ANTAR; ANTARAH
Antar is one of the most famous poets of the pre-Islamic period:
A poet among the seven who is even more noteworthy is Antar,
or Antarah; for he was afterward made the hero of the most celebrated
of Arab romances. Antar was the son of a negro slave-woman and was
brought up as a slave in the household of his Arab father. Such,
however, was his strength and courage that he rose to be the chief hero
of his tribe. He was also its chief poet, singing sometimes of its warfare,
sometimes of his love for its princess, Ibla or Ablah. Ablah at first
ridiculed the advances of the young slave but afterward clung to him
through all his career of glory and misfortune. The tales which later
generations wove around Antar are like those which the English built
upon King Arthur's life, or the Spaniards on the Cid. He has become
the national hero of his race.
Some of his work is included in the The Hanged Poems
Mu'allaqat
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