d passion
of my soul."

"Do not imagine," said Chosroe, "that we have been able duly to
recompense you. What we have given you is perishable, as everything
human is, but your praises and your poems will endure forever."

[Antar's wars made him a Nocturnal Calamity to the foes of
his tribe. He was its protector and the champion of its
women, "for Antar was particularly solicitous in the cause of
women." His generosity knew no bounds. "Antar immediately
presented the whole of the spoil to his father and his
uncles; and all the tribe of Abs were astonished at his noble
conduct and filial love." His hospitality was universal; his
magnanimity without limit. "Do not bear malice, O Shiboob.
Renounce it; for no good ever came of malice. Violence is
infamous; its result is ever uncertain, and no one can act
justly when actuated by hatred. Let my heart support every
evil, and let my patience endure till I have subdued all my
foes." Time after time he won new dowries for Ibla, even
bringing the treasures of Persia to her feet. Treacheries
without count divided him from his promised bride. Over and
over again he rescued her from the hands of the enemy; and
not only her, but her father and her hostile kinsmen.

At last (in the fourth volume, on the fourteen hundred and
fifty-third page) Antar makes his wedding feasts.]

"I wish to make at Ibla's wedding five separate feasts; I will feed the
birds and the beasts, the men and the women, the girls and the boys, and
not a single person shall remain in the whole country but shall eat at
Ibla's marriage festival."

Antar was at the summit of his happiness and delight, congratulating
himself on his good fortune and perfect felicity, all trouble and
anxiety being now banished from his heart. Praise be to God, the
dispenser of all grief from the hearts of virtuous men.

[The three hundred and sixty tribes of the Arabs were invited
to the feast, and on the eighth day the assembled chiefs
presented their gifts--horses, armor, slaves, perfumes, gold,
velvet, camels. The number of slaves Antar received that day
was five-and-twenty hundred, to each of whom he gave a
damsel, a horse, and weapons. And they all mounted when he
rode out, and halted when he halted.]

Now when all the Arab chiefs had presented their offerings, each
according to his circumstances, A