# Khaled — Character guide

> Key figures in Khaled by F. Marion Crawford.

- [Khaled](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/khaled.md): A stranger with no father, no gifts, and no possessions but a swift mare and a keen sword, he arrives at the Sultan's court asking for Zehowah's hand.
- [Zehowah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/zehowah.md): The Sultan's daughter, merry and unbothered by suitors, who laughs at the strange warrior but cannot be moved to love him or anyone.
- [Almasta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/almasta.md): A captive woman with broken speech and a talent for song, whose husbands keep dying without a mark on them, and who loves Khaled with her whole soul.
- [Abdullah ibn Mohammed el Herir](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/abdullah_ibn_mohammed_el_herir.md): A leader who listens to Almasta's tale of Khaled as a Persian robber and a traitor, and who laughs at the idea of a Bedouin kingdom being handed to foreigners.
- [The Blind Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/the_blind_man.md): A physician of great reputation in Arabia, the wisest of his time, who examines the dead and finds no mark, no wound, no explanation.
- [Abdul Kerim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/abdul_kerim.md): A lean, strong man in the prime of health, not given to surfeiting, who was to have married Almasta and died in the night without sign.
- [The Kadi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/the_kadi.md): As the city's religious judge, the Kadi is called to the palace when Khaled gathers the chief men and refuses to reveal his lineage, a silence that unsettles the whole order of succession. He belongs to the class of elde
- [Asrael](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/asrael.md): Asrael sits motionless in the heaven of precious stones, inscribing the unborn and blotting out the dead, his eyes seventy thousand days' journey apart. When Khaled, a believing geni, appears before him on the night Al K
- [Sultan of Nejed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/nejed_sultan.md): Childless in his old age save for Zehowah, the Sultan rules a kingdom blessed in everything but an heir, which makes Khaled's arrival as a suitor and commander a matter of state as much as family. He is genial, unafraid,
- [The Shammars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/the_shammars.md): A tribal group or collective character that plays a role in the political landscape.
- [Ibn el Sheikh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/ibn_el_sheikh.md): A tribal or religious leader with limited but notable appearances.
- [A Stranger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/a_stranger.md): An unnamed mysterious figure who appears briefly in the narrative.
- [Hadji Mohammed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/mohammed_hadji.md): A pilgrim or religious figure mentioned in passing.
- [The Bedouin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/the_bedouin.md): A generic Bedouin character representing the desert tribes.
- [Yallah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/yallah.md): An exclamation or personification, possibly a minor character or interjection.
- [Riad](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters/riad.md): A place name used as a character or personification of the city.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/khaled_se/characters