***<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m reminded of a story out of pre-Islamic Arabia. \u00a0Perhaps I\u2019ve told it here before, but I like it and I\u2019m going to tell it again.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the great poets of the Arabic tradition is Antarah b. Shaddad, or Antar (AD 525-608). \u00a0He was the son, it is said, of a Bedouin chieftain and an Ethiopian slave. \u00a0True, she had been a princess, but now she was a slave, and her son was half black. \u00a0He didn\u2019t have the status of a freeborn Arab in that society.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
There came a time when his father\u2019s tribe was engaged in a fierce battle with a rival tribe, and the rivals were gaining the upper hand. \u00a0Antarah was standing on a ridge overlooking the fight and, as he had been charged to do, minding the camels of the warriors.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, one of his half brothers made it up the ridge and begged him to join the fight. \u00a0It has to be understood that the half brothers had long been among those who had mocked Antarah for his half-slave origin. \u00a0But, of course, now the situation was desperate; they needed his help. \u00a0\u201cSorry,\u201d Antarah responded. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m a slave and a slave\u2019s son. \u00a0I\u2019m not worthy to fight alongside you.\u201d \u00a0\u201cOkay!\u201d came the reply. \u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re free now! \u00a0Please join us!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Antarah waded into the fight and, as you might expect, routed the enemy. \u00a0Eventually, his exploits in battle won him the epithet of \u201cthe Bedouin Achilles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the story I\u2019m really after is this one:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some years later, another Arabian aristocrat, encountering Antarah, mocked him as a person lacking a distinguished lineage. \u00a0By this time, though, Antarah had achieved renown both as a warrior and as a poet. \u00a0And his response to the man mocking him is classic:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou,\u201d he told him, \u201crepresent the end of your noble line. \u00a0I represent the beginning of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the Sadducees and Pharisees came to John the Baptist, secure in the nobility of their descent, he told\u00a0them \u201cThink not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham\u00a0to\u00a0our<\/span>\u00a0father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham\u201d (Matthew 3:9).<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Hurricane Harvey has left appalling damage in its wake, and, now, the massive Hurricane Irma is on its way. \u00a0And a third hurricane is said to be taking shape out in the Atlantic. \u00a0 If you were thinking about doing something to help out with the response but haven\u2019t yet gotten around to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":44175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"The](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/09\/Edward_Elgar.jpg\")
<\/a>