Ahmad Abd al-Jawad

The novel's central character, but hardly a protagonist, Ahmad is a prosperous forty-five-year-old merchant who runs his family as an old-style patriarchal tyrant, demanding total obedience from his wife and children while allowing himself pleasures forbidden by Islam: music, wine, and sexual promiscuity. Tall, with a massive, firm belly, and holding himself with awesome dignity, Ahmad has an expressive, long face, firm skin, clean-cut features, wide, blue eyes, and a large but proportioned nose. His lips are full and he twists up the ends of his thick, black mustache with care. He wears a fez, cloak, caftan, a large diamond ring, and gold watch all demonstrate good taste and wealth, and walks with a walking stick. He has black hair and dresses to demonstrate refinement and affluence.

Ahmad is a true Jekyll and Hyde character. A lover observes: "On the outside you are dignified and pious...