Veiled Women · Chapter
XXXVIII explained
Barakah, longing to escape the harem and convert to Christianity, enlists Umm ed-Dahak's help to secretly contact an English official.
What happens
Barakah, longing to escape the harem and convert to Christianity, enlists Umm ed-Dahak's help to secretly contact an English official. After composing a letter, she receives an appointment for the next day. She spends her last hours in the harem reminiscing, saying goodbye to friends and her husband Yûsuf, and preparing to leave.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Clash and Identity
Barakah's desire to convert to Christianity and seek protection from the English highlights the tension between her Muslim identity and her longing for a different life.
Female Friendship and Solidarity
Umm ed-Dahak risks her safety to help Barakah, demonstrating deep loyalty and solidarity among women in the harem.
Religion and Conversion
Barakah's secret plan to convert to Christianity drives the chapter's plot, emphasizing the personal and societal stakes of religious change.
Characters to notice
- Barakah
Plans to escape the harem and convert to Christianity; writes a secret letter to an English official.
- Umm ed-Dahak
Helps Barakah deliver the letter and arranges the secret meeting, despite initial reluctance.
- Yûsuf Bey
Visits Barakah and expresses his enduring kindness and love for her.
- Afîfah
Barakah's daughter, seen feeding pigeons; Barakah considers taking her but decides against it.
- Gulbeyzah
Visits Barakah along with Bedr-ul-Budûr; Barakah recalls their past together.
- Bedr-ul-Budûr
Visits Barakah with Gulbeyzah; now grown obese but still attractive.
Key passages
““It is nothing but thy due,” he answered, greatly touched. “Thou art alone among us, and my cherished wife.””
Yûsuf tells Barakah that his kindness is only what she deserves, and calls her his cherished wife.
Yûsuf's affectionate words contrast with Barakah's secret plan to leave him.
““I want a letter carried to a great one of the English.” “I seek refuge in Allah!” gasped the old woman, grinning widely. “Knowest thou it is a crime unheard of that thou askest of me?””
Barakah asks Umm ed-Dahak to deliver a letter to an English official, and Umm ed-Dahak reacts with shock, calling it an unheard-of crime.
Umm ed-Dahak's reaction underscores the danger and taboo of contacting the English.
“She implored the great official, of his mercy, his great kindness, to receive an English lady, long immured in the harem, where she had suffered greatly.”
Barakah writes to the English official, begging him to meet an English lady who has been imprisoned in the harem and has suffered.
Barakah presents herself as an English lady in distress to gain sympathy and protection.