he
foe and recovering the women, Ibla should be given him in marriage.
Malek, the father of Ibla, and Shedad, the father of Antar, assented,
and bound themselves by an oath to fulfil these conditions and to
reinstate Antar in all the honors and dignities belonging to him.

Antar was victorious. He rescued Ibla, and received grateful expressions
of gratitude from his beloved, while King Zoheir gave him the kiss of
royal honor. Everything seemed to unite in fulfilling the hopes of
Antar. But at the very moment in which he was honored by royal
felicitations, several chieftains, indignant at the elevation of a black
slave, employed every means to prevent his marriage with Ibla, and to
force him to undertake enterprises which would prove fatal to him.
Shedad, his father, and Malek, the father of Ibla, connived at these
plots. They demanded of Antar, who was of that trusting disposition
which belongs to generous and brave men, that he give as a wedding
present to his bride, a thousand camels, of a particular breed, not to
be found excepting on the borders of the Persian kingdom. The hero made
no remark on hearing this treacherous demand, and was so eager to please
Ibla, that he took no count of the difficulties to be undergone. He set
off and soon found himself engaged in conflict with a large army of
Persians, who made him prisoner, and led him off with the view of
bringing him into the presence of their king. There he was taken, bound
and on horseback, when at that instant, the news came that a fierce lion
of extraordinary size was ravaging the country. It was alleged that even
armed men fled before it. Antar, who was on the point of being put to
death, asked the King of Persia to cause his arms at least to be
unbound, and to let him confront the lion. His prayer was granted; he
rushed upon the savage creature, and transfixed it with his lance. Nor
was this the only service he did the King of Persia, who in gratitude
for many others, not only gave Antar the thousand camels he was looking
for, but loaded him with treasures, with which to do homage to Ibla.

On his return Antar was received with a rapturous welcome by the Absian
tribe. But the hostile and the envious continued to plot against him.
They still aimed at preventing his marriage, and compassing his death.
Amarah, who aspired to Ibla's hand, backed by all the chieftains hostile
to Antar, renewed his suit and pretensions. Ibla was carried off from
her house among t