The Al is a malevolent female spirit dangerous to women in childbirth and to newborn infants. Haunting rivers and damp places, she was believed to steal the liver or lungs of a parturient woman; iron objects such as a roasting-spit or knife were laid beside mother and child to keep her off, and the lying-in room was guarded until the danger passed. The belief is common to the peoples of Daghestan, the Aghul form standing within the Lezgic variant of the wider Al and Albasty complex.