Hatif
The hatif of Arabic tradition is a voice heard but never seen, delivering timely advice, warning, or wisdom — often in verse, and sometimes as the chosen manifestation of a jinni.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Arabian folklore
- Region
- Arabia (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Unseen-Walkers
Near this figure
and 1 more
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Utility powers
- Invisibility
why
The hatif is a being of Arabic tradition defined entirely by one sensory fact: it is heard and never seen.
- Danger forewarning call
why
The old accounts, echoed across the compendia, agree on the office that follows from the definition — the hatif is a communicator, the deliverer of some needed intelligence in the way of advice, direction, or warning, arriving at exactly the moment the story requires it.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Wise Old Man carries both readings
3 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Hatif."
- Robert Lebling, Legends of the Fire Spirits.
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Hatif."