Fatima is the woman that nearly derails Santiago from going on his quest to find treasure at the Pyramids. He and Fatima find true love, and Santiago nearly decides to abandon his personal legend in order to stay with Fatima at the Oasis. He is told that he could stay in the Oasis with Fatima and live a fulfilling and comfortable life. However, it would mean losing the gift of reading omens and the fulfillment of his personal legend. Despite his love for Fatima, Santiago makes the difficult decision to continue the pursuit of his personal legend.

Fatima is surprisingly alright with this. She tells Santiago that as a woman of the desert, she will wait for his return. Her role here is to show us that love should not stand in the way of fulfilling one's personal legend, that true love is unconditional and supportive in all matters.

As far as physical descriptions, Fatima is described as being beautiful in the way of the people of the desert with dark eyes and features.