In Manichaean cosmology, the world of darkness, which invaded the world of light in a lustful desire to mingle with the light, is ruled by five evil Archons (demon, dragon, eagle, fish and lion), who together make up the Prince of Darkness.
[1] To prevent the light particles from returning into their divine origin, they counter by giving birth to two demonic beings: Sakla and Nebroel.
As the strict anti-thesis of the pure light, the Prince of Darkness cannot create ex nihilo, but only by copulation.
The Manichaean bishop Faustus of Mileve defends Manichaeism by stating that Catholics erroneously assume that the Prince of Darkness had a divine essence, while in fact, the Prince of Darkness does not share any attributes with the Divine, thus Manichaeism would not worship multiple gods, but rather one true god.
[3] In relation to Islam, the expression Iblīs al-Qadīm (The Ancient Iblis) can be found,[3] but is also referred to as al-Šayṭān.