Nar as-samūm The term Samūm derives from the root s-m-m سم, which means "to poison". It is also used of referring to a hot, dusty desert wind. In Talmudic and post-Talmudic literature the wind of Samum became a demon and the name of the Midrashic devil Samael is linguistical related to it. Johann Gottfried Eichhorn relates the term to the Three Days of Darkness in Book of Exodus. Accordingly, the darkness comes just with the tempest of Samum. In the Quran the term appears in Quran 56:42 as the tormenting fires of Jahannam. Another time it occurs in Quran 15:27 as the origin of Jann, the first and father of jinn. In Islamic traditions, it is usually interpreted as a kind of fire, which penetrates through the skin of human body in contrast to marijin min nar. However, both fires became usually associated with dangerous spirits. Later, Manichaeans referred to the pestilential wind in one of the five Kingdoms of the Prince of Darkness as Samum.