But Monzar, who entered Hirah routed and discomfited, gnawed his hands from shame, and was quite bewildered and beside himself. He sat down attended by his three sons, Numan, Aswad, and Amroo; and whilst they were consulting and debating, in rushed a slave—O my lord, cried he, that Absian warrior who is in my custody, when he heard the uproar in the morning, asked me what was the matter? We informed him what had happened; then, said he, Conduct me to your King, that I may point out to him the means of destroying his enemies, even were they as numerous as the sand of the desert. Produce him, said Monzar, let us hear what he has to say, and let us release him from his fetters. But Antar was that day thinking of his cousin, and of his expedition to procure her dower, and to seize the Asafeer camels, and his falling into captivity, and his failure. Then, as he sighed from his overcharged heart, he thus recited:
“Tell Zoheir and Malik of me, tell Ibla of me in unvarnished language, that I seized the camels flaunting over the plains, and that I felled down the armies on the day of terrors; say that I was marching away with the property and the beauteous camels, when the stern faced horsemen of Sakim forced them from me. My steed hurled me on the battle field, and betrayed me, and subjected me to the thrusts of every shield-armed hero. Then I retired as a hostage, in chains: and I have merited them; and I moved along in them, like one overwhelmed with confusion. Had it not been for the assault of the lion among them, and their cry to me—Aid us, O Antar! when I met him, fettered as I was—they never would have acknowledged that I was the slayer of armies. When the furious beast flew at me, I feared not. My sword cleaved the body of the lion, and I forced it out through his thighs in an instant, and I wiped it on his skin. They have cast me into a sea of deaths, anxious for my destruction, but I tumbled him down like one precipitated from a mountain’s height.”
We have told King Monzar, said the attendant as he entered Antar’s prison; he now demands you, in order to hear your proposal. Antar got up and went with them into the presence of the King, who ordered the fetters to be taken off from his feet, and the cords to be cut that bound his hands. Then he sighed, and thus spoke.
“May God forgive me that my soul is hardened, for my uncle beguiled me and exposed me to perils, and in his vile artifices has cast me into an abyss of fire, whose flames encompass me. I am become tortured of heart, fettered, my fingers and hands bound round my neck. Few are there like me in the day of the wood-entangled spears, when heroes contend in the fierce charge: O King of the world, thy sea is expansive as the glittering sword among men and dæmons. When the warriors charge—then expose me to them and try my assault—my battle among them. Be thou victorious, with Antar’s aid, and convert, my lord, thy fears into security. Protect but my rear with a thousand lion heroes, and thou shalt view the wonders of my sword and my spear. Thou shalt see a lion driving away the horsemen with a scimitar that surpasses the lightning’s flash in brilliancy. Grant me the dower for my beloved Ibla, of the thousand camels, that have excited me to this enterprize. O Ibla, fear not the foe on my account, when they crowd about me, and the war horses charge: for death is but my own form—my own qualities, and there is no prosperity but what is attached to my bridle. I am the youth that fells the horsemen in my strength—a youth whose equal exists not on earth. O breezes! I implore ye by the pillars at Mecca, by Zemzem—by the sacred plains and Mesdelifa,—when ye pass the land of Sheerebah, waft my salutation to Zoheir and his royal sons, and say to the sorrowing Shiboob, hast thou forgotten my faith—renounced my vows? for thou art my foster brother, my stay, my support when my friends betray me and persecute me—O Shiboob, haste then, my brother, haste that thou mayst see what I have suffered, and what has befallen me—that thou mayst see a battle that will make thee forget the past, and that thou mayst see, O Shiboob, the boundless height of my glory; For my ambition soars above the Pleiades, and my fortunate star sparkles with brilliant rays.”
The King was exceedingly surprised at Antar’s bursts of poetry and strength of mind; and he was convinced of victory with his sword and spear. O Absian, said he, what is this I have heard of you to day, when you heard the shouts and the attack of the enemy? Truly, my lord, replied Antar, my gall was nearly bursting when I heard that you had been obliged to fly from these cauldrons of dogs; this disgrace can never be erased from the Arabs. What can men do, said Monzar, when double their numbers attack them? and they are overwhelmed by those who do not fear their carnage? Man, said Antar, must patiently resist, and drink of the cup of death as he drinks the purest water, and not fly or run away. I am now in your power, and I demand of you the marriage dower of Ibla, my uncle’s daughter; restore me my sword, my cuirass, my arms, and my horse, and give me a thousand men to defend my rear; and you shall see what my courage and force will effect against your foes.
By the virtue of the Kaaba, said Monzar, O Absian, if you perform what you state, and destroy this army—all my property, my he and she camels are all at your disposal. Not one of us shall remain behind the tent wall, but we will exert our utmost energies against the foe, and we will strike with our swords, and thrust with our spears. And he ordered his horse and his arms and his cuirass to be restored. And early on the morrow, a loud shout arose from amongst the Persians, eager to plunder the property and capture the women and the children; but the Arabs went forth against them, and at their head was Antar, the hero of conquest; and he cried out—Your hopes have failed, you cauldron of dogs, you shall this day see Antar perform what nations shall record. Then he cried, O by thy eyes, O Ibla, and thus repeated:
“On the day of battle exquisite is the carnage.—Come forth then against me, ye men of abomination—in me ye shall meet a Knight whose blow strikes life dead. I am the Antar of horsemen in the contest, that makes armies and warriors drink of ignominy, a draught from his hand with the polished sword that glides through the neck, in the battle field. Soon will I plunge into the war dust till I encounter Khosrewan, and make him drink of the cup of death; I will make him taste from my sword a draught, after which he shall never taste of pure water. Ye shall see the horse scattered o’er the wastes—the Himyarite chiefs shall be bound on their saddles. I am the lion, foremost in war, and mine arm is the horror of warriors. Mine is honour and good fortune and glory, and my star is high above the brilliant Arcturus.”
He then received the attack of the horse as the parched up ground the first of the rain; and his thrusts were the thrusts that blinded vision, and equalled fate and destiny. He overthrew heroes and destroyed warriors, and in an hour blood was flowing and streaming, and bowels were ripped open. When the Persians observed these dreadful deeds they advanced from all quarters. The voice, of Antar was like the thunder’s peal, and his thrusts more rapid than the flash of the lightning; and the Arab warriors, encouraged at his steadiness, felt convinced of victory after defeat; but as soon as the Persians saw these descending misfortunes, their hearts regretted what had passed, and the land and the region appeared too confined for them. The whole country was blackened in their eyes, their avidity was frustrated in the capture of the sons and daughters.
Affairs continued in this position till mid-day, and they toiled in the battle fiercer than a blaze of fire. And when the heat oppressed the warriors, the Persians gave way, and sought refuge in their tents, and gave a loose to their despair. Many were the horses deprived of their riders. Their chief, Khosrewan, stood under the standards, and the delay seemed tedious, for he was expecting that his companions would return with the captives and the spoil; when, lo! they indeed returned, but in flight. O my lord, they cried in reply to his questions, the Arabs have vanquished us—we have seen a prodigy among them—and if you do not come down upon that chosen horseman, not a head or tail of us will survive; for he fails not where he aims; he succeeds in whatever he undertakes; and if he attacks a whole troop, he disperses it; if he assaults a horseman, he overthrows him, and his voice is like a crash of thunder; the moment a man hears it a universal ague seizes him; and he is like a lion when he assaults, and he drives away the warriors before him like a flock of sheep.
As Khosrewan heard this he was greatly enraged, and fire flashed from his eyes. Whence comes this horseman, he exclaimed, to this country? and to what Arabs is he related? Then starting from beneath the standards he sought the place of slaughter, and the scene of attack. In his hand he bore a long mace with which he assailed the troops; he dived through the dust, and the heroes trembled at his mace, as the dust rolled over his horse.