Texts of Islam

Arabian Poetry: The Romance of Antar: Abla and Her Family Rescued by Antar

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This is a prose-and-verse excerpt from W. A. Clouston's 1881 anthology *Arabian Poetry*, drawn from the medieval Arabic romance cycle of Antar (Antarah ibn Shaddad), a celebrated pre-Islamic warrior-poet whose legend was a cornerstone of classical Arabic literary culture. The passage narrates a reunion scene: the hero Antar, returning from a long quest to obtain camels for his beloved Abla's dowry, stumbles upon her litter in the desert where she is being abused by enslaved attendants, slaughters her captors, and defeats a brigand chief called the Nocturnal Evil before the two lovers are finally reunited. Embedded within the prose are two verse laments — first Abla calling out for Antar as though he were dead, then her joyful verses upon seeing him alive — which function as lyric punctuation to the adventure narrative, a characteristic feature of the romance tradition. The excerpt is notable for its treatment of love as steadfast and ennobling: Abla explicitly declares that Antar's safety outweighs all the wealth and honors he has won, and the text frames her fidelity and his martial valor as mutually sustaining virtues. Clouston's framing situates the material as representative Arabic poetry for a Western Victorian readership, presenting the heroic-romantic tradition of the Arab world in accessible translation. Readers drawn to medieval epic romance, classical Arabic literature, or the interplay of poetry and prose narrative in non-European traditions will find this a vivid and representative sample.

Arabian Poetry: The Romance of Antar: Abla and Her Family Rescued by Antar

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