Veiled Women · Chapter
XXXIX explained
Barakah, posing as an Englishwoman named Mary Smith, seeks a private interview with an English official to ask for help escaping the harem and returning to Christianity.
What happens
Barakah, posing as an Englishwoman named Mary Smith, seeks a private interview with an English official to ask for help escaping the harem and returning to Christianity. The official dismisses her, citing non-interference in local customs. Humiliated, Barakah realizes she is neither fully English nor fully Eastern, and resigns herself to harem life, finding peace in self-annihilation and Islam.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Clash and Identity
Barakah's failed attempt to reclaim her English identity reveals her profound dislocation: she is rejected by the English and feels alienated from both cultures.
Religion and Conversion
Barakah's struggle between Christianity and Islam culminates in her acceptance of Islam, finding peace in self-annihilation and the teachings of the Prophet.
Characters to notice
- Barakah
Disguises herself as Mary Smith to seek help from the English official, but is humiliated and realizes her identity is neither fully English nor fully Eastern.
- Umm ed-Dahak
Accompanies Barakah to the interview, believing she is aiding a criminal intrigue, and later comforts her when she sees Barakah's distress.
Key passages
“I am an English lady. My name is Mary Smith. I did a very wicked thing. I turned Muhammadan, and married a Turkish gentleman, a Pasha, here in Cairo. I want to leave him and return to Christianity.”
Barakah, using the alias Mary Smith, confesses to the English official that she converted to Islam and married a Pasha, and now seeks help to escape and revert to Christianity.
This plea highlights her desperation and the cultural and religious conflict she faces.
“Well, I don’t quite see what I can do for you... We could hardly, therefore, interfere in a case such as yours—a harem quarrel.”
The English official refuses to intervene, citing policy of non-interference in local customs and harem disputes.
The official's response underscores the colonial administration's hands-off approach to personal and religious matters.
“With English people, she would always long for Orientals; with Orientals, feel a yearning for the life of Europe. And in religion, likewise, she was nothing.”
Barakah realizes she is permanently caught between two worlds, belonging fully to neither, and feels spiritually adrift.
This moment of clarity marks her acceptance of her hybrid identity and resignation to harem life.