Persian fairies almost die (5)

I believe the answer is:

peris

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'persian fairies' is the definition.
'peris' can be an answer for 'fairies' (I've seen this in other clues). I'm not sure about the 'persian' bit.

'almost die' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'die' becomes 'perish' (synonyms).
'perish' with its last letter taken away is 'PERIS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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