Storms occur three times in the narrative. Each time, they disrupt Hasan’s plans and cause unexpected events. The first storm, which takes place in Granada before Hasan’s birth, heralds a seven-year civil war that fatally weakens Granada. The second storm, a snowstorm in the mountains of the Maghrib, drives Hiba and Hasan to take shelter in a cave and costs Hasan his fortune. Finally, another snowstorm in Italy strands Hasan and leads him to write Description of Africa. In the context of the story, storms represent unexpected disasters that Hasan must work to overcome. Hasan himself compares the snowstorm in Italy to the previous two storms and describes it as an “ill-fated whisper of destiny” (333).

Before Muhammad and Hasan reconcile, Mariam uses a knotted blade of grass to signal to Hasan when Muhammad is gone. He sees it the day he discovers that Mariam is going to be taken to the leper quarter. Later, the knotted blade of grass comes to represent Hasan’s promise to free Mariam. After vowing he will not marry until Mariam is freed, Hasan sees the knotted blade of grass Mariam made just before she was imprisoned: “There in a crack in the wall, dry and faded, lay the knotted blade of grass which Mariam had tied together the day of her capture.