Courage is half victory and the arm of Antar was skilled in the art of the lance and his heart was stout.  But the strength of the lion was of the body whilst that of Antar was of the body and the mind.  With a mighty throw Antar hurled the lance and it found its mark, but the lion bounded forward and Antar stood unarmed.  Then with a mighty wrench he jerked a young tree from the ground and with powerful blows beat down the attack of the lion.  He gave a mighty swing and cleft the beast’s skull and it fell down and died, and Antar departed for the tent of the king.  Then the men marvelled, for none dared follow to see the terrible combat nor did people believe until they saw the beast.

Then the king loaded Antar with rich gifts and honors and gave him the thousand camels which he sought, and Antar departed for the land of King Zoheir.  Great was the rejoicing of Ibla when messengers brought tidings of Antar’s return.  Great was the surprise of Malek and the rage of the chieftains.  But Shedad’s heart softened and he yearned for his son and the fair Ibla gave him her hand and Antar and Ibla married and dwelt in the land of King Zoheir.

To this day the fame of Antar still persists.  Rimsky-Korsakoff, a modern Russian composer, has given us in his symphony “Antar” a tone picture of this Arabian Negro’s life that opens and closes with an atmospheric eastern pastorale of great beauty.  It has been played during the past winter with marked success in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, at the concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, that representative body of great musicians.  The remarkable career of Antar and the perpetuation of his memory in history, literature and music, though removed by many centuries from the life of the American Negro of today, offers to him many thoughts for reflection.

While Arabia of the pre-Islamic days is not America of this generation nor the Semitic people of the East like the Germanic races of the West, still those human qualities that make for valor, for greatness of spirit, that reflect genius devoted to literature and social service are compelling forces in all climes and in all races.  An opportunity for a free expression of them and a recognition of their potent effect in the sum total of human culture should be the mission of scholarship in all lands.  Those elements of character which the Arabs of Antar’s day regarded as their beau ideal were found not unworthy of admiration when manifested in one of Negro blood.  When his poetic fancy reflected the spirit of Arab life his works were not rejected because his mother was an African slave but one of the best was placed among the immortal poems of his father’s country.  When his genius for warfare was shown it was given an opportunity to develop and serve the cause of all who preferred valiant deeds to arguments of race.  When his life was spent it was not looked upon as one of an unusual Negro rising above a sphere previously limited to his fellows of the same blood but as an epic of success crowning human effort and worthy to be embodied in the literature of Arabia as the exploits of a hero who exemplified the spirit of the people, acceptable for all time as their model for valor, poetic genius, hospitality, and magnanimity.