A SYSTEM OF SAND DIVINATION1

The method of foretelling the future, here described, is that practiced by the Arabs. The
Mahāmid and Ta’āīsha are said to be particularly expert in it, but it is common in northern and
southern Kordofan and probably, also, all over the northern Sudan. Other methods, practiced by
non-Arab tribes, such as Zaghāwa, Nūba and Kāra, are of little interest, for the marks in the sand
and the accompanying mutterings merely serve to conceal from the credulous client that the seer
is relying solely on his imagination; but the Arab system is elaborate and intelligible, and the seer
can justify his prophecies in detail from the writing in the sand. It is called “Khatt El Rammāl”,
and the exponent of it is called a “ Khattāt” or “ Khattāti.” It differs from mere fortune-telling in
that it is applied to determine only one particular event, such as the result of a search for a lost
animal, of an illness, of a hunting expedition, or of an attempt to collect a debt.
At a propitious hour, noon, or one-third of the day before or after noon, the Khattāt having
prepared a smooth patch of sand, his client places the tip of the middle finger of his right hand on
the ground and states to himself, not aloud, the “nīya,”, or object of his quest.
Also with the tip of the middle finger of his right hand, the Khattāt makes in the sand four
liens of fingerprints of random length and then counts off the prints of each line, in pairs, to see if
it contains an odd or even number. If the former, one print is left over at the end of the line; if
the latter, two. Fig. 1 shows an example, ‘o’s representing the fingerprints. The prints thus left
over are then recorded one below the other on the smooth sand, forming a little figure (Fig. 2)
and the lines of prints are smoothed out. This process is repeated four times, the resulting figures
being placed in order from right to left. Fig. 3 illustrates this stage of the proceedings.

o o o o o o / o o
o o o o / o
o o o o o o o o / o
o o o o o / o
Fig. 1.

o o
o
o
o o
Fig. 2.

o o o o o o
o o o o
o o o o o o
o o o o o
Fig. 3.

1 Reprinted by special permission from Sudan Notes, Khartoum. Reprinted in The Muslim World (1927), vol. 17, issue 2, pp.
123-127. Transcribed from an archived copy located in the University of Virginia, by Mr. S. J. Block. Not for republication or
resale; for personal use only.
 The four figures thus obtained “breed” the whole of the Khatt shown in Fig. 4 in the
following manner. “House” No. 5 contains the figure formed by taking in order the top
components in the figures in “houses” No. 1, 2, 3 and 4. The four components next below these
give the figure in house No. 6; the next below that in No. 8; and those at the bottom, that in No.
8. The figure in No. 9 is bred from those in No. 1 and 2. The two top to an odd number of
prints, and a double print when they amount to an even number. Similarly the remaining
components of the figure in No. 9 are derived by combining in pairs the remaining components
of Nos. 1 and 2. In exactly the same way, Nos. 3 and 4 breed No. 10; Nos. 5 and 6 breed No. 11;
Nos. 7 and 8 breed No. 12; Nos. 9 and 10 breed No. 13; Nos. 11 and 12 breed No. 14; and Nos.
13 and 14 breed No. 15.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
o o o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o o o

12 11 10 9
o o o o o
o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o
o o o o o

14 13
o o o
o o o o
o o o o
o o o

15
o
o o
o o
o

Fig. 4

The “houses” containing the figures are named as follows, those on the right pertaining to the
searcher and those on the left, with the exceptions to be noted later, to his enemy, e.g., the thief
of his stolen animal or the defaulting debtor:

No. 1: Beit El Nīya, the house of the object of the quest.

No. 2: Teni El Beit, the repetition of No. 1.
No. 3 and 4: Buyūt El Jīrān, the neighbor’s houses.
No. 5: El Beit El Muqābila, the house opposite.
No. 6: Beit El Zulm, the house of wrong.
 No. 7: Sābi’ El Buyūt, the seventh house.
No. 8: El Shatteir, the double-faced.
No. 9, 10, 11, and 12 are each a Watid, a peg.
No. 13 and 14 are each a Farāsh, a bed.
No. 15: El Khātima or Majma’ El Khatt, the seal or sum total of the Khatt.

There are sixteen possible figures, which provide, as it were, the vocabulary of the Khatt.
They are named and described as follows, the numbers under the diagrams corresponding with
those in the list of names.

o o o o
o o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o o o o o o
1 2 3 4 5 6

o
o o o o o
o o o
o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o o o
7 8 9 10 11 12

o
o o o o o
o o o o o o
o o o o o o
o o o o o o
13 14 15 16

1. Ṭarīq, a road, indicating a journey.

2. Tiql, an ape, a man of empty talk.
3. Jihīn, or Abu Heila, a fikih, red in color.
4. Rakīza, a woman who brings news.
5. Rasn, a head-rope, indicating a journey.
6. Jebbār, a powerful sheikh or noble.
7. Ḥurr, a tall yellow man with a fire-mark or pock-mark in mid-forehead.
8. Rāiya, a tall woman, like a flag, full of words.
9. Qābid, indicating a successful seizure of an animal, etc.
10. Khārij, an indication of a journey, or selling, or loss of a stolen animal, etc.
11. Beyyād, a poor unimportant man.
12. Jōdala, a woman of no importance.
13. Mahzūm, a stouthearted man, the thief (if found in the enemy’s houses), but
weaker than Jebbār.
14. Humra’, a red woman, with face-markings, an indication of blood.
15. Dāmir, a hungry man on a journey.
16. Ṣurra, a woman of good omen.
 It is to be noted that these figures, read from left to right, are complementary to each other in
pairs, the one having a single print where the other has two. This relationship is interpreted to
mean that Jihīn and Rakīza are man and wife, as are Ḥurr and Rāiya, Beyyād and Jōdala,
Mahzūm and Humra’, and Dāmir and Ṣurra. Jebbār and Rasn are brothers, and so are Qābid and
Khārij. No relationship is recognized between Ṭarīq and Tiql.
Those figures which contain an even number of prints are said to be helu, sweet, or of good
omen, while those which contain an odd number are murr, bitter, or ill-omened, when they occur
in those houses which pertain to the searcher; vice versa when they occur in the houses of the
enemy.
As has been noted already, the searcher’s houses are those on the right, but in addition to
these “the seventh house” belongs to him, presumably because seven is a lucky number. Further,
the figure in No. 8, “the double-faced,” will never be actively hostile, while if its complementary
figure is found in any of the houses No. 1 to 4, it will “come over” to the searcher’s side, unless it
is prevented by the presence of its complementary figure in its watid, No. 12. In general the
awtād exert a detaining influence. Thus, while a Rasn in No. 1 would indicate a journey on the
part of the searcher, if it were combined with a Jebbār in No. 9 the interference would be that the
journey would be delayed by some powerful person. Two figures of the same kind in houses No.
1 to 4 would bring over a third figure of the same kind, found in the enemy’s houses, to the aid of
the searcher. It would thus appear that the enemy is considerably handicapped in the struggle;
and, as a further precaution against a complete dashing of his hopes, the searcher has the right to
try the Khatt three times, if a preliminary inspection of the first two tries should show the omens
to be unfavorable.
The figure in No. 15, “the sum total of the Khatt,” indicates the general trend of the search.
Should it be a Qābid the seeker for a lost animal or the collector of a debt would consider it a
conclusive omen of speedy success, for, as the jingle goes, “Qābid fī’l ‘īd, mā ba’ īd,” “Should
Qābid appear, success is near.” Conversely, a Khārij in No. 15, in the same circumstances,
would be the worst possible omen.
Clearly a Khatt will often be susceptible of an elaborate interpretation, according to the skill
and imaginative power of the Khattāt. Sometimes, however, a weighty, or even a decisive, omen
appears at once. The following are some examples.
Identical figures in houses No. 1 and No. 2 are infallibly a bad omen for the searcher, for, as
the rhyme says, “Sadaqū el tīwān, wa law turqān,” “Twin-figures speak the truth, even if they be
Ṭarīqs”–the Ṭarīq being the most insignificant of all the figures. In particular, when the fate of a
sick man is in question, a Jihīn in each of Nos. 1 and 2 means he will certainly die, while if the
search is for a lost anima, a Khārij in each of these houses means that there is no chance of
success.
If game is the object, a Ḥumra’ in No. 9 signifies blood and indicates a successful hunt.
A Ḥumra’ in No. 1, with no similar figure anywhere else in the Khatt, means that the red
woman has sworn that the quest shall succeed. Therefore they say “El Ḥumra’, leban fi ‘umra,”
“the Ḥumra’ means milk in the vessel,” for to have milk to drink is to be in luck. But a Ḥumra’
elsewhere in the Khatt gives the lie to a Ḥumra’ in No. 1.
A Jebbār in No. 9 with a Ṭarīq in No. 10 forms a good omen which sets the mind of the
seeker at rest and enables him to say, “Ṭībat khātir, dihik el fawātir,”, “Laughter showing the
teeth goes with a mind at ease.”
 The Qābid in No. 15 has already been referred to. One of my informants made his name as a
Khattāt by “throwing” the Khatt for some police officer who came at night to his village looking
for an escaped prisoner. Seeing a Qābid as the “seal” of the Khatt, he prophesied immediate
success to a search of the village and the prisoner was duly caught in one of the houses.
Conversely, a Qābid in No. 5 or No. 6 would indicate that the thief had a pretty firm hold on the
stolen animal, or that the debtor was most unlikely to pay up, as the case may be.
A Ḍāmir in No. 1 or No. 2 is lucky but implies a tiring search. The same figure in No. 9
indicates great toil before success is achieved, while in No. 10 it points to an easier search. In
No. 15 a Ḍāmir is called a “Ḍāmin” and spells success in a lawful quest but non-success in an
unlawful one.
Further examples of the interpretation of the Khatt might be continued indefinitely, but
enough have been given to show the general method.
The nomad Arab appears to spend a considerable portion of his life in quests for lost or stolen
animals, so it is not surprising that an elaborate system of divination should have been evolved to
ascertain the results of such searches; and, since hope springs eternal, it is only human nature that
in the majority of these cases an interpretation of the Khatt should be possible which allows to
the searcher at least a sporting chance of success. Equally naturally, as in most other oracles,
there is a certain measure of ambiguity for the protection of the Khattāt.
As a tribute to the nice adjustment of the system and to the skill of its exponents it must be
recorded that on the only occasions, three in number, when serious trial of the Khatt has been
made in the presence of the writer, the forecast of the Khattāt has each time been justified by the
event.
Khartum, Sudan. R. DAVIES