Veiled Women · Chapter
XXXII explained
Muhammad is stationed at Kafr ed-Dowâr drilling conscripts, frustrated by their stupidity and his own menial role while battles rage nearby.
What happens
Muhammad is stationed at Kafr ed-Dowâr drilling conscripts, frustrated by their stupidity and his own menial role while battles rage nearby. His harsh treatment of the recruits leads to a mutiny in which he is killed by the men he abused. The soldiers fabricate a story that he died a martyr at the hands of infidels, and his body is sent back to Cairo.
Themes in this chapter
Colonialism and Imperial Power
The chapter depicts the British military campaign against Egyptian nationalists, with Franks watching the battles through field-glasses and the Egyptian forces struggling against a superior imperial power.
Superstition and Tradition
The conscripts are described as being driven mad by religious shouting and harangued by holy men, highlighting the role of religious fervor and manipulation in the war effort.
Characters to notice
- Yûsuf Pasha
Muhammad's father, notified by telegram that his son died a martyr.
- Muhammad Pasha Sâlih
The central figure of the chapter, a young officer drilling conscripts at Kafr ed-Dowâr, whose brutal methods lead to his murder by the recruits.
- Ghandûr
The son of Ghandûr serves as Muhammad's attendant and admires him unquestioningly.
- Hamdi Bey
Muhammad's uncle, a close friend of the general-in-chief who favors Muhammad.
- Arâbi
Referenced as the leader who proclaimed the golden age and the abolition of Turks, but whose promises ring hollow to the conscripts.
Key passages
“Muhammad hated the recruits, who still were driven in by hundreds every day—men past their prime, and boys dragged from the wretched villages, and active rogues caught hiding in some ditch or patch of cane. The land had been already drained; the dregs were called for.”
Muhammad despised the conscripts, who were forcibly gathered daily—elderly men, boys from poor villages, and criminals found hiding—as if the country had already given its best and only the worst were left.
Highlights the brutal conscription system and Muhammad's contempt for the recruits.
“The lie was quite transparent, yet it passed unquestioned. The high commanders shrugged and let it go. There were a hundred men concerned, with Allah knew how many sympathizers. They dreaded a stampede of all the conscripts in the camp.”
The soldiers' story that Muhammad died fighting infidels was obviously false, but the officers accepted it without challenge, fearing a mass revolt among the conscripts if the truth came out.
Reveals the commanders' pragmatism and fear of widespread mutiny.