ANTARA THE LION: FATHER OF HEROES

By RUNOKO RASHIDI

Archaeologists have long shown that African people were the first people to occupy the Arabian Peninsula, and there has always been a substantial population in Arabia of people of African descent. Indeed, probably the most illustrious single figure in pre-Islamic Arabia was Antara the Lion--called the "father of heroes." Antara had an Arab father and an Ethiopian mother, and became in time Arabia's national hero. There was no individual equal to the valor and strength of Antara. He has been compared to King Arthur in the English tradition but was considerably more important because he was a more historical figure.

The name of Antarah ibn-Shaddad al Absi (ca. 525-615), evidently a Christian, has lived through the ages as the epitome of heroism and chivalry. Knight, poet, warrior and lover, Antara exemplified in his life those qualities greatly cherished by the sons of the desert. His acts of gallantry, as well as his love episodes with his lady, Ablah, whose name he immortalized in his famous Mu allaqah, have become a part of the literary legacy of the Arabic-speaking world.

Antara was the father of knighthood. He was the champion of the weak and oppressed and the protector of women. He was the impassioned lover and poet, and the irresistible and gallant knight. Antara's magnificent deeds spread across the Arabian Peninsula and throughout the world. In time these deeds, like the legends of Homer, were compiled in literary form. They are known today as the Romance of Antar, and have taken their place among the great national classics. The Romance of Antar, in its present form, probably preceded the romances of chivalry so common in twelfth century Italy and France.

SOURCES:
World's Great Men Of Color, Volume 1, by J.A. Rogers
African Presence In Early Asia, Edited by Runoko Rashidi & Ivan Van Sertima