The original book purports to have been written more than a thousand years ago—­in the golden prime of the Caliph Harun-al-Rashid (786-809)—­by the famous As-Asmai (741-830).  It is in fact a later compilation probably of the twelfth century.  The first Arabic edition was brought to Europe by an Austro-German diplomat and scholar—­Baron von Hammer Purgstall—­near the end of the eighteenth century.  The manuscript was engrossed in the year 1466.  The verses with which the volumes abound are in many cases undoubtedly those of Antar.

One enthusiastic critic of this romance has said:  The book in its present form has been the delight of all Arabians for many centuries.  Every wild Bedouin of the desert knew much of the tale by heart and listened to its periods and to its poems with quivering interest.  His more cultivated brothers of the cities possessed one or many of its volumes.  Every coffee-house in Aleppo, Bagdad, or Constantinople had a narrator who, night after night, recited it to rapt audiences.  The unanimous opinion of the East has always placed the romance of Antar at the summit of such literature.  As one of their authors well says:  “’The Thousand and One Nights’ is for the amusement of women and children; ‘Antar’ is a book for men.  From it they learn lessons of eloquence, of magnanimity, of generosity and of statecraft.”  Even the prophet Mohammed, well-known foe to poetry and poets, instructed his disciples to relate to their children the traditions concerning Antar, “for these will steel their hearts harder than stone."[9]

Another critic has said:  “The Romance of Antar is the free expression of real Arab hero-worship.  And even in the cities of the Orient today, the loungers over their cups can never weary of following the exploits of this black son of the desert who in his person unites the great virtues of his people, magnanimity and bravery, with the gift of poetic speech.  Its tone is elevated; it is never trivial, even in its long and wearisome descriptions, in its ever-recurring outbursts of love.  Its language suits its thought:  choice and educated, and not descending—­as in the ’Nights’—­to the common expressions or ordinary speech.  It is the Arabic romance of chivalry and may not have been without influence in the spread of the romance of mediaeval Europe."[10]

An idea of this romance may be obtained from the following: 

Years and years ago King Zoheir ruled Arabia.  Now Shedad, a son, nettled under the stern sway of his sire and longed for the chase and the combat.  The green plains becked, the murmuring streams sang until the heart of Shedad grew sad.  When the sun rose one morn he gathered his camels and warriors and departed.

Far from the home of King Zoheir dwelt the tribe Djezila in peace but Shedad fell upon them and slew them.  As beautiful as a goddess was a black woman named Zebiba who was captured.  Now it came to pass that Shedad loved Zebiba and dwelt with her and her two sons in the fields.  In time she bore him a son, as dark as an elephant, with eyes as black as night and a head of shaggy hair.  They called him Antar.