At this time the tribe of Abs, which Zoheir ruled over, was at war with that of Tex, on account of the carrying off of Anima, daughter of the chief of the Tex, a man known as “The Drinker of Blood.”  Animated by the desire to take vengeance and recover his daughter, this chief and his army fell upon the Absians like a thunderbolt.  The Absians were defeated, and their women, among whom was Ibla, taken prisoners.  All pride was then, in this time of need, laid aside, and to their assistance Antar was summoned.  But before acting Antar laid down his conditions, and stipulated that, in case he succeeded in subduing the 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.