~ Thomas Pynchon

Now that the book is out in the world, I'm amazed all over again at what my friend did for me in prompting me to ditch realism for a more magical approach. In some ways, the Golem and the Jinni are the ultimate immigrants. They aren't just new to New York or America; they're new to people. Like those around them, they wrestle with issues of religion versus doubt and duty versus self-determination - but as inescapable aspects of their own otherworldly natures. For seven years I've lived with their questions, arguments, and adventures, and it's been one of the greatest gifts of my life. ~ Helene Wecker

So perhaps this God of the humans is just a jinni like myself, stuck in the heavens, forced to answer wishes. Or maybe he freed himself long ago, only no one told them. ~ Helene Wecker

I am Bartimaeus! I am Sakhr al-Jinni, N'gorso the Mighty, and the Serpent of Silver Plumes! I have rebuilt the walls of Uruk, Karnak, and Prague. I have spoken with Solomon. I have run with the buffalo fathers of the plains. I have watched over Old Zimbabwe till the stones fell and the jackals fed on its people. I am Bartimaeus! ~ Jonathan Stroud

Let me see if I understand correctly now," the Jinni said at one point. "You and your relations believe that a ghost living in the sky can grant you wishes." "That is a gross oversimplification, and you know it." "And yet, according to men, we jinn are nothing but children's tales?" "This is different. This is about religion and faith." "And where exactly is the difference?" "Are you honestly asking, or being deliberately insulting?" "I'm honestly asking. ~ Helene Wecker

This is Roshana, the last queen of the Amulen Empire, back when my people ruled all the lands from the east to the west. She is something of a legend among us. Every queen aspires to learn from her mistakes."
"Her mistakes? Surely you mean her victories."
"What?"
I frown at her. "Roshana was one of the greatest queens in the world. She ended the Mountain Wars, she routed Sanhezriyah the Mad, she - "
"For a foreign serving girl, you are strangely well versed in Amulen history."
"I spent a lot of time in libraries as a girl."
"Were you there to dust the scrolls or read them?"
"Surely Roshana's victories outweigh her errors."
"The higher you rise, the farther you fall. For all her wisdom, Roshana was fooled by the jinni, believing it was her friend, and then it destroyed her. Ever since that day, my people have hunted the jinn. There is no creature more vicious and untrustworthy."
"This is not the story I heard," I say softly. "My people tell it differently. That the jinni truly was a friend to Roshana but was forced to turn against her. That she had no choice."
"Surely I know how my own ancestress died," returns the princess, a bit hotly. "Anyway, it was a long time ago, but we Amulens do not forget. ~ Jessica Khoury

What good is it Habiba, to deny the truth? Your friendship woke something in me all those centuries ago, some dormant humanity that had lingered through the years, and after you died, it recoiled and hid again.
But Aladdin has woken it once more. With his sun-bright smile and his laughing eyes and his way of asking the hardest kind of questions. After you, I swore to never love again.
But I love him.
And so I must let him go. ~ Jessica Khoury

You're very pretty," he murmurs, his voice thick with sleep, "for a jinni." "Have you met many jinn?" "No." His lips curl into a dazed grin. "But I've met a lot of pretty girls. ~ Jessica Khoury

Beware the man (or jinni) of action when he finally seeks to better himself with thought. A little thinking is a dangerous thing. ~ Salman Rushdie

And what if you weren't a jinni? What if you were free from their rules?"
I stare at him. His jaw tightens, his eyes steely with determination that frightens me to my core. A cloud drifts across the face of the crescent moon, and the courtyard darkens. Here and there, the grass is still bent where Aladdin and I danced just hours earlier. I drop my gaze and glare at it, shaking from head to toe.
"Don't say it, Aladdin. Don't you even think it." Dread rises in me like a storm cloud, dark and menacing.
Aladdin moves closer. He takes my hands. His skin is warm and crackling with energy, setting me on fire.
"I have one wish left," he murmurs. "And this one is for you."
"No, Aladdin! Don't speak it. Don't make the Forbidden Wish. The cost - "
"Damn the cost. Zahra, I wish - "
I stop him with a kiss.
Because it is the first thing I think of to stop the terrible words. Because he fills me with light and hope and deep, deep fear. Because I have been longing to for days. ~ Jessica Khoury