He counts Jews, Arabs, Iranians, probably all middle easterners, as belonging to a similiar "Arab" cultural category, and the symbol he ascribes to them is "the Cave" -something about this world as a dark, inscrutably mystical place, hence their obsession with magic spells etc, illuminated by a little opening of heavenly light above. These symbols in themselves aren't magical or weird, consider how a symbol like "the Frontier" could be seen as a driving force in American culture.