72.1 – I am inspired that a band of the jinn listened
Much of the first half of the sūra is presented as the speech of jinn (vv. 1–5, 8–14), recited by the messenger with a claim of inspiration.
The Quran presents the jinn as a species of created being (6.100) alongside humankind and angels. They are created from fire (55.15). The Quran pairs jinn with humans twenty times, including in the very last verse of the book, “of the jinn and of humankind” (114.6). Iblīs is described as one of the jinn (18.50; cf. 7.12), though elsewhere he seems to be one of the angels (e.g., 2.34). The jinn seduce humans (6.128). Allah sends messengers to jinn (6.130) and will judge them (37.158). Solomon commands jinn (27.17, 39; 34.12, 14), though elsewhere his helpers are called “satans” (shayāṭīn, 21.82; 38.37) – leading to the idea that these invisible beings are equivalent in the Quran.
In the following verses, the jinn say that there are both good and bad among them (vv. 11, 14).