Antara Ibn Shaddad al-'Absi عنترة بن شداد العبسي, pre-Islamic Arab hero and poet (fl. 580). Events Around this time, the historian Jordanes writes several books. ...

Antara was the son of Shaddad, a well respected member of the tribe of 'Abs, and an African slave. The tribe treated Antara as an illegitimate son or slave, due to his color and slave lineage. Nevertheless, Antara excelled as an accomplished poet and a mighty warrior. When the tribe needed his assistance to fend off another tribe in battle, Shaddad acknowledged Antara as his son, and granted him freedom. Africa is the worlds second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... The word slaves has several meanings and usages: People who are owned by others, and live to serve them without pay. ...

Antara fell in love with his cousin Abla, and sought to marry her despite his status as a slave. To secure allowance to marry, Antara had to face some challenges including getting a special kind of camel from the northern Arab kingdom of al-No'man Ibn al-Munthir Ibn Ma' al-Sama'. The definition of who an Arab is has three main aspects: Political: whether they live in a country which is a member of the Arab League (or, more vaguely, the Arab world); this definition covers more than 300 million people. ...

Antara's poetry is well preserved, and often talks of chivalry values, courage and heroism in battle, as well as love for his cousin. It was immortalized when one of his poems was included in the Hanged Poems. The poetry's historical and cultural importance stems from its detailed descriptions of battles, armour, weapons, horses, desert and other themes from his time. Woman under the Safeguard of Knighthood, allegorical Scene. ... Hanged Poems or Moalaqat Moalakaat المعلقات A group of seven poems in the Arabic language in pre-Islamic Arabia. ...

See also Arabic literature, Arabic Romance Literature Arabic literature is literature written in Arabic, or by Arabs in other languages. ... Virtually all societies have developed folk tales encompassing tales of heroes. ...

External links

• English translation of Antara's Hanged Poem (http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/hanged/hanged2.htm)
• another link to the same (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/640hangedpoems.html)
• The Hanged Poem of Antara (Arabic) (http://www.khayma.com/salehzayadneh/moalaqat/antarah.htm)
• More samples from his poetry (Arabic) (http://alharbi.ca/antra0.htm)