Al Aaraaf

Al Aaraaf (Al Arg) (the partition) In Islamic mythology, the region between paradise and Djahannam, or hell, presided over by the beautiful maiden Nesace. Al Aaraaf is the place for those persons who are morally neither good nor bad, such as infants, lunatics, and idiots, as well as those whose life is a balance of good and evil. Edgar Allan Poe was fascinated by the idea and wrote in a letter to Isaac Lea that Al Aaraaf “is a medium between Heaven and Hell where men suffer no punishment but yet do not attain that tranquil or even happiness which they suppose to be characteristic of heavenly enjoyment.” In Poe’s poem “Al Aaraaf” it is a wondrous star surrounded by four suns. A youth, Angelo, is brought there with the hope of entering heaven, but an earthly love prevents him from hearing the call of Nesace.