# Barakah — Veiled Women character guide > Barakah in Veiled Women by Marmaduke Pickthall. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Barakah **First appearance:** 0000-i ## Who they are An Englishwoman renamed Barakah—'Godsend'—who trades her native land for a Cairo harem, only to find her old self dissolving under kohl, silk, and the watchful eyes of her new sisters. ## Relationships ### [Yûsuf Bey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/yusuf_bey) _romantic_ Barakah and Yûsuf Bey share a deeply passionate and complex romantic bond, marked by intense devotion and frequent interactions. ### [Umm ed-Dahak](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/umm_ed_dahak) _family_ Barakah and Umm ed-Dahak have a close familial relationship, likely mother-daughter or maternal figure, with strong emotional ties. ### [Ghandûr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/ghandur) _friendship_ Barakah and Ghandûr are loyal friends and companions, often supporting each other through the trials of their world. ### [Fitnah Khânum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/fitnah_khanum) _rivalry_ Barakah and Fitnah Khânum are bitter enemies, locked in a struggle of manipulation and jealousy. ### [Gulbeyzah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/gulbeyzah) _friendship_ Barakah and Gulbeyzah share a warm and supportive friendship, often confiding in one another. ### [Murjânah Khânum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/murjanah_khanum) _friendship_ Barakah and Murjânah Khânum are close allies and confidantes, navigating court intrigues together. ### [Muhammad Pasha Sâlih](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/muhammad_pasha_salih) _professional_ Barakah and Muhammad Pasha Sâlih have a formal, hierarchical relationship, with him as a powerful authority figure in her life. ### [Hamdi Bey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/hamdi_bey) _friendship_ Barakah and Hamdi Bey share a trusting friendship, with him often acting as a confidant or helper. ### [Mrs. Cameron](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/mrs_cameron) _social_ Barakah and Mrs. Cameron have a polite, formal acquaintance, likely due to cross-cultural or diplomatic circles. ### [Yûsuf Pasha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/yusuf_pasha) _family_ Barakah and Yûsuf Pasha have a familial bond, likely father-daughter or uncle-niece, with a protective dynamic. ### [Hâfiz Bey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/hafiz_bey) _friendship_ Barakah and Hâfiz Bey are friendly acquaintances, often interacting in social or courtly settings. ### [Amînah Khânum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/aminah_khanum) _family_ Amînah Khânum and Barakah share a close family bond, likely as sisters or cousins, with deep affection. ## In the story ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/i) Not directly present; the English governess is referred to but not named. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/iii) The English lady being prepared for marriage to Yûsuf; the Pasha speaks with her after the beating. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/iv) The English girl, now engaged to Yûsuf, feels elation and pride, and resists the Consul's and Mrs. Cameron's attempts to change her mind. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/v) The English governess who agrees to marry Yûsuf, expresses a desire to follow native customs, and writes a letter to the Consul. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/vi) Struggles with her identity after Mrs. Cameron's visit, feels reckless, and begins to engage with harem life, including trousseau preparations and confidences with Gulbeyzah. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/vii) The English bride who experiences the bath ritual, initially overwhelmed but eventually joins the play. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/viii) The target of Fitnah's plot; she is accused of being a witch and is believed to have islamed under false pretenses. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/ix) The bride, dressed and painted as an Eastern woman, endures the wedding ceremony and later survives a poisoning attempt. ### [X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/x) The English bride, terrified and confused by the harem's emotional outburst; she learns she narrowly escaped poison but feels isolated and weeps. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xi) Honeymoons at the pleasure-house, studies Islam, visits harems, grows restless and goes out alone. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xii) Attends the reception, feels shame for betraying her husband's people, and is attacked by a mob before being rescued. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xiii) Falls ill with typhoid after her outing, endures Yûsuf's wrath, and is confined to her room; later receives an apology from the Pasha. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xv) Observes Gulbeyzah's marriage inspection, writes to Julia Long praising Islam, and is devastated by Julia's rejection. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xvi) Acts as a cultural guide for the men and a confidante for the women, struggling with her own sense of displacement. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xvii) Feels despondent and isolated in Paris; protests Yûsuf's behavior and orchestrates their departure to Switzerland; later listens to the Prince's views with curiosity. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xviii) Returns from Paris, conceals then reveals her pregnancy, gives birth to a son. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xix) Recovering from childbirth, jealous of the wet-nurse, humiliated by Mrs. Cameron's reaction to her son, traumatized by the zâr ceremony. ### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xx) Exempt from fasting as an invalid; gives French and English lessons; is kind to Hamdi; tears up Mrs. Cameron's letter. ### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxi) Reflects on her divided life, her love for her son Muhammad, and her hidden yearnings; writes a venomous note to Mrs. Cameron to end their acquaintance. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxii) Participates in the cemetery visit, feels a new connection with Umm ed-Dahak. ### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxiii) Barakah enjoys a comfortable life with Yûsuf Bey, dotes on her son Muhammad, and relies on Umm ed-Dahak for companionship, but is hurt by Murjânah Khânum's criticism of her behavior. ### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxiv) Gives birth to a daughter, loses her to typhoid, struggles with local customs and fears for her son's health. ### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxv) Defends her son Muhammad's behavior fiercely, instructs him to hate the English while remembering his heritage, and finds solace in friendships with Gulbeyzah and Bedr-ul-Budûr. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxvi) Defends her son Muhammad against the family's intervention, insisting on her maternal rights, but is overwhelmed by the collective pressure. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxvii) Distraught over her son's behavior and his removal from her care; eventually reconciled to the new discipline. ### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxviii) Feels jealousy toward Englishwomen, attends opera, overhears servants' demon talk, and confesses her conversion to Muhammad. ### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxix) Barakah is anxious about the English intrusion, confides in Muhammad, and delights in his patriotic accounts while neglecting her daughter. ### [The Gathering Storm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxx) Distraught when Yûsuf grants her request for their son to join the army, and horrified at the prospect of English victory. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxi) Visits the dying Pasha, comforts Murjânah, reunites with her son Muhammad, and endures the funeral and wartime anxiety. ### [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxiii) Stricken by her son's death, she becomes tearless and rigid, then later resolves to flee her husband and home. ### [XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxiv) Attempts to flee Cairo but is lost; learns of the English victory; despairs and plans to visit her son's grave. ### [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxv) In a state of grief and desperation, she insists on going to the cemetery to pray and die, experiencing confusion, fear, and moments of madness. ### [XXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxvi) Distraught and wandering, she finds solace in Tâhir's singing, experiencing a vision of unity between Christian and Muslim. ### [XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxvii) Grieves her son, feels trapped in harem life, longs for Christianity, and suggests Yûsuf marry another wife. ### [XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxviii) Plans to escape the harem and convert to Christianity; writes a secret letter to an English official. ### [XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xxxix) 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. ### [XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/chapters/xl) Has fully embraced harem life with resignation, denounces European fallacies, lives in the old Pasha's palace, and accepts Yûsuf's other wives. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters/barakah - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/veiled_women_se/characters