Antara b. Shaddad in a medieval manuscript illumination
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is a story out of pre-Islamic Arabia that I\u2019ve told before. \u00a0I like it, though, and I\u2019m going to tell it again. \u00a0 As incredible as it may seem, some of you may have forgotten it or even missed it in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the great poets of the Arabic tradition is Antara 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. \u00a0Antara was standing on a ridge overlooking the fight and, as he had been charged to do, was minding the camels of the warriors.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, one of his half brothers climbed up the ridge from the battle and begged him to join the fight. \u00a0(In some versions, it\u2019s his father.) \u00a0It has to be understood that the half brothers had long been among those who had mocked Antara for his half-slave origin, and Antara\u2019s father had done nothing to stop them. \u00a0But, of course, now that the situation was desperate they needed his help. \u00a0\u201cSorry,\u201d Antara responded. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m a slave and a slave\u2019s son. \u00a0I\u2019m not worthy to fight alongside you. \u00a0Slaves know nothing about attacking or defending, and are fit only to milk goats and serve their masters.\u201d \u00a0\u201cAlright! \u00a0Alright!\u201d came the reply. \u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re free now! \u00a0Please help us!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Antara waded into the fight and, as you might expect, routed the enemy almost single-handedly. \u00a0And this was merely the first of his heroic adventures. \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 Antara, mocked him as a person who lacked a distinguished lineage. \u00a0By this time, though, Antarah had achieved renown both as a chivalrous warrior and as a poet. \u00a0And his response to the man who was 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
Posted from San Diego, California<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 There is a story out of pre-Islamic Arabia that I\u2019ve told before. \u00a0I like it, though, and I\u2019m going to tell it again. \u00a0 As incredible as it may seem, some of you may have forgotten it or even missed it in the first place. \u00a0 One of the great poets of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Antara](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/04\/Antarah_on_horse.jpg\")
<\/a>