Jinn of Ubar
According to Bedouin tradition, the Empty Quarter (Rub' al Khali) around the site of the lost city of Ubar — identified by Nicholas Clapp's 1992 expedition with Iram of the Pillars at Shisr in Dhofar — was a land of jinn, spirits who could stir the wind. A Bedouin chant warns travellers against 'jinns and fiends, spirits of evil who infest the dunes.' These unseen guardians are tied to the legend of the wicked city of 'Ad, said to have been swallowed by the sands as divine punishment.